Directional cables - what does that really mean?

1. Cables with shield connected at one end.
2. Conductor Extrusion effects.
3. Cable architectures

No. 1 can affect noise, could be sonically discernable, and so should be followed,
No. 2 can be discerned visually by microscopy but I have never heard of this being reliably identified in a listening test and IMO falls into the same category as directional fuses, jackalopes, and other urban myths, so...if you want to believe then believe, and
No. 3 is pretty simple...if there are arrows on your cables, point them in the downstream direction, e.g., from the source toward the speakers.
for the believers...

@WillieWonka - Thank you for the summary, makes sense for practical use. I continue being suspicious about the arrows, but I understand and agree with your explanation: some of the reasons are legit. Thanks.

@Jea48 - Yes, the audio signal is brought upon by the electrons doing a little alternating dance back and forth, and pushing/pulling on their neighbors to dance with them, and their neighbors pushing their next-next neighbors etc... If they would be marching together towards the end of the cable without coming back to about their original location - that uniform movement would be a DC signal that carries no audio info by itself.

Interconnects are obviously better sounding in one direction than the other. No bout a doubt it. So are fuses. Even big standard non audiophile grade fuses. No offense intended to anyone.

You guys that are using a digital coax cable with a solid core center conductor that connects your CD transport to your DAC, you should be able to hear a difference in SQ when reversing the direction of the digital cable.
Try it!
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@Jea48 - Yes, the audio signal is brought upon by the electrons doing a little alternating dance back and forth, and pushing/pulling on their neighbors to dance with them, and their neighbors pushing their next-next neighbors etc... If they would be marching together towards the end of the cable without coming back to about their original location - that uniform movement would be a DC signal that carries no audio info by itself.
09-28-15: Cbozdog

If you play a record and rely on the electrons to carry the audio signal from one end of an IC to the other end of the IC you will be waiting a hell of a long time after the record is done playing before you would hear a thing.

Quote. (Audiogon Herman)

In audio we are talking about the transfer of energy in the form of an electromagnetic wave.

Electrons and wires are not needed to transfer this energy. For example, the waves will radiate in free space or down a waveguide.

Current is the flow of charge, not electrons; however it is not needed to transfer the energy therefore the current (flow of charge) in the wire is an effect, not a cause.

At low frequencies like audio it is easier to construct a system where the energy follows a wire more easily than through space or a waveguide because the wavelength is so long and the waveguide or antenna would need to be humongous.

The water flow analogy is fatally flawed, it cannot explain everything that is happening with AC or DC. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_analogy

Current flow is a misnomer with AC and causes great confusion since the charges are not really flowing. The periodic motion of the charge is not a flow in the conventional sense of the word. This is the only use of the word flow I have ever seen that describes periodic motion. For instance, pendulums do not flow. This basic misconception was the cause of much of the Audiogon debacle. Somebody was insisting that electrons vibrating about a fixed point could be described as current flow.

Quote:
"In audio we are talking about the transfer of energy in the form of an electromagnetic wave."

This is how an audio signal travels down a wire from the source to load, a connected receiving piece of equipment. So now the question is how can wire directionality affect the audio signal electromagnetic wave as it travels from the source to the load?
I wish I would have asked Herman that question....

Speed of electricity
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