Directionality of wire

Al,
Thanks for the response.
Jim

terry9
498 posts                                                                           08-18-2017 4:03pm

@jea48

Solid. They came off the spool and went to the plating company. No, I did not reverse them. I did not then, nor do I now, expect there to be a perceptible difference.
I no longer spend much time on interconnects, for the reasons stated.

terry9,

thanks for the response. By chance did you read the AA link?

Re: maybe rcrump... I don’t know, but... rcrump 06:45:41 09/30/00 (11)

In Reply to: Re: maybe rcrump... I don’t know, but... posted by Greg R. on September 29, 2000 at 19:47:48:

Solid core wire is extremely directional so just mark the end with some masking tape as it comes off the spool. Orient the wires so you have piece of masking tape at either end and terminate the wires. Throw it on a MOBIE or whatever overnight and then listen to it noting which way gives the highest image height. This is the correct orientation.

If you run the signal and return wires in the same direction you will end up with hot spots in the stage, normally at or close to the speakers, low image height and have a gaping hole in the middle of the stage...Keep in mind I am referring to the sound of the stage (reflections) not the individual instruments spread across the stage....Interconnects or speaker wires that have pianos wandering all over the stage normally have their signal and return going in the same direction....

If you run the signal and return wires in the same direction you will end up with hot spots in the stage, normally at or close to the speakers, low image height and have a gaping hole in the middle of the stage...Keep in mind I am referring to the sound of the stage (reflections) not the individual instruments spread across the stage....

https://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/t.mpl?f=cables&m=12332

When you get a chance read the jadem6 "DIY interconnect review" thread. That guy spent a lot of hours and money experimenting with different designs making ICs.
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/diy-interconnects-review#Jadem6

cheers,
Jim

One more comment on the guy's comment about directionality of dielectric material. He used the term polarity/directionality which is actually a bit of a misnomer since directionality isn't polarity at all. We know what correct polarity and inverted polarity are and directionality of fuses or cable or wire is neither. 

Quoted from AA:
If you run the signal and return wires in the same direction you will end up with hot spots in the stage, normally at or close to the speakers, low image height and have a gaping hole in the middle of the stage...Keep in mind I am referring to the sound of the stage (reflections) not the individual instruments spread across the stage....Interconnects or speaker wires that have pianos wandering all over the stage normally have their signal and return going in the same direction....

On the other hand, though, if the signal and return wires are run in opposite directions (relative to what came off of the spool), then if the cable is constructed in a symmetrical manner (i.e., both conductors identical, and not having a shield grounded at just one end), then reversing the direction of the cable should make no difference **even if** the conductors are intrinsically directional. Unless, that is, the dielectric (as opposed to the conductors) somehow causes a difference.

If the two conductors in a symmetrically designed cable are run in opposite directions (relative to what came off of the spool), then no matter which way the cable is connected the two conductors will **both** always be in the allegedly "correct" direction for half of each cycle, and the allegedly "incorrect" direction for the other half of each cycle. That follows from what I said in an earlier post in this thread:

Almarg 8-14-2017
When "the current" is traveling away from the component in one of the two conductors it is traveling toward the component in the other of the two conductors.

And it is **always** traveling through the input circuit of the component in one direction or the other, aside from the brief instant during each cycle at which the applied voltage crosses zero, and the direction changes.

(To add context, I had put quotation marks around "the current" to distinguish it from the electromagnetic energy of "the signal," that is conducted via the dielectric).

So the AA member’s statement seems to me to be self-contradictory. He’s saying that wires are directional, but putting the two wires in directions that would allow the cable to exhibit their alleged directionality will produce bad results.

Best regards,
-- Al

@jea48

No, Jea, I didn’t read it - I skimmed a bit, and what little I did read seems to be perfectly covered by Al.

Thanks Al. Somebody's got to speak up for science.