As someone who “draws “ the wire for a living I can tell you that unless whatever company that makes theses “directionable cables” is doing the whole process themselves from the smelting of the copper all the way to coating and spooling it for consumer consumption they have no clue which way it was drawn

@DanChampionJr

3 жыл бұрын

Question: Not an argument, since I have no clue, but wouldn't the way it was wound on the spool leaving the smelting/drawing company before it gets coated be a clue as to which way it was drawn?

@wb5mgr

3 жыл бұрын

Dan because it might get spooled and respooled more than once in the process. kzread.info/dash/bejne/ho2bqrVsqdKThrg.html

@fonkenful

2 жыл бұрын

Just for fun, add the special sauce of “cryogenic treatment” to the conversation and sit back with a bag of freshly buttered popcorn and enjoy the show.

This is easy to explain... The reason the arrows are on the cable is because it allows them to charge another 100$ per foot.

Audiophiles are super humans with the power of super hearing but like all super heroes, they have one weakness..their super hearing goes away the moment their vision is blocked

@blanchbacker

3 жыл бұрын

Lmfao

@szulat

3 жыл бұрын

that's "quantum entanglement"! 😉

@kahuna1247

3 жыл бұрын

I love this comment!

@travis1240

3 жыл бұрын

So true.

@uribar-ner5055

3 жыл бұрын

So 👍

If electric cables were directional, I would think that telecom companies and electrical engineers would have figured it out by now. Why would the effects be specific to audio signals and only noticed by audiophiles? If a cable were even one percent better in one direction there would be a lot of money to be made in some industries with that knowledge.

@4dirt2racer0

2 жыл бұрын

i cant edit my own comment for some reason but id like to clarify, i do believe there is some measurable difference on some scale, but i doubt our audio equipment is soo sensitive that it would be affected by somethin that minute

@stevenp.sparks2953

2 жыл бұрын

@@4dirt2racer0 If your land line telephone came into your house through a McIntosh 300W amp w/ appropriate preamp, and you listened to your callers through B&W 800s, THEN it would matter to telecom companies. Phones are just not NEARLY resolving enough that you would even be able to hear a difference.....

@4dirt2racer0

2 жыл бұрын

@@stevenp.sparks2953 yea exactly, but most of us don't listen on..300 watts amps, whiches a little higher than I woulda thought.. Is that normal for phone line testing?

@HASHEAVEN

Жыл бұрын

@@stevenp.sparks2953 But the studios where music is recorded to end up to your McIntosh and B&Ws dont buy to that cable BS... but somehow you make the music recorded with Belden and mogami 100 times better and more resolving than it was recorded when you use the magical audioquest at your home... I guess studio's equipment aren't as resolving as your consumer audio system...

@HASHEAVEN

Жыл бұрын

@@stevenp.sparks2953 Since you brought up McIntosh, Roger Russell proved back in the day that there is no difference between a lamp wire and expensive cables!

If you hear a difference, you must be able to measure a difference as well. If you can measure a difference, a physical property lies at the basis of this difference. Until someone is capable of showing me these differences, I'm not buying any of this. Audio is AC, it changes direction the whole time to begin with, so if switching sides changes the sound, that means there is assymetrical distortion at play here, which we can test for. But noone from the directional camp seems to be able to provide evidence (and no, "I can hear a difference and I have famous golden ears" doesn't qualify as evidence). @paul: The least you could do is provide which cables you clearly heard a difference with when switching sides, and possibly run some tests to see where the difference might come from.

@paulhamacher773

5 жыл бұрын

Well put in a nutshell! Thank you!

@AnonymousUser77254

5 жыл бұрын

An oscilloscope should be able to clear this up in an instant

@dougelick8397

5 жыл бұрын

No device exists to measure the cognitive dissonance required to defend buying extremely expensive fantasies.

@tpobrienjr

5 жыл бұрын

Nor is the confirmation bias measurable. It's all held together by conspiracy theory, perhaps.

