DIRECTION OF SIGNAL FLOW VIA INTERCONNECTS


CURRENT SETUP:
Arcam AVP700-Pre/Pro
Arcam P1000-Amp
Quad 22L2-Speakers
Denon 3800 Dvd/Cd
Transparent MusicLink 100

I have had this system for approx 2 years and have never really been satisfied with the overall tonal balance of this setup. After during a little reading I found out that my interconnects may be plugged in incorrectly between the pre/pro and the amp. I currently have the arrows of the ic's facing into pre/pro from the amp. Is this correct? I've always assumed that the pre/pro was the source.
jazztouch
Yes - as others have already said - arrows should point away from the signal source.
JPS Labs put arrows on their cables and interconnects. I am so dyslexic I have to really pay attention or will get it backwards. Don't know if it makes a sonic difference or not - haven't tried them reversed but since the mftr. seems to think it matters - I figure why not just go with it? I suspect I wouldn't be able to hear a difference either way - but there's lots of other things to do before we conduct that experiment!
it is entirely possible, even if it hasn't happened yet, that one using a "shielded cable" installed incorrectly, could find very loud any transmissions of a CB user driving past.
Ouch!
the shielding send that kind of RF away. Think: Destination-downstream when it comes to arrows. Or anti-salmon stream. :)

spiro
Many cables ARE directional, and they will not sound right (Cardas case in point) if they are going the wrong way - I have tried it and you really have to have the arrows going in the direction of the signal path (as stated above by others).
Thankfully, this thread has been free of the simplistic idea that the audio signal is alternating current. I will say from personal experience that on occasion I have found that having the shield attached to the preamp end or the source end sounds better. I have no real idea why this might be true, but it is very uncommon.

There also is the matter of wire drawing. Some manufacturers, Kondo, suggest that the direction of the cables to sound best has to consider the wire draw.

The safest way is to do what sounds better but start with the arrows going from the source toward the speakers.
"Thankfully, this thread has been free of the simplistic idea that the audio signal is alternating current."

Simplistic but true. However for interconnects the shielding should be connected at the source end, hence the arrows.