Curious How These Nordost Speaker Cables Do What They Do

@ieales - I find your comments in response to my post a little perplexing...

People, Electronics 101: Ohms Law : An amplifier / loudspeaker is a series circuit and the same current flows through all of the components

. Actually Ohms law states

The potential difference (voltage) across an ideal conductor is proportional to the current through it. The constant of proportionality is called the "resistance", R.Ohm’s Law is given by: V = I R where V is the potential difference between two points which include a resistance R.

As stated above ohms law actually applies to a DC circuit - there is inductance and capacitance (i.e. reactance) to take into account when applying it to AC circuits.

But I do concede that it can "loosely" be applied to AC circuits - just not that loosely in this case.

As for...

Ergo the same current flows in both the plus and minus wire.

That may not exactly be the case for speaker cables...

Allow me to cite Physics 101"...

Energy can be neither created nor destroyed, but can change form

And the definition of a loudspeaker... 

A transducer is a device that converts one form of energy into another form. For example, in a loudspeaker, electrical energy in a wire coil set up by the current is converted into the vibration (mechanical energy) of the speaker diaphragm and then into a sound wave (acoustical energy).

 So, there is current (i.e. energy) flowing down the signal (i.e. the plus) conductor, which in a loudspeaker is "mostly" converted into motion and heat in the driver coils.

Ergo - the current (i.e. energy), or maybe even the voltage, in the neutral (i.e. minus) conductor cannot possibly be the same as the signal conductor.

As for ...

A wire configured differently for each leg may sound different but it sure ain’t due to the signal contaminating the neutral.

You then go on to cite

Weird geometry will change the Proximity Effect and thus the cable eq.

Proximity Effect? would that be (i.e. according to Wiki)

A changing magnetic field will influence the distribution of an electric current flowing within an electrical conductor, by electromagnetic induction

So we appear to agree on one thing - INDUCTION causes a cable to behave differently

Listen - I do not know the why’s and wherefore’s as to the reasons why helix geometries perform better than standard geometries.

What I AND some "industry professionals" have observed when using cables utilizing a Helix geometry...
- they outperform most other cables having more "conventional" geometries
- they offer outstanding clarity and expansive imaging
- they excel in dynamic performance
- they provide exceptional control and depth of the lower frequencies
- they do not colour the sound

I thought long and hard before responding to your rather bombastic response to my post above.

We are all here to learn and share - no one person has ALL the answers.

I was just offering an opinion as to...

How These Nordost Speaker Cables Do What They Do

From that perspective - what I have seen is that some Nordost cables appear to be using a type of helix geometry combined with different gauge conductors.

But thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Regards - Steve

Steve (Williewonka), your response to ieales about Ohm’s Law was correct, but he is correct in saying that equal currents exist in the positive and negative conductors connecting an amp and a speaker. (Although later in this post I’ll mention an extremely minor exception to that which might occur in the case of an active speaker).

For current to exist, there must be a "complete circuit," from source to load and back. In the case of an AC waveform, such as an audio signal, the direction of the current in both the positive and the negative conductors alternates every half-cycle, and the two conductors play an equal role in the transfer of energy from source to load. Energy is transferred in the form of an electromagnetic wave that is distinct from but is intimately associated with those currents, and that electromagnetic wave in turn propagates mainly in one direction, from source to load. (In the case of an amp/speaker interface some energy may also propagate from speaker to amp, as a result of "back-emf" produced by the drivers, or as a result of the release of energy stored in the inductive or capacitive components of the speaker’s impedance, or as a result of reflection effects that can occur at RF frequencies due to impedance mismatches).

An analogy that can be drawn would be to an ordinary light bulb. It consumes energy, of course, converting some of it into heat and some of it into light. But the amount of current entering it and leaving it via its two terminals, one of which is connected to AC "hot" and the other to AC "neutral," is identical.

The very minor possible exception I mentioned earlier is that in the case of a powered speaker a tiny fraction of the current in the positive conductor could conceivably return to the amp via a ground loop, part of which would consist of the safety ground conductors in the power cords of the amp and the speaker. In other words, to a very small extent, depending on the internal grounding configurations of the amp and the powered speaker, the AC safety ground wiring might be part of a relatively high resistance path that is in parallel with the negative conductor in the speaker cable, and it might thereby conduct a tiny fraction of the current in the positive conductor that would otherwise be returned to the amp by the negative conductor. (When two paths are present between a source and a load, current will utilize both paths, and at a given frequency will divide up between them in inverse proportion to their impedance at that frequency). But even in that case the amount of current leaving the amp will be identical to the total amount of current returning to it via whatever return path(s) is or are present.

Regarding "how Nordost cables do what they do," I have not studied them sufficiently or seen enough information about them to be able to provide meaningful comments at this time.

Best regards,
-- Al

@williewonka 
sorry you thought my post bombastic :-$ perhaps I get a bit carried away when fundamental laws are ignored.

the current (i.e. energy), or maybe even the voltage, in the neutral (i.e. minus) conductor cannot possibly be the same as the signal conductor.

It cannot be otherwise. As you state, energy cannot be created or destroyed. It changes state in the load.

The work is done by V pushing I through the load. If you measure a loudspeaker circuit, very little V is lost from either amplifier terminal to the speaker. Almost all V is across the load. Power is V x I. If the current were different in each leg of the cable, energy would either be gained or lost.

Apply a steady 1kHz 1V signal to a speaker. Regardless of where an ammeter is inserted in the circuit, the RMS current is the same.

In a DC circuit, V and I are in phase. In an AC circuit, V and I are not in phase if there is any L or C.  Cable LRC change the phase and relative amplitude in combination with amplifier and loudspeaker LRC.

Phase angle is dependent on the difference between L reactance XL and C reactance XC, which vary with frequency. In cables like zip cord XL & XC may vary by a factor of 100 to 1. Some exotic cables XL & XC may vary by a billion to 1. XL can vary by a factor of 10,000 and more between zip cord and exotic cables. Exotic cables should endeavor to have less inductance, but some are worse than zip cord.

Asymmetric cables have a different L & C relative to parallel or woven and as such affect the current phase differently. These phase changes may be euphonious with some amplifier / loudspeaker combinations, not so much with others.

Some put sugar in coffee and prefer the 'sweetened' result.

One cannot, in absolute terms, say it is better [more accurate].

One can only say it is more accurate if one compares the source wave form to the resulting sound at your ear!

@almarg - I think the lightbulb analogy is not a great example because the bulb is connected between two terminals that are both carrying an alternating voltage/current - I agree in that scenario there would be the same voltage on the +ve and -ve conductors

However in an amp, only the "SIGNAL PATH" of the circuit carries the alternating voltage/current
- the "power rail" is always at some +ve DC voltage
- the neutral rail is always at zero volts.(or should be)

The output terminal of transistor or tube performing the amplification carries the AC signal
- but the neutral side of the amp's circuit remains zero volts

The neutral conductor in the speaker cable, being connected to the neutral rail, should be at zero volts - should it not?

 I can see there would be  "a flow of electrical energy" that is from +ve output terminal - via the loudspeaker and cable - returning to the amp's -ve terminal. But somewhere along the way power has to be converted/consumed and that means either the current or the voltage has to change - doesn't it?

Thanks