@tpobrienjr

5 жыл бұрын

Can you measure it? Can anyone else hear it?

Wire being cold drawn through dies work hardens it by creating grain boundaries where the crystalline structure of one grain is discontinuous with adjacent grains. Grain boundaries can be broken down by annealing, that is heating it. You cannot cast a single monolithic crystal. Zone furnaces are used to continuously melt segments of materials passing through them to concentrate impurities but they don't create monolithic crystals. The only way to do that is with crystal growing machinery. Atoms line up on a monolithic seed crystal through vapor deposition or a similar process. If you had a single crystal wire you would create grain boundaries every time you bent it. While cold drawn wire even when annealed can have some directional physical properties, AC electricity does not.

Yeah... But the thing is that audio signal has no DC content in it, as in the signal always goes back and forth. Even if there is a "best direction" for electrons to flow it would always affect one polarity of the sine wave, no matter how you connect the cable.

I had to remove all my pipes in my new house and reinstall them because they were all put in with the arrow going the wrong way

@musicman8270

6 жыл бұрын

Hopefully when you flush the toilet it will only go in one direction, as opposed to audio signals, which tend to travel in two diections.

@bradleysmith681

5 жыл бұрын

I've replacing all my AC conductors with directional conductors for brighter burning lamps!!

@chrisw7188

5 жыл бұрын

wait till i replace the fuel lines in my car! cant wait to gain 30 HP !

Hi Paul , thank you for answering my question . I will indeed try what you mentioned and write back to you . I really appreciate your help and feedback .

@siyavash0007

5 жыл бұрын

Hey paul. Im from tehran and i learn so many from ur videos. Just wanna say thanks.

@iRmazz96

3 жыл бұрын

don't listen to his BS...

@deejeemadrox1866

Жыл бұрын

Plz, cables are two way directional for ages. There is no one way magical copper trick . It is snake oil. Dislike Paul every day more. Why? He should know better, i cannot believe a smart man like him believe this fantasy. However, he is a great seller. He let alot of us believe it does matter. Thise whi do not, are the real elecrric engineers. Paul is, sorry to say, a charlatan and a salesperson.

Even if cable production induced any preferred direction for flow of the electrons, this would apply to DC only. But music is AC, so direction of voltage and current permanently change their direction. Probably, the bigger effect for sound improvement is pulling the cables on and of from their RCA jackets for cleaning off corrosion. As mentioned in the video by Paul.

i shall never forget the time i collected and took to my friend's home, a set of expensive "directional" speaker cables. he was blind but owned a $70g audio system. after connecting the speaker cables my friend stated one channel was now different to the other. after some deliberation and listening, i had to agree...and discovered one of the two cables fitted was the wrong way round. i reversed that one cable and have never doubted cable direction from that day forward.

@bradleysmith681

5 жыл бұрын

No, you 'think' you heard a difference but didnt..

@marianneoelund2940

3 жыл бұрын

The mistake you made, was to not first try simply disconnecting the cable, then re-connecting it the same way - in other words, just break/remake the connections. I'd wager that would have produced the same change as reversing the cable direction.

Presumably when Paul says he can hear a difference when cables run in different directions he is talking about when he listens through his ultra expensive Infinity IRS V speakers

Directional cable : ac current ??? Something doesnt work right here.

The other factor in the directional Audioquest cables has to do with the use of two identical core signal lines, and the shielding being connected only to one end so that it properly shields RF but does not carry the signal. Audioquest always connects the shield to the receiving device, although I have found other directional RCA cables that connect the shielding only to the sending device. I always thought the purpose of the directionality had to do exclusively with which device carries the shielding, and I never knew the wires themselves were directional. And I have never tried to run them in the other direction, since it doesn't cost any more in time or expense to run them either way.

Since the signal is AC, why not put 1/2 the strands in one direction and the other 1/2 in the other.

