Dumbest cable question

Some unbalanced interconnects have the shield and drain wire connected only at one end.  That end should be connected at the source component.

@clearthinker That isn’t the dumbest question but it sure is the dumbest answer.

I’m working on my own personal interpretation of duality, in a a possibly unsuccessful attempt to fit in with audiophiles.

The concept of duality will mean different things to different audiophiles - true by definition. 

In the meantime, you speak your truth, and I will mine.  This is how it works here.

@noske I would hope you are being funny but these days you never know. Is this from the same science class that says men can menstruate and have babies?

Thanks @nonoise,

Gilmore has the musician’s authority without having any agenda of his own on this subject. I suggest those that can’t hear it to have their ears checked or to look for another hobby.

Speaking of Pink Floyd, their engineers hear a difference in cable direction, right down to the earth cables. The article linked tells of the Astoria, bought by David Gilmore, and how it was transformed into their recording studio. It goes into all manner of it's origin, uses, recording gear and the engineers and musicians who work on it. A great read to past the time. 

The part about cable directionality is just past the halfway mark on the scroll indicator.

All the best,
Nonoise

@clearthinker ,

You actually believed he was serious...

Now, on a more important note;

GLORY TO UKRAINE!!!!

Sometimes your reading the replies and wondering,  Why am I reading this?.

Then boom, it's all worth it. ;)

Another Pink Floyd masterpiece in the making??? The Cold Side of the Sun.

is there an emoji for irony?

@clearthinker ,

thanks and let there be light!

@noske 

That isn't the dumbest question but it sure is the dumbest answer.

The seasons are not caused by the sun being colder on one side than the other.

They are caused by the tilt of that axis of the earth at about 22º which causes the intensity of the sun's rays, which are parallel, to b spread over greater or lesser areas of the earth's surface, resulting in absorption of less or more energy.  Try the old school experiment of shining a torch vertically over a flat surface and then at an angle.  The illuminated area is larger from an angle, spreading the given amount of light over a larger area.

Cables and fuses are directional because they have a hot end and a cold end.

This is similar to the Sun, which has a hot side and a cold side and this causes winter and summer as the Earth circles around it.

Fuses are certainly NOT directional...turn a fuse around in in a decent system and then just sit there and reflect on the fact that you have too much free time.

....and I'm just jealous of the time y'all have to spare to do so...*G*

Connections can get dirty or corroded or oxidized over time. When you break a connection and then make it again, you get better contact. Which is why one can often hear an improvement after doing so; for example, by reversing the direction.

What Erik said.

And of course balanced cables are "directional".  Because they have different connectors on each end...

Dumb, IMO, would be not trying it yourself and then posting your observasions to your OP.

Are you a pro reviewer, or am I confusing you with someone else?

DeKay

@aberyclark 

I am sorry, but that isn't even close to the dumbest cable question on this forum.

Please try to do better next time.

Audio systems are powered by alternating current (AC) that literally changes direction unlike direct current (DC) that only flows in one direction.  I understand how shielded cables can be directional, but not a cable that has a fully symmetrical design.

Good question. I have certainly wondered about directionality in cables that do not have network boxes (I see why those are directional). I have some with arrows… there are so many variables… and quite frankly I would rather be listening to music. So I have always just plugged then in in accordance with the markings.

However, I have noticed something that does point to an answer for you. When you move cables… they do not sound as good for quite a while. They essentially have to break in again… it takes a couple weeks on my system. So, no, I would not move them or you will be constantly listening to suboptimal sound.

Don’t ask me why… this is definitely in the crazy space, but it is repeatable and consistent. Maybe it is a quantum thing… that stuff never makes any intuitive sense either… but is real.

Audio Envy's speaker cables are interesting.  The Captain states that they can be connected in either direction, but with a difference in the sonic presentation between the two orientations.  Further, that most people prefer the "primary" direction, but some others prefer the alternative (depending, I suppose, on their equipment and their sonic priorities).

I've been told by a few manufacturers that a non-directional cable, once hooked up, should be used only in that direction...no idea about the why of all this, but certainly easy enough to do, and no reason for manufacturer to mislead us...

Nothing wrong in rotation, but whatever you do let it settle for some time.

Listen and evaluate.

This is very far from the dumbest question I’ve seen here. Very far. I don’t have an answer for you, but Chris Sommivigo (stereovox/black cat cables) believes that speaker cables carry an AC signal, which is constantly varying back and forth 60 times per second, so no matter which way you orient cables, the signal flow will always be “wrong” in one direction. I don’t know if he’s correct, but many here claim to hear differences when the cable direction is reversed. It certainly won’t hurt the cables to reverse them. 

I believe zero about conductors being directional, but in the case of shielded cables you want the shield connected at the source but not the destination, which is the reason for the arrows.  In most systems though shielding is barely necessary so this may not even matter.

Some wire is directional! Easily proven using your ears.

More importantly, try it yourself. Don't ask, tell.

I suppose there are dumb questions and dumb answers. Turn around an average fuse in a decent system and you will hear the difference

Wire is NOT directional! Easily proven using an APx555 analyser. Stop fallng for these false beliefs! Any manufacturer claiming their wire is directional is a swindler!

Forgiven.