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Directionality of wire

I am a fan of Chris Sommovigo's Black Cat and Airwave interconnects. I hope he does not mind me quoting him or naming him on this subject, but Chris does not mark directionality of his IC's. I recently wrote him on the subject and he responded that absent shunting off to ground/dialectric designs, the idea of wire directionality is a complete myth. Same with resistors and fuses. My hunch is that 95% of IC "manufacturers", particularly the one man operations of under $500 IC's mark directionality because they think it lends the appearance of technical sophistication and legitimacy. But even among the "big boys", the myth gets thrown around like so much accepted common knowledge. Thoughts? Someone care to educate me on how a simple IC or PC or speaker cable or fuse without a special shunting scheme can possibly have directionality? It was this comment by Stephen Mejias (then of Audioquest and in the context of Herb Reichert's review of the AQ Niagra 1000) that prompts my question;

Thank you for the excellent question. AudioQuest provided an NRG-10 AC cable for the evaluation. Like all AudioQuest cables, our AC cables use solid conductors that are carefully controlled for low-noise directionality. We see this as a benefit for all applications -- one that becomes especially important when discussing our Niagara units. Because our AC cables use conductors that have been properly controlled for low-noise directionality, they complement the Niagara System’s patented Ground-Noise Dissipation Technology. Other AC cables would work, but may or may not allow the Niagara to reach its full potential. If you'd like more information on our use of directionality to minimize the harmful effects of high-frequency noise, please visit http://www.audioquest.com/directionality-its-all-about-noise/ or the Niagara 1000's owner's manual (available on our website).

Thanks again.

Stephen Mejias
AudioQuest


Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/content/gramophone-dreams-15-audioquest-niagara-1000-hifiman-he1000-v2-p...


fsonicsmith
jea48
2,944 posts
 
@blindjim
 Don’t believe me…. As is always the case here… try reversing one or both supposed directional cables and listen for yourself over the course of a few days or a week!!!

Why not? They are your wires, right?


I have, and I do hear a difference.

I also hear the difference between early 1960s Siemens CCa all gray shield tubes and early 1960s Amperex 6922 PQ white label USA made tubes in my preamp. Can the differences one hears be measured with test equipment? 

I can hear differences between one manufacture's ICs and Speakers cables and that of another manufacture's. I can't ever remember any reviewer of cables show actual testing with test equipment results. Can you?

I can hear the difference in SQ quality from my 2 channel tube preamp and tube power amp from when they are first powered up playing music to after they have been powered up for about 45 minutes playing music. I can hear the SQ continue to improve after they have been playing music after an hour or two. I have read similar posts on audio forums and from audio magazine reviewers that state the same thing. I can't recall any actual bench tests using test equipment verifying the improvements in SQ though. Have you?
jea48
2,944 posts
 
@blindjim,

Do you believe ICs and speaker cables SQ improve with break-in, burn-in, settle-in, or what ever you call it? If yes, where is the proof? Verified lab testing.

According to this guy it's a myth. The cable will sound the same new out of the box as it will with a 100 hours of signal passing through it.
by Gene DellaSala — August 29, 2004

Cable Vendor Claim
"'Breaking in' a cable has everything to do with the insulation - not the wire itself. The insulation (or dielectric) will absorb energy from the conductor when a current is flowing (i.e. when music is playing). This energy-absorption causes the dielectric's molecules to re-arrange themselves from a random order into a uniform order. When the molecules have been rearranged, the dielectric will absorb less energy & consequently cause less distortion." - Audioquest

Audioholics Response

Thus their conclusion is the dielectric , not the wire causes distortion! Claims regarding insulation molecules "aligning" with a signal, skin effect, strand jumping, etc, are anecdotal at best. Let's not forget that an audio signal is AC, and effectively random from a physical perspective. Nothing can align to a random signal by being anything other than random - exactly the state they claim is "cured" by injecting a signal.

"Break In" is not a proven audible or measurable phenomenon. The perception of changes in sound quality with time is likely attributable to the classical placebo effect, i.e., a listener anticipating a possible audible difference is predisposed to hear one whether or not it exists. Note that Audioquest isn't the only exotic cable vendor that claims cables "Break In". This is actually quite a popular myth touted by many other exotic cable vendors and cable forum cult hobbyists alike.

  
http://www.audioholics.com/audio-video-cables/audio-cable-break-in-science-or-psychological

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hifiman5's avatar
hifiman5
1,611 posts
 
Feeling sad for Audioholics author. Ear damage limits one's perception of reality me thinks.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
14,147 posts
 
blindjim wrote,

"Though, Power Cords especially. Why?
Because you can not reverse the ends. They don’t fit. Even if you push really hard!!"

>>>>Power cords are like fuses in an AC circuit. I.e., they’re directional. Of course I’m not (rpt not) suggesting you can flip a power cord around like a fuse, obviously you can't. But what I AM saying is that manufacturers should be AWARE that wire is directional, all wire, just like Audioquest, to name one, states. And like HiFi Tuning states. Even the teeny tiny strands of wire in stranded cables and power cords are directional. Thus, IF the manufacturer is AWARE of wire directionality AND he CONTROLS the manufacturing process - so when it comes time to affix the connectors on the power cord - he knows which end is which. Follow?

geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
14,147 posts
 
The Audioholics article is apparently 13 years old yet contains the same misstatements of the facts and the usual appeals to "reason" and double blind testing as today’s uber skeptics. 13 years old but still fresh as a daisy! My favorite Audioholics response? This gem: "Let’s not forget that an audio signal is AC, and effectively random from a physical perspective. Nothing can align to a random signal by being anything other than random."

Cut me some slack, Jack!

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