@xiro6

4 жыл бұрын

it will be better to use 4 cables instead of 2,one pair for going signal and one pair for the return signal.of course,taking care of the arrows on the cable,and it will be better if the amp,speakers,etc,have phisicall connectors for each.

@gilgalaad80

3 жыл бұрын

you can have even better results with wireless cables.

I'm going to add a second comment. As a service technician, one of my duties is to troubleshoot and repair problems with health care related imaging equipment. X-ray, MRI, CAT scan devices, like audio equipment, all use cables. Not to mention software. One of, if not the most frequent, causes of imaging issues is connectivity. Whether a defective or damaged cable, poor termination, bad connector, etc., the end result is the user(Doctor, nurse, tech specialist)has an issue with the quality of the image. A quality issue that I may not see, but they do. Sometimes it's a simple cleaning of the connector. Sometimes a cable is replaced. After fixing all of these things(and most of the time it's out of sight of the user as they have more pressing matters to attend to), the user is asked to look at the results. Many times it's positive and the problem is solved. Sometimes not, depending on who is looking at it. As I said, I may not see the issue, but have to go by what they are saying. How do we explain that? My eyes may not see what their eyes do. I don't know, but this sure sounds like that audio thing of what sounds better or not. I think Paul said it best, that he just doesn't know. But it sounded better. Perhaps it's just a mystery.

An analog audio signal is an a.c. signal, meaning that it alternates back and forth in polarity. For simplicity's sake, take a pure 440hz "A" note sine wave... In the span of one second, the electrical signal conducts in one direction, positive to negative, and then flows in the opposite direction, negative to positive, and it then repeats the process 439 more times, so half the time, current is flowing one way, and half the time, it's flowing the opposite, so by default, audio cables, mic, line, or speaker, balanced or unbalanced, are all bi-directional.

Electricity is movement of electrons (Period). At an atomic level electrons are electrons and will do the same thing in either direction. In an AC circuit, 60 (in USA) times a sec it will go back and forth. The only reason something could sound different is quality of connector or if something was ADDED/Subtracted in the circuit.

@armelind

4 жыл бұрын

@Dave Micolichek Ummm EXPLAIN IT! Tell me how I am wrong. Not as a challenge but as a "If I am wrong tell me where my thinking is wrong."

@armelind

4 жыл бұрын

@Klaa2 Explain it to me then. Why am I wrong?

I am from India. I saw this video just yesterday as it was a suggestion on my youtube home page. Made some changes based on the recommendations that is put all cables in the right direction (speaker as well as interconnects). There is considerable improvement. It was purely my ignorance on my part. Thanks a lot for this informative video.

@Paulmcgowanpsaudio

Жыл бұрын

That's great! Thank you for sharing.

Thank you for explaining the theory behind why people think this matters. The ultimate reason is psychological though. These are AC signals so it truly does not matter. Even if there's some factual basis to the notion that drawing cables creates directionality; half the time the cables are going to be conducting "the wrong way" no matter what you do. There's a good reason there's only a couple of machines that can continuously cast copper wire. Its because its completely unnecessary.

Just made a pair of RCA from some leftover sheilded Quadstar XLR cable. The sheild is grounded on the pre-amp side, so I put a direction on the heat shrink. Surprised this wasn't mentioned it would be good to know ps audio opinion on this

My understanding and how I make my own RCAs, is that the arrows are meant to indicate the RCA shielding direction (2 conductors and the shielding, not coaxial). It does make a difference in that the shielding is solder only on one end to ground (usually at the source). If it does not to go to chassis ground, at the very least, this will make the noise from the shielding travel longer than the audio signal, hopefully filtering it out before it gets to the amp.

I love this channel!

I've got a great idea for a game show. Audiophiles take a challenge to prove they can identify (in a prolonged blind test) their 'superior' gear, which is also their 'stake', and as such will be lost if they fail. Naturally a prize, as an incentive has to be offered, perhaps an upgrade of their choice. I anticipate problems finding enough willing contestants. Would you step up to the plate Paul?

