Directional speaker cables - switching direction


Some time ago I started a thread regarding speaker wire directionality and my inability to understand how it could have any affect on sound quality. The question was inspired by the fact that, after quite a few years using them with my Martin Logan Odysseys, I discovered that the cables (Straightwire Octave 2) had arrows printed on them. Not surprisingly the opinions expressed were pretty strong on both sides of the argument but those supporting directionality were the most vociferous and in greater numbers, one to the point of being downright insulting. In no case, though, was an explanation given by those supporting the importance of cable direction for how this phenomenon occurs except that it should be obvious that when a cable is broken in in one direction only someone with an uneducated ear would be unable to discern the difference.

Even though I still don't get it I'm not taking the position that there is no validity to the directional claim; if there truly is I just don't understand how. This leads me to my two part question. I haven't been using the Octaves for a few years but now, because of cable length issues, I want to put them back in my system partly to avoid the cost of new quality cables.

IF, then, the directionality theory IS valid and I don't recall which way the arrows originally pointed or which direction they were "broken in" do those in support of directionality think I should install them with the arrows pointing toward the speakers
128x128broadstone
Jea48, the speed of propagation depends mostly on the medium. Since the electromagnetic wave is comprised of photons, it propagates at light speed in a vacuum but somewhat less in a metal conductor. All the other things you mention are pretty irrelevant. Does that answer your question.


Sure cables can sound different. Crappy ones sound different from good ones.
12-17-14: Scvan
Scvan,

Can you measure the differences on a scope?
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Geoffkait,

No.

What I am looking for, when applying the theory how an analog signal travels down a wire, can a conductor be directional, especially in the case of solid core silver wire? For simplicity to start with, just a bare solid core silver wire without any dielectric insulation involved. Just the bare conductor suspended in free air.

Next add a PVC insulation covering to the wire. Does the PVC insulation have any effect on how the signal travels down the conductor from the source to the load?

Next instead of PVC insulation covering, make it Teflon.

How does the dielectric insulation affect the analog signal as it travels down the wire from the source to the load?
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Jea48, I don't know if conductor can be directional but copper oxides are semiconductors. Their orientation might be related to grain orientation - a question for metallurgist.

AFAIK dielectric affects speed of current. This speed is not a light speed but closer to 60% of it (5ns/m). I believe this speed is inversely proportional to square root of dielectric constant. Teflon dielectric offers the highest speed up to 85% of the light-speed.

Dielectric absorption is ability of dielectric to store and return energy. I'm not sure how it affects the sound but it can be shown, that charged and discharged capacitor will start building up the voltage again without any external source - just from the energy stored in dielectric and we're not talking microvolts but rather volts. Especially bad in electrolytic caps.
The whole directionality thing really digs at me and does damage to our hobby.

My suspicion is that it started with pro-audio which has directional cables. They are not directional because the crystalline structure of the copper, or the way the jacket was extruded on the copper, but because they were single ended shielded cables. You would connect the shielded ended side wire to the amp side to reduce the chance for EMI.

Probably someone tried these cables on their home system and heard a difference, which happened because of the shielding, and this somehow propagated the belief that directionality is important. A couple of clever marketing guys got in a room and decided that separating their product from another required some advantage. Let's say that they should only go on one way.

I suppose the next logical step would be to say which side is up on a cable, because after all electrons have mass and we only want the good ones at the top of the wire.

Most of the hi-end manufacturers of audio cables use directionality on their products, and some are even using directionality on their network cables which is interesting because TCP broadcast require signal both directions (so is each individual wire in the Cat 6 cable directionalized before assembling the cable?).

I have never seen one IEEE paper or an AES paper on directional cables. Maybe it is a secret art form that only audio cable manufacturers know about? I could be wrong. My lab at work has some pretty long (50ft) high speed (10ghz) BNC cables for measuring EMI and those aren't directional. I think that is crystalline were important, it would be important there.