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What do we hear when we change the direction of a wire?

Douglas Self wrote a devastating article about audio anomalies back in 1988. With all the necessary knowledge and measuring tools, he did not detect any supposedly audible changes in the electrical signal. Self and his colleagues were sure that they had proved the absence of anomalies in audio, but over the past 30 years, audio anomalies have not disappeared anywhere, at the same time the authority of science in the field of audio has increasingly become questioned. It's hard to believe, but science still cannot clearly answer the question of what electricity is and what sound is! (see article by A.J.Essien).

For your information: to make sure that no potentially audible changes in the electrical signal occur when we apply any "audio magic" to our gear, no super equipment is needed. The smallest step-change in amplitude that can be detected by ear is about 0.3dB for a pure tone. In more realistic situations it is 0.5 to 1.0dB'". This is about a 10% change. (Harris J.D.). At medium volume, the voltage amplitude at the output of the amplifier is approximately 10 volts, which means that the smallest audible difference in sound will be noticeable when the output voltage changes to 1 volt. Such an error is impossible not to notice even using a conventional voltmeter, but Self and his colleagues performed much more accurate measurements, including ones made directly on the music signal using Baxandall subtraction technique - they found no error even at this highest level.

As a result, we are faced with an apparently unsolvable problem: those of us who do not hear the sound of wires, relying on the authority of scientists, claim that audio anomalies are BS. However, people who confidently perceive this component of sound are forced to make another, the only possible conclusion in this situation: the electrical and acoustic signals contain some additional signal(s) that are still unknown to science, and which we perceive with a certain sixth sense.

If there are no electrical changes in the signal, then there are no acoustic changes, respectively, hearing does not participate in the perception of anomalies. What other options can there be?

Regards.
anton_stepichev
realworldaudio
174 posts
 
A general response on how to answer this question, not personal to any of the commenters:

Most people want digested explanations presented to them and want to put in 0% effort to prove or disprove claims with their own effort. (Take all, give nothing.)To get a meaningful answer to any question in audio we need to put in effort and legwork.
;
anton_stepichev OP
150 posts
 
Interestingly, the changes in the sound associated with the replacement and orientation of the wires can be recorded and played back. After digitizing, the difference will not be heard as clearly as in live, but the nature of several consecutive changes will already be recognizable and based on the recordings, you can track how much you have progressed in setting up your system or, conversely, how much you have been led away somewhere. The recording allows you to repeatedly return to the evaluation of the results and eliminates the influence of momentary deviations in perception related to mood, health, fatigue, etc.

Serious changes in the recording system, when you orient every wire, including the mains wiring in the room and select every detail of the system by ear, lead to a fairly noticeable difference in sound. For example, the violin, the most sensitive instrument to recording and playback errors, becomes more flexible, begins to SING more expressively, and the intelligibility of the individual instruments in the group improves. Here I can give a lot of examples, for instance, Grappelli's violin in its usual form sounds sharp, Django's guitar is lost in its background.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-zSlE5ZgOA
The 78 record gives us a completely different impression - the violin sings and at the same time does not obscure the guitar, which, as it turns out, can also sing if it is in the brilliant hands of Django.
https://www.backtomusic.ru/19652
The frequency response in the recordings is quite different and this is the first thing that catches your ears. If you listen to the recording for at least 30 seconds, this difference ceases to interfere with the evaluation of the musical properties of the recordings.

When tuning up a system for digitization, almost always subjectively positive changes in the sound occur against the background of deterioration in technical characteristics caused by the rejection of the negative feedback, the use of imperfect homemade radio components (capacitors, resistors and coils), ancient triodes, and so on. As a result, we have a completely illogical situation: the most important moments for the perception of music are improved, while the technical characteristics of the system are deteriorated.

A question I've been asking myself for years - how can this be, if the technical (electrical) characteristics determine everything?
mahgister's avatar
mahgister
13,195 posts
 
As a result, we have a completely illogical situation: the most important moments for the perception of music are improved, while the technical characteristics of the system are deteriorated.

A question I’ve been asking myself for years - how can this be, if the technical (electrical) characteristics determine everything?
The comparison of Grappelli and Django is stunning...

And like i already said this is the one of more important thread i ever read in audiogon....

The questions asked after Anton experiments and the comparison we can make listening his transfer of 78 Rpm says a lot....



Thanks....
audition__audio
1,522 posts
 
alexberger,

Yes what you said about tubes! Do you think this linearity can be measured cause it sure can be heard in many circuits. Complex designs can often measure well but it is real trick to get them to sound as good as a simple design with or without tubes. This measurement thing is really a dead horse.
wolf_garcia
6,726 posts
 
I just made another REL cord for a new sub and noticed the Canare wire I used isn't labeled for directionality...should I undo the carefully shrink wrapped and Speakon festooned masterpiece I assembled? Uh...no. 
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