Directional wires/cables

mgrif104: could have been pre broken in.  Break in is real.

Think of recharable battery memory as another variant.  You have electrons ;moving around a system.  Electrons are the basis of chemical reactions, so by using electricity there is going to subtle chemical changes to your wires.

From my own experiments (the benefit of having more than one good system in my house), once you break in a cable, remove it, then place it on the exact same system, it tends to stay broken in.  Change the cable to another system, you need to go through the break in process from close to squrre one, but it never seems to go back to the point that a brand new cable goes to.

I have a hypothesis on this.  No cable's metal is free of impurities.  Talking to cable manufacturers, control of impurities is very important for consistancy and final quality of audio cables.  There may be some subtle chemical reactions going on between the metal and the components.  You could see how inductance, discussed in my previous post, would change and the interaction between contaminates, the metal component, and also other metals if the cable is a hybrid of say, copper and silver.

There will always be directionality in a wire.  That is the nature of packing on an extruded wire.  It may be very slight in the case of the wires that you are using.  So slight that it isn't material on your particular setup.

I really enjoyed your comment.

@r27y8u92 

I like this quote from Ralph Morrison.

If we accept the idea that fields carry energy in space, it must be true at all frequencies. That is the law. If it is true for light, it must also be true for 60Hz power and at DC. For utility power, the energy travels in the space between conductors, not in the conductors. This is not the picture presented by circuit diagrams, where energy seems to be carried by conductors. In digital circuits, the signals and energy travel in the spaces between traces or between traces and conducting surfaces.

Buildings have halls and walls. People move in the halls, not the walls. Circuits have traces and spaces. Signals and energy move in the spaces, not in the traces.

.

 STILL a topic in 2025?

The most impressive thing about this thread is the number of responses in a relatively short time span.

Carry on.

Fun read while I enjoy my fresh ground dark roast listening to newly acquired music from the used bins at my local store.

“..could have been pre broken in.  Break in is real.” no proof statement again.. yes, there is aging processes in any device s involved in sound amplification and transmission, pareto is in tubes/SS/Dig not wires. cables exposed to aging as well, but, aging makes wires performance degradation with time, due to dielectric hardening and resistance of wires increase.. connectors have own life in this process, and depend on both interconnected sides design, finishing / plating / terminating issues. 

cable can have directionality if cable is unsymmetrical in mechanical or electrical sense, such as having additional filter clamps, special optimized connectors different on two sides, or different cable prep. 

Several of my cables are directional, and although I cannot hear the difference, I follow the instructed direction. For unmarked cables, I use an ad-hoc approach, ensuring that the label aligns with the flow of electrons. I believe in it—why not? It’s doing something in the background, and the cumulative effect might surprise you, right? Even if it’s snake oil, there’s no harm, right?