Happy 4th of July Mr McGowan

Surly audio signals are in the mean symmetrical AC waves, so the charge spends as much time going one way as another (particularly in balanced cables where there’s me reference to ground) so even if there were some effect to this it would be the cancelled out by the other half of the wave?

Whether or not cables are directional could be easily proven or disproven with a properly executed double blind test. The fact that no conclusive evidence has been presented that cables are directional, my guess is that moving your head by an inch would have a bigger effect on the sound you hear. Until proven otherwise I'll categorize cable directionality under the category BS Audio (pun intended).

@johnholmes912

3 жыл бұрын

you can't "prove" anything with a double-blind test in the scientific sense of the word; by their very nature you are making subjective comparisons..........non-measureable

So many things that audiophiles say they hear are just in their head. Not saying this falls into that category (though it probably does) but I have heard so many people say they hear things that are proven to beyond the capability of humans to hear, so, just gotta put that out there.

@paulhamacher773

5 жыл бұрын

and they didn't do an ABX test. i wonder why everybody takes the reliability of his ears as "measuring devices" for granted and isn't interested in a verifiable result. in the end just to verify that your ears are really as trustworthy as for which you take them. is there a fear of being disappointed? i don't care about being disappointed by the limits of my hearing capabilities. i hear what i hear and if i know the limitations i can save a ton of money!

@oscargr_

5 жыл бұрын

I put my cables in the wrong way, and it actually sounded better. LoL My point is... If people think they heard a difference, they are always going to say the "correct" way around sounded "better".

Arrows on cables are a great idea, and I wish my cables had them. Anyone who's ever set up a system with more than a few components, especially with tape decks and separate dolby units or other processors, etc., knows how annoying it can be, to keep track of which cables are connected to inputs versus outputs, when handling the far end. I have a switch box which does many of my component interconnections, and every time I go to use the "aux" input and output cables for a unit that I'm temporarily connecting into the system, it involves a few minutes of frustration trying to figure out which cable is the input, and which is the output. If I had arrows, it would be obvious: Connect the cables with the arrows pointing toward inputs, and away from outputs, indicating the direction of information (power) flow. Helps avoid accidentally connecting outputs together. Now, as far as whether or not there is an audible difference from turning cables around, I should probably point out that audio signals are a.c., so current flows in both directions through the wire, regardless of which way you're using the cable. If there is some difference in direction of current flow, the cable is going to produce even-harmonic distortion, used either way. With regard to material science, I should note that mono-crystalline copper is an extremely soft material. My MS professor told a story of one of his graduate students, who had successfully grown a mono-crystalline bar of copper, and as he was holding the bar by one end while excitedly telling the professor about his achievement, the bar literally started to sag from just its weight. When copper (or any metal) is deformed or drawn, atomic dislocations ripple through the material in random directions; as these dislocations meet along lines, they "entangle" which resists further dislocation movements and causes the metal to harden. Drawn copper is harder and tougher than annealed copper, giving it desirable strength characteristics, but this has nothing to do with its electrical properties. The most important contribution to electrical performance, is purity, and that isn't directional. Crystal structure is (pardon the pun) immaterial to electrical applications.

@iRmazz96

3 жыл бұрын

thank you! i love science and hate snake oil.

I did find though, that knotted speaker cables strangled the bass response of my system. Untangled they sounded full again.

@joshhyyym

3 жыл бұрын

if you found the opposite I could easily believe it as the knotted wire would have a greater inductance

Sometimes the direction is due to the shield connection. RCA cables may have three wires: signal, ground and shield, signal and ground connect on both ends, but the shield only on one, for directing noise towards the ground of the source. Or to shield the cable with a good cable for shielding without introducing it to the sound.

