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Interconnect Directionality

Have I lost my mind? I swear that I am hearing differences in the direction I hook up my interconnect cables between my preamp and power amp. These are custom built solid core silver cables with Eichmann bullet plugs. There is no shield so this is not a case where one end of the cable’s shield is grounded and the other isn’t. 

There are four ways ways to hook them up:
Right: Forward. Left: Forward. 
Right: Backward. Left: Backward
Right: Forward. Left: Backward
Right: Backward. Left: Forward. 

There is no difference in construction between forward and backward, but here are my observations:

When they are hooked up forward/backward there appears to be more airy-ness and what appears to be a slight phase difference. When hooked up forward/forward or backward/backward, the image seems more precise like they are more in phase. The difference between forward/forward and backward/backward is that one seems to push the soundstage back a little bit while the other brings it towards you more. 

What could possibly cause this? Does it have something to do with the way the wire is constructed and how the grains are made while drawn through a die? Am I imagining this? Have I completely lost my mind?
128x128mkgus
mkgus's avatar
mkgus OP
324 posts
 
To clarify, the interconnects in my example have no shield at all. Just 3 solid-core wires (1 signal and 2 for return) with cotton insulation on each wire hand twisted together.  Connectors are eichmann bullets.
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pragmasi
212 posts
 
I'm not sure if any so called hi-end cable manufacture uses shielding in
their speaker cables. I'm pretty sure AQ doesn't. I do know the Clear Day
Shotgun and Double Shotgun speakers cables don't.
Making speaker cables with shields is probably not a good idea, too much capacitance in the Power Amp load can make the output stage oscillate. Shielding is used in the interconnects to make sure interference doesn't get amplified with the signal, the amplified signal in the speaker wire is a high enough voltage for most, if not all interference to be lost in the noise floor.
To clarify, the interconnects in my example have no shield at all. Just 3 solid-core wires (1 signal and 2 for return) with cotton insulation on each wire hand twisted together.  Connectors are eichmann bullets.
Thanks for clarifying, that's what I thought you meant. If you want to take the experiment further you may want to test the interconnects further up the signal chain assuming your preamp has some gain. You'd hear the differences clearer also if you experiment with them between a turntable and MC/MM amplifier, the additional gain and RIAA equalisation would certainly highlight mains interference as well as testing to see whether the perceived effect of directionality increases.

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geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Think of it like fuses. If you have, say, four fuses in the system and don’t know whether they’re in the right direction or not, check the fuses one at a time by listening for which direction sounds best. It will be easier to do this as you go along. As more fuses are in the right direction the clearer the sound will be. And therefore easier to tell which direction is correct for the last couple fuses. Raise your hand if you still don’t understand.
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