directional arrows on interconnects

To Oxia-
Being a subjectivist myself, I'm amazed that a certain amount of subjectively audible phenomena in our hobby, are not magical as I initially thought -- but are quite well known to engineers working in different fields (and obviously engineers working in our field). In cables, for instance, many things I discover by trial & error correspond to measurable differences that, say, a RF engineer would probably know about (i.e. shielding, signal transmission). :)

Oxia, some cable guys care about QC and yes I pay big bucks to have the directionality of the twisted pair set so one leg goes one way and the return goes the other. I make up a set, break it in on one of my break-in engines and document the roll after listening.....Image height is very easy to hear with solid core wire and much less so with stranded wire which is likely a jumble of directionality to the point that it will not focus nearly as well as solid core.......With the exceptions of Omega Micro and TG Audio I don't know of anyone who is completely addressing the issue, but there are a number of new wire companies out there......

I'll shamelessly ride on the coat tails of Bob here and say that Ridge Street is another company that tests and observes directionality of cabling. With our offerings I don't so much hear specifically image height but an overall sense expanse to the sound stage. I also notice that the sound is less coherent if the cables are not oriented in the right direction. To make certain and as Bob mentions, with stranded wire, forget about it. With solid core, you do very well to pay attention if you're manufacturing cables and/or auditioning or testing cables.

In a very few instances, I wouldn't be surprised if some cable makers are just slapping arrows on to make their product more substantial looking. I've heard two occasions where the same product model sounded slightly different (one definitely better than the other) when the directional arrows were observed. Reversed both cables and the performance traded places!

In manufacturing and with the end user, it is expensive and time consuming to assure proper directionality but my ears say it's worth it.

To Rcrump and Ridgestreetaudio,

Thanks Bob and Robert. I'm glad to see that you both employ a methodology for determining and labelling directionality on your cables. Despite my personal beliefs as an objectivist, I am certainly not militant about it and I accept that others have different views and methods that work for them. Whether your methodology is based on objective measurements or subjective trials is not as important, in my mind, as the fact that your methodology is consistent and repeatable. And for that, you both should be applauded.

To GregM,

I know what you mean, and can sympathize. I personally believe that there's little magic in audio and that the more we approach it as a science and try to educate ourselves on how and why things work, the smarter we become as consumers.

Impedance matching is a good example of a parameter that if understood and scrupulously adhered to, would go a long way to prevent component mismatches and "bad synergy". It amazes me when people select gear without regard for impedance matching, based solely on anecdotal evidence that the individual component(s) had at one time sounded "good" in a stranger's system. Thus equipped, they might try to mate a passive preamp to an amplifier with an input impedance of <10K Ohms, using a 1m length of IC with unknown capacitance. Then when the results are a rolled off treble and lack of dynamics, they'll grasp at straws seeking one particular component to blame. Or they'll simply brush it off as "bad synergy". The latter is true or course, but there is a perfectly logical explanation for it, if one tries to seek it out. The issue to me is not simply a debate between the merits of subjectivism versus objectivism. Rather, I see it as a willingness to be open minded and to learn, and to use all methods and sources of knowledge at your disposal to become an educated consumer and listener. Like in the case of cable directionality. Some hear it, even though I couldn’t in most cases. I don’t have all the answers for why it happens they way it does, but I’m doing my best to learn. However, I do admit that in the absence of scientific evidence to the contrary, I will trust my ears. And I'll point my cables in the direction that sounds best. :)

Cables made with TSP (Twisted Shielded Pair) wire, include a high and low signal conductor, so the shield is separate and ought to be (and is) grounded at one end only. I use such directional wires as intended with the arrow pointing away from the signal source, but I can't say that I detect any difference the other way around. It probably depends on whether your rig has grounding problems that the shield can help with.

However, all the talk about "noise floor" in connection with this subject, and many others, is a bit academic IMHO. On every recording that I own (even LP's with surface noise) I can always tell when the recording begins (just before the music starts) from the background noise that is in the recorded program. My system's noise is significantly lower than the typical recording, so I do not consider it to be a problem needing fixing.