I did see a grounded Sheild cables that get attached to chassis ground. I know in my business for communication wires we use grounded shielded wiring that is only attached at one in at the main device and ungrounded at the other end and the communication cables travel in the center.

@brianparenteau5310

4 жыл бұрын

This is the correct answer. It is referred to as floating to the ground. It results in emi and rfi from the shield to be kept at source and not transferred downline to the next component.

"Try not to influence yourself" is your advice when listening for comparison. I seldomly heard a clearer direction given to the trapdoor of autosuggestion...

@fonkenful

2 жыл бұрын

AKA expectation and confirmation bias.

2:24 - well this is a craziest S**t I ever heard from Paul!!!! Highly entertaining channel :)

Some cables utilize a twisted pair with a shield connected at one end. In this case you want the shield end connected to the component output for better noise rejection. Not snake oil at all.

@matrixmodulator

2 жыл бұрын

what you mean by that "a twisted pair with a shield connected at one end" ? can you show a diagram or how its done or more info?

Considering that the signal being connected is AC it is hard imagine that one phase functions better than the other. Every cycle flips polarity so is half of the signal hamstrung by the cable's directionality? High quality interconnects and speaker wire is a good idea but that's one rabbit hole I am not going down.

Ground loops can be prevented,certain cables with a shield and separate ground have this ability.

Another rationale for the arrows on RCA cables is to indicate which end of the cable has its shield connected to ground.

@motorradmike

6 жыл бұрын

mattdudamusic, agreed!

@drumphil00

6 жыл бұрын

You're going to worry about the end of the cable that the shield is connected, and you're using unbalanced RCA I/O??? Which end the shield is connected doesn't even really matter with pro gear with balanced I/O. With properly designed pro gear that doesn't directly connect the shield to signal ground, the shield can and should be connected at both ends of the cable to the chassis.

@motorradmike

6 жыл бұрын

drumphil00, I do not have any “pro audio” gear with true balanced interconnects. My RCA wire configuration is kind of semi balanced. Yes, you can argue about it not making any difference because of components chassis ground, etc. I have been doing this for almost twenty years and have compared it to several high end / jeweled boutique RCA interconnects. So rather than shooting me down, make yourself a pair and try them. The proof might just be in the listening. The fact that I CAN hear an obvious difference in my very modest Schiit, NAD, Oppo, Nakamichi, Music Hall, Beyerdynamic and Tekton system is my call.

@drumphil00

6 жыл бұрын

If it makes an audible difference, it will still make the same audible difference when plugged in backwards, because audio signals are AC, and the electrons move back and forth in BOTH directions. And if we're talking about which end a shield is connected (as in not at both ends), it means that the shield isn't audio ground (like it is with unbalanced RCA), or having it disconnected at one end would mean that the circuit would be broken, and no audio would be going anywhere.

@bjornahh87

6 жыл бұрын

drumphil00 and then you have electrons leaking all over your precious carpet and floor... no it will always take the way of minimal resistance to ground..

The thing is, once the signal gets to the speaker crossover, it is going through the connector, solder joints, flat solid copper of the circuit board, solid wire of capacitors, etc. and light bulb protection circuits and then small gauge wire to the speakers. So what does it all mean? I use good RCA and speaker wire and follow the arrows, but I really cannot say that it all makes any difference. I used to tri-amp to avoid all that, but downsizing now.

From the ISM (industrial, Scientific, Manufacturing) world, the only parameters that are measurable include resistance, capacitance, inductance, dielectric constant and absorption, which influence propagation velocity and frequency. None of these are changed by the draw direction of the conductor. Balanced wire for interconnects and line power cord with the 3rd conductor only have directionality so when the 3 pin connectors are attached, a pair does not have to be crossed to add the connector. On power the end of the cable connects to the male or female connector with the hot and it's color in the correct place. If you put the connector on the wrong end, the ground either has to be pulled between the conductors to reach the correct connection, or the hot and neutral need swapped to reach the correct terminals. This only has to do with the color of the wire for it's function and nothing else. Same for XLR which has a drain wire in addition to the braid. This helps prevent phase reversal in balanced cables as neither end should have swapped connections.

