Directionality of wire


I am a fan of Chris Sommovigo's Black Cat and Airwave interconnects. I hope he does not mind me quoting him or naming him on this subject, but Chris does not mark directionality of his IC's. I recently wrote him on the subject and he responded that absent shunting off to ground/dialectric designs, the idea of wire directionality is a complete myth. Same with resistors and fuses. My hunch is that 95% of IC "manufacturers", particularly the one man operations of under $500 IC's mark directionality because they think it lends the appearance of technical sophistication and legitimacy. But even among the "big boys", the myth gets thrown around like so much accepted common knowledge. Thoughts? Someone care to educate me on how a simple IC or PC or speaker cable or fuse without a special shunting scheme can possibly have directionality? It was this comment by Stephen Mejias (then of Audioquest and in the context of Herb Reichert's review of the AQ Niagra 1000) that prompts my question;

Thank you for the excellent question. AudioQuest provided an NRG-10 AC cable for the evaluation. Like all AudioQuest cables, our AC cables use solid conductors that are carefully controlled for low-noise directionality. We see this as a benefit for all applications -- one that becomes especially important when discussing our Niagara units. Because our AC cables use conductors that have been properly controlled for low-noise directionality, they complement the Niagara System’s patented Ground-Noise Dissipation Technology. Other AC cables would work, but may or may not allow the Niagara to reach its full potential. If you'd like more information on our use of directionality to minimize the harmful effects of high-frequency noise, please visit http://www.audioquest.com/directionality-its-all-about-noise/ or the Niagara 1000's owner's manual (available on our website).

Thanks again.

Stephen Mejias
AudioQuest


Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/content/gramophone-dreams-15-audioquest-niagara-1000-hifiman-he1000-v2-p...


fsonicsmith

Showing 11 responses by hifiman5

@nonoise   To take your triumvirate posting one step further, the first triumvirate dissolved after Crassus died fighting in Syria.  Pompey and Caesar fought it out resulting in Pompey's demise.  That, for some, is the beginning of the Roman Empire as Caesar assumed total power and became a dictator.  

Who might be playing the role of dictator on this thread and generally this forum??
@nonoise   I'm sorry.  I was not clear enough.  I was not referring to you as the dictator, rather a frequent "authority", who pontificates authoritarian views here with disturbing frequency.

All the best!
@nonoise  Cincinnatus was a direct role model for George Washington.  Indeed, a statue was made of Washington as a Cincinnatus figure!  Plow and all.  Washington was the quintessential public servant ala Cincinnatus.

Your introduction of history into this thread is welcome as it lends perspective on the present.
Welcome muzzleblast!  

 As Geoff states above, a difficult first post using confusing terminology i.e. speaker IC.  IC is usually interpreted as shorthand for interconnect.  Interconnects connect one component to another either in single ended (RCA style connectors) or balanced configuration.  What leaves the amplifier and attaches to the speaker inputs are usually referred to as speaker cables.

What is your system like?
@nonoise  Very diplomatic of you!  Just please let's not let the UN become involved in audio and screw that up too.  We have a sufficient # of issues as it is.
Feeling sad for Audioholics author. Ear damage limits one's perception of reality me thinks.
@kosst_amojan   Just to understand where you're coming from... Do you believe that everything experiential is measurable?
@georgehifi   Thanks for the link.  I never looked at Geoff's stuff before.  I consider myself to be pretty into system tweaking, but what I saw there makes my efforts absolutely mainstream! 😲