Directional wires/cables


Is there any reason to support the idea that cables, interconnects or any other kind of wiring can be considered directional? It seems that the theory is that carrying current will alter the molecular structure of the wire. I can't find anything that supports this other than in the case of extreme temperature variation. Cryo seems to be a common treatment for wire nowadays. Extreme heat would do something as well, just nothing favorable. No idea if cryo treatment works but who knows. Back to the question, can using the wires in one direction or another actually affect it's performance? Thanks for any thoughts. I do abide by the arrows when I have them. I "mostly" follow directions but I have pondered over this one every time I hook up  a pair.

billpete

Showing 2 responses by soix

@jea48  Thanks a lot for posting the results from that article.  As per my previous post I inadvertently installed my digital cable backwards once and my system literally sounded broken until I figured it out and installed it correctly.  It was not subtle at all, but until now I hadn’t seen anything that explained technically why I clearly heard what I did.  Those who poo poo the directionality of cables can go pound sand.  It’s a real thing. 

I guess I’m in the "It’s mostly BS" camp and I’ll leave it at that…I like to be proven wrong as it means that I got to learn something. I still question burn in with cables as this suggests that they will change with use. I’m pretty skeptical on that but there are folks who claim to hear them change so, who knows.

As far as my understanding, some interconnects are grounded or shielded on one end so are designed to be used in one direction but could be wrong with that. But one day I inadvertently installed my digital cable backwards and my system sounded totally broken and I was panicked. I fairly quickly realized my mistake and when I reversed that interconnect everything was great again. I don’t know whether it was the cable’s construction or whether it had been burned in that way, but the difference was severe and unmistakable. For whatever reason, ignore directionality at your peril.