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The Contour System – Directional Wiring of Audio Parts

Hi guys!

The topic is about subjective homemade research of conductors directivity. I know most people don't believe in such phenomena so probably the story is not for them but for those who find it unbearable to listen to imperfect sound of chaotically directed wires and components.
As for me, I hear direction difference distinctly. The matter started from interconnect cables quite long ago, after a while I added to my research inner wiring of loudspeakers, then discover the importance of mains cables direction. After all I decided to find the directions of all the wires and components of my pretty vintage DIY tube mono SE amp and after everything had been done I drew a resulting schematic and wrote the article. It was in 2005, I have translated it in English only now. Hope you will find the article useful or just enjoy it.
Here is the Link: https://www.backtomusic.ru/audio-engineering/theory/contour-system.
anton_stepichev
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Good work Anton on something I have been thinking about for a long time. The fundamental idea is sound of course but in practice daunting and so congratulations for taking on something so many others simply throw up their hands and mock as impossible. 

Once having done all the work to map and sort you probably could build an amp that would far outperform what anyone would be able to get from the same parts any other way. Have you built complete amps for sale? Or is this more of an intellectual pursuit? Either way, awesome!
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,705 posts
 
There was an audio internet site that was run by a bunch of Japanese audio enthusiasts. They were among the first to use those NOS WE 16GA speaker cables. They were very fastidious about it, trying all the types they could get their hands on. 

Many here tried those cables and loved what they heard. Going through what else they were into showed them to check directionality in the cables they used when building their gear, if I'm not mistaken. It's been quite awhile and I can't locate the site.

All the best,
Nonoise
russ69's avatar
russ69
3,360 posts
 
I must admit I have trouble hearing directional changes. How does that mater on an AC circuit? I understand how my copper cables are constructed and use them as instructed but I fail to get the concept into my brain. 
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
If you can't hear it then it doesn't matter. To you. 

As for how it sounds, scroll up, he described it.
bluemoodriver
193 posts
 
From the article: “Subjective measurements can be considered reliable if one expert or several experts in a blind test have estimates repeated in, say, 80-90% of cases.”

So that’s the pass mark for directionality having an effect. Any results?

Also, as the Audioholics guy is saying just now on his video, the differences between speaker cables measure at below 0.06dB.  Utterly impossible for the human ear to detect. If one cable to another has so little effect, will turning the same cable around have the 10x greater effect needed for any audible difference to be heard when blind?  Really?
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