Directional cables - what does that really mean?


Some (most) cables do sound differently depending on which end is connected to which component. It is asserted that the conductor grain orientation is determining the preferential current flow. That might well be, but in most (all) cases the audio signal is AC (electrons going back and forth in the cable), without a DC component to justify a directional flow. Wouldn't that mean that in the 1st order, a phase change should give the same effect as a cable flip?

I'm curious whether there is a different view on this that I have not considered yet.
cbozdog
And another thing. Roger Skoff’s theory that for continuous cast copper or long grain copper wire that impurities that build up between grains causes wire directionality doesn’t make sense since any effects of impurity build-up would be random in nature, whereas wire directionality is not random. It’s predictable, transferrable and repeatable. If it was random you couldn’t control it. I scoff at his theory. 🤔 If it doesn’t make sense it’s not true. - Judge Judy

Addendum - He also left out the most important part of the whole directionality theory - how the audio or electrical signal is affected/changed by reversing the direction of the wire or cable. I.e., why is the sound better one way that the other? If the sound is more distorted in one direction, why?
Did you read the article, or just skim it? 

He said that impurities can be a reason for the difference in sound in wire directionality. The impurities can act like diodes, allowing the signal an easier path one way over the other. They can also act like tiny magnets.

He also says that when the metal is drawn and compresses the metal to the desired gauge, it aligns the crystal structure in a certain direction, favoring one way over the other. 

So, he did address it.

All the best,
Nonoise
All of that makes no sense. The percentage of impurities is too small. If the copper is 6 nines pure, then the total impurities is only 0.000001. Tiny magnets, indeed. Give me a break! Plus even if the impurities did act like tiny diodes there’s nothing to support the idea they would all be pointed in the same direction. There would be more than just one.
He never said that all of the impurities would align the cable direction in one way over the other, but that it would/could create a conflict, of sorts (my words).

I’ve been told by a few cable makers that there’s no such thing as 6 nines pure anything when it comes to cables, so....

That, and when an argument is made that a tiny wire in a fuse can make a difference, who’s to say that small amounts of impurities that occur in crystal structure boundaries can’t have an effect? He never said it did, but that it could, which is why he's a fan of large crystal structures that one can achieve in an easier way with single, solid core wires as it eliminates, or minimizes, the possibilities. 

All the best,
Nonoise
Here's the one thing Skoff said that really matters:
 there's no way—other than by listening to it—to determine which direction a piece of wire's "preferred" direction of signal flow may be.


Exactly.