directional cables?

Tbromgard, The arrows point in the direction the signal is flowing. In other words, the arrow should point away from the CD player and toward your integrated amp.

Herman, Then let's see your facts about arrows and cable orientation because every cable I have had experience with in the last couple of decades uses this standard. Maybe you found some fly by night cable company working out of their garage that got their arrows mix up.

Tbromgard, The arrows point in the direction the signal is flowing. If there are no arrows the writing on the cable follows the direction of the signal.

Jea48,

Even though there is no audible difference, I usually recommend that customers hook up the cables so that the signal flows the same direction as the printing. - Brian

This has been recommended by cable manufacturers because the cables break-in to the direction they are installed. If you disconnect the cables and install them in the opposite direction the cables will sound different because you will be breaking them in to the new direction. Once the cables break-in again they will sound fine.

Jea48, I know the story behind the Kimber Cable you mentioned. There was a screw up during manufacture of that cable and they went with it due to expense. When other companies had an error like that they blew the cables out through their dealers or Audio Advisors. Kimber elected not to do that.

I am very familiar with Audioquest products and orientation of their cables. Bill Low always had direction clearly marked for their cables, but....they always said try it the other way and see if you like it better. In that respect it was a matter of personal taste of the user not whether or not the cable had a specified or recommended direction built into the cable by the manufacturer.

I personally tried Audioquest interconnects reversed on many occasions and I preferred the direction recommended by Audioquest everytime. When discussing this topic with Bill he always said the marked direction is the right direction.

I believe there is an industry standard for cable direction although there is an exception to every rule and an ocassional fluke as in the case of the Kimber interconnect.

Nsgarch, Whether an interconnect is shielded or not once the cable is installed in a system the cable will break-in to the direction in which it is installed. If there is no way of distinguishing a direction you may find yourself breaking in cables everytime they are disconnected and wondering why your system isn't sounding right.

I also took the liberty of contacting several cable manufacturers and the response was the same from each manufacturer. They all stated if there is an arrow the cable should be installed with the arrow followinging the direction of the signal and most agreed it is an industry standard.

Herman, Did I read that right? Did you really say you apologize?

Tbromgard, Aren't you glad you asked?

Herman, So, which way do the cables point?

Herman,

"Most with any experience in the matter agree that it depends on the design of the cable and how the manufacturer decide to label his cables."

And I guess you would consider yourself one of the most with experience or one with the most experience, which is it?

I actually, during the course of this thread, took the time to call a number of cable manufacturers and presented the question regarding arrows and direction. All agreed it would pretty much be considered an industry standard that the arrow markings on cables point in the direction of the signal flow.

For non directional cables it has been recommended by manufacturers for many years and a rule of thumb among audiophiles that the writing on the cable jacket follows the signal flow for the purpose of orienting cables in the same direction as they were broken-in when cables are disconnected from the system.

Herman, I didn't quite get your point. Can you explain it another way please?