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Cable directionality

I'm sure this has been discussed before but I missed it, so what is all this stuff with the direction of voltage flow with cables? Every cable you see any more has a little arrow on it. Since the signal is AC and travels one direction as much as it travels the other, what difference could this possibly make. I have talked to numerous co-workers (all electrical engineers) and they ALL say this is the biggest bunch of bunk they have ever seen. Since I am the only "Audiophile", I try to keep an open mind(I'm also the odd man out being mechanical.) Skin effect, resistance, capacitance, etc. are true issues. You pass power through a wire and it creates a magnetic field. You do deal with impedence and synergy with the driving source. How about a few technical answers from the audiophile community.
bigtee

Showing 3 responses by seandtaylor99

seandtaylor99
1,262 posts
 
OK so interconnect shielding is grounded at one end only, hence the cable is "directional".
But I have seen "directional" speaker cable, and I cannot think of any possible explanation for this. Can anyone offer a plausible explanation?
seandtaylor99
1,262 posts
 
Zaikesman ... I'm an electronics engineer. We engineers are always being bashed on this board for being closed minded to what audiophiles have "heard with their own ears".
For once I am inviting explanation for something I am extremely skeptical of (directional AC carrying cables) and now you accuse us of lacking clarity.

It would have been much easier to state that cable directionality is utter bullshit for an AC signal. For a pure cable I think this is certainly the case. However in the case of interconnects I had previously overlooked the grounding issue. I'm wondering if I have similarly overlooked something in speaker cable design.

What do you audiophiles want from us engineers ? Clarity, or open-mindedness ? Please make up your minds because it's getting awfully confusing.

For the record I have tried it, but failed to hear any difference.
seandtaylor99
1,262 posts
 
Bigtee .. I think Audioengr was saying that your signal ground (where the current is sunk and sourced) was your power cord ground lead. I think this is correct. If course AC current doesn't go part down one wire and part down another ... rather it pushes current into ground, and then pulls the current back from ground.
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