@bradleysmith681

5 жыл бұрын

isettech please! There is no place for real science here. These snake oil salesmen have discovered a new factor in conductivity that no other scientist is aware of.

I have a VERY expensive set up. The only way I found to get the 'noise' out of the phono circuit was to switch to the cheapest, oldest RCA cables in my junk box. The expensive cable? Noisefest.

@deejeemadrox1866

Жыл бұрын

So true. The only way thise expenive snake oil cables can sound "different" is to add something to the signal, like noise, a rf vatteie antenna, a resistor or capacitor. Noise floors of cheap cables are great so there you go. You Add some 'mustard' and then say it sounds better. Can you hear it! Yes they di, but only with there eyes wide open and knowing what they are listening to. Ong, how lucky. Blind tests are invalid.

The one reason I can think of that might make a cable directional is if the shield on an interconnect is only connected one on end to prevent curent flow in the shield.. The end with the shield sb connected to the source component.

@jjhack3r

2 жыл бұрын

That’s impossible on an RCA cable. The shield is one of the signal wires and won’t be disconnected on one side. It’s also impossible to have any effect on XLR cables because the direction is already determined (male on one end, female on the other) ac audio signals are “push pull”, alternating current. No matter which orientation the cable is connected, the current is exactly the same pushing and pulling.

@dell177

2 жыл бұрын

@@jjhack3r What if the cable had 2 conductors and one of those was connected to common on BOTH ends?

This video officially makes your company BS Audio.

Single crystal copper cables is something I'd like to put my hands on. I know continuous casting processes for aluminum that are not single crystal (paper and laminates) but I also know the single crystal process for silicon. From my point of view, the arrows could help when setting up your system if you are doing a 12.1 system and all your wires are on the floor - or to really know which end is being swapped more often for your A/B tests. I'll look for papers on copper crystalography to check if any relevant difference can be observed. For RCA, maybe a wire with impedance matchin circuitry on each end could explain that.

The direction of the pulled wire makes a big difference. This is why manufacturers always orientate their machines to pull from north to south in the northern hemisphere and south to north in the southern hemisphere. Think about that next time you're pulling your own wire.

@oscargr_

5 жыл бұрын

Jerry Oswald. Bullshit. Good cable manufacturers pull their cables towards Mecca.

@oswaldjh

5 жыл бұрын

Oscar Gr : Only if your audio system is only going to be used atop a Minaret for the Islamic Call To Prayer.

@oscargr_

5 жыл бұрын

Jerry Oswald. Oh, yeah.. all my experience is based on that application. LoL

I'd like to differentiate. In analog audio (or just about any kind of AC), as far as I know, a wire is a wire is a wire - and I haven't seen or heard any proof of anything else yet. In digital data transmission, there very well can be a direction to a cable, for example in active cables for video (ones that have built in line drivers on them). There actually are things like active HDMI cables that can be 120 or 150 feet long and come with a weird looking power adapter combo on the source end, which will be clearly labeled, and a big fat plug on the sink end which will be clearly labeled as such.

The only reason for arrows on a cable is just for convenience and reference so you can figure out which signal goes where. Audio is AC so the electrons are going just as much one way as they are going the other.

Paul, may I offer a correction here on what you said about RCA plugs corroding. Most RCAs worth their salt, would have gold plated pins and body in which case there's no oxidization issue. The effect we hear if we unplug and plug again RCAs is mostly, IMHO, due to just plain dirty particles and moisture that affects the conductivity between plug and socket. In fact, a meticulous clean up with menthylated spirit of such connections, does have a positive effect on the sound, and is highly recommended on a regular basis (..say, once every six months or so..) Same applies to power cable pins, keep them clean and shiny and you have perfect conductivity.

