Directional wires/cables

In an audio system the electrons are not flowing from the source to the destination component.  The signals are AC - though a bit asymmetric -so about half the time they are flowing one way and about half the time the other way.

Although, I guess there could be some DC coupled SS pre or DAC (no capacitor on the output) where the signal is a modulated DC voltage.  Has anyone ever measured a DC offset on a source component's output?

For shielded cables where, except for balanced connections, the shield is connected to SIGNAL ground (the outside of an RCA plug) so it is probably true that the source end should be grounded.

An electric current IS the flow of electrons (through a wire e.g.) from the -ve source, through the destination and then back to the +ve terminal of the source.

See this article

FYI.  In 1965 I got a 1st class honors degree (summa cum laude) in Mathematics, with Physics as a minor.

My dad was a physicist (and a fellow of the Institute of Physics) and my elder brother taught high school students who were going to read physics at University.

Just saying ...

@jea48 

I looked around for a primer on the subject and found this YouTube it's about a 40 minute chat but is, I think, rather good. Simple but not simplistic.

He doesn't address directionality per se but does explain why different cables may sound different.

To briefly summarize, the signal travels through the cable as a wave - (my simile now, a bit like a slinky, the free electrons nudging the next one from the high energy side to the lower, like the balls of a slinky from the high side to the low side).

However, to the dismay of audiophiles, and the profit margin of cable manufacturers, the velocity of the wave along the wire is dependent of the electrical characteristics of the wire - which are dependent on the physical properties of the cable structure - material, coating, size, dielectric properties of the insulation, braiding - AND THE FREQUENCY OF THE DRIVING SOURCE.

So, if the wave velocity is strongly dependent on the frequency then the complex waveform of the audio signal will be more distorted.  There will always be some distortion, the magnitude of which depends on cable length, and audiophile manufacturers will attempt to minimize the distortion - or try to make it euphonic.

Regarding directionality, if the crystal structure of a cable is asymmetric and that structure affects the electrical characteristics (resistance, capacitance, inductance) asymmetrically then the waveform will be affected asymmetrically as it AC so, perhaps directionality matters.  It would seem to me that the best construction using drawn cable would be that each of the two conductors be a pair of wires, arranged in opposing directions to minimize the grain structure distortion.

Does anyone know of a manufacturer that does this - if not does anyone want to start a business? (joke).