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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
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kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,426 posts
 
Scvan, even assuming that we know everything (we had no idea about existence of transient intermodulation until 70') certain things might be very difficult to measure. How do you propose to measure signal propagation speed in the cable or characteristic impedance and dielectric absorption. What about shielding? How do we test coupling characteristic of different types of electrical noise (capacitive, magnetic, electromagnetic). What frequency spectrum and what type of modulation shall we use to emulate real life conditions.

People who learned about R,L and C believe, that everything can be measured. There is a thread "Capacitor log Mundorf Silver in Oil" on Audiogon running for years (currently 2588 posts) where people discuss sound of capacitors. Would you tell them that two capacitors of the same RLC have to sound the same?

How do you propose to evaluate digital cable that in my opinion is system dependent and might even sound different in identical systems at different locations.

We don't even have clear way to measure amplifier's power and the one listed as the strongest might actually be not the loudest. Perhaps testing has some value - 20W amplifier is clearly not 200W but other than that testing IMHO is a joke. Are you, for instance, sure that 1% THD tube amplifier has to sound worse that 0.01% SS amp? Would amplifier with wider bandwidth always sound better? If anything, price or weight might be better indicators of sound quality.
mceljo
1,356 posts
 
One thing is for sure, if you can't measure it then you can't design it. This is interesting as most companies at least attempt to advertise using some scientific claims.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Everyone talks about data but no one ever does anything about it. How come reviewers never measure cables or fuses? Too lazy?
audiolabyrinth's avatar
audiolabyrinth
4,555 posts
 
Hi scvan, check out the inductance and capacitance of the Tara Labs Grand Master Evolution cables, should come as a shock to you, since you like specs.
mceljo
1,356 posts
 
I wanted to follow up my previous post that was cut short to feed my kids.

If there are physical attributes in audio equipment that cannot be measured but have a real impact on the sound, then the audio industry is effectively reduced from engineers and designers to a bunch of mad scientists developing products by trial and error. The real downside to this idea is that there would be no way to know if a given product would be better or worse in my system because it was developed using trial and error methods to please a few individuals in at most a few select systems. There would never be a reason to assume that an expensive product would perform better than a cheap one.

I don't know how components are actually designed, but it should be possible to measure the final signal while changing specific design attributes one at a time to learn what the effect is. It seems obvious that the closer the original signal the final signal the better the product is.
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