@georgebedorf7950

6 жыл бұрын

gold is best only if it is mated with gold. Otherwise an inter-metallic reaction over time will result in corrosion. Do not waste money on cables with gold connector unless the connectors on the device are also gold.

@m.9243

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks George. I take it as a given that, most audiophile products use gold plated RCA sockets. Therefore, we have a connection of gold on gold (plated) in which, no corrosion should be evident over a period of time. Personally, I do have a fully balanced system (XLR) in which, both the plugs and the input sockets have gold plated pins. I use high quality cables and don't plan to buy any more!

Paul good advice have a good day

My Chord Company cables had the ends put on a different way to the printing on the cable so now I’m faced with a conundrum, do I follow the arrows or do I follow the direction of the printing. The seller told me to ignore the arrows and go by the printing. I haven’t had a good nights sleep in the last 6 years worrying about this 😴 😂😂😂😂😂

@stevenc8054

2 жыл бұрын

Awesome. Funny. I can relate.

True! From my own experience several years ago I had cables made by my technician and they had an arrow which I believed pointed to the source and I thought they sounded better on the opposite side Until I realized they were in the right direction;)

@DaveJ6515

3 жыл бұрын

I have had both experiences. Some cables I had twenty years ago had the arrows, but there was no difference at all when swapping them. It’s totally different with the cables I have now. The difference is there. But you also need a very good setup to notice it, otherwise I wouldn’t bother.

I think the arrows on some cables have another purpose. They indicate which end the shielding is connected to

I was always told that "copper" when heated and pulled into strands the internal crystal structure has a direction - the direction it was pulled in. Apparently, voltage has less resistance in the direction it was drawn from? As I'm writing this, you just said basically the same lol

@DMZamora

6 жыл бұрын

Yes, but we're talking about alternating current here, musical signal does not flow in a single direction. In my book, oxidation does the trick.

@ProjectOverseer

6 жыл бұрын

Daniel Zamora Power Supply: The primary purpose of a power supply in a power amplifier is to take the 120/220 VAC power from the outlet and convert it to a DC voltage (VAC is an abbreviation for Volts Alternating Current, and DC is an abbreviation for Direct Current). Conversion from AC to DC is necessary because the semiconductor devices (transistors, FETs, MOSFETs, etc.) used inside the equipment require this type of voltage. (By the way, FET stands for Field Effect Transistor, and MOSFET stands for Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor). Many different types of power supplies are used in power amplifiers, but in the end they all basically aim to generate DC voltage for the transistor circuits of the unit. The very best of amplifiers have two totally independent power supplies, one for each channel (they do share a common AC power cord though). Truly excellent amplifiers will also have a separate (or at least separately regulated) power supply for the input stage (those circuits that do not actually drive the speaker). Under heavy load, the power supply voltage internal to the amp can sag (and this can lead to distortion). By having a separate power supply for the signal level signals in the amplifier, the distortion added by a sagging power supply is kept out of all but the final (output) stage.

@DMZamora

6 жыл бұрын

I'm not talking about the current from AC outlet, and you much probably know it. Ever saw a waveform of a musical signal? It varies around the 0V line, both to the positive and negative sides.

@marianneoelund2940

6 жыл бұрын

@Chris Bishop Internal design and operation of amplifiers implies nothing about the signals going into and out of them. As Daniel correctly explained, all audio signals between components are a.c., and if the copper in cables had a directional preference, it would cause distortion regardless of which direction it is connected.

@ProjectOverseer

6 жыл бұрын

Marianne Oelund Thanks for the info 👍 But where did I state that directional cables have validity? I just said, I was told this is why they are called directional. Many believe it has fabulous audio benefits, and to be honest, I'm not totally convinced. As for the DC vs AC There was a running argument on the old Live Audio Board (the precursor to ProSoundWeb) where one person insisted that an amplifier which had only a positive output (Class A, for example) was a DC amplifier. He based that opinion on a strict interpretation of the words that make up the initialisms "AC" and "DC." Since that Class A amplifier's output current wasn't alternating in direction, it was direct current. The truth is that the terms AC and DC are misnomers, and when we talk about signals we talk about the static component (DC) and the time-varying component (AC). All signals have both.

Dam it! That actually makes sense, and now this little fact will bother me with my setup.

An issue I've not seen mentioned is that if one only connects amplifiers to the "input" end of a cable, and avoids connecting the output ends of cables together, one can avoid accidentally connecting equipment's outputs together, an action which could potentially have very serious consequences. Normally one would need to make a pretty big mistake to accidentally connect outputs together, but if cables get tangled and confused it could happen if one doesn't have any labels on anything. Putting arrows along the length of a cable won't be sufficient to ensure that the right speakers get connected to the right outputs, but will guard against many dangerous ways of miswiring things.

Mine have no arrows... not sure how to proceed. Help please.

@HareDeLune

6 жыл бұрын

Dr. Zoidberg Listen one direction, reverse, listen again. Done!

@dr.zoidberg4313

6 жыл бұрын

I hate One Direction. Can I use Megadeth?

@justingilmore6417

6 жыл бұрын

that's the story of my life.....

@MalteWilsen

6 жыл бұрын

You can draw arrows on them.

@adotopp1865

6 жыл бұрын

How does one proceed ? with a permanent marker pen or using audiophile cable directionalality indicator tags?

True story: back around 1982 or 83, I was listening to my system (Luxman PD444 w/ Fidelity Research FR66ss arm and Mark Levinson MLC-1 cart, Levinson ML-1 & ML-9 and Quad ESL-63 speakers) when my best friend and audio salesman called. “Try reversing your pre- to power run,” he told me. REALLY, I thought, but I figured what the heck, and it was easy to do with the Camac connectors on the Levinson gear, so I did. BANG! Sound opened up, became way more airy and detailed. I was astonished, but skeptical enough to want to double-check, so I swapped ends again. UTTERLY CLOSED DOWN, or at least back to the quality it had been previously. Subsequent experiments my friend and I did verified this effect for both interconnects and speaker cables, completely repeatable and predictable based on the direction of the lettering on the cable jackets (which in the case of Levinson wire ran from sink (power amp) to source (preamp) for best results. I should also mention that my friend has also experimented with balanced cables from several manufacturers and found the same results. I’ve heard the same theory regarding the wire drawing process and crystalline directionality that you mentioned, and from my own Double-E point of view, it sounds likely, though I’m not a metallurgist, either. I will insist that cable directionality, at least as it applies to drawn wire cables, is an actual phenomenon I have heard multiple times since that first incident, and I have no reason to question it. Cable direction dependence is very, very REAL.

@Tubetinkerer

5 жыл бұрын

Troubleshooter125 🤦‍♂️

One way to clean the connectors is to spray Deoxit D100 on them and work them to help clean them out.

As a speaker is pushed and pulled, the electrons will flow one way then the other. *If* there is directionality, then that’s unfortunate - because both speaker wires are two way streets.

RCA 3 conductor cables with the outside shield not connected on one end is a shield drain and sometimes called a ground lift in professional audio, and as such directional. You have to be a professional installer to understand and connect this type of cable correctly. The idea is to send the signal flow in opposite direction and the noise picked up on the shield in the opposite. Some people call this a balance RCA cable because it is not a coaxial cable due to the 2 signal wires being the same, usually a twisted pair surrounded by a shield.

You're missing a major point... Most directional cables I've seen are because one end of the shield is lifted. That means stray emf will only go one way toward ground rather than bounding back and forth and/or cause ground hum

@adamyelle4901

3 жыл бұрын

That's the story I've heard with the cables I own. Are the cables superior as a result? No idea. They look nice, I'm happy with how the system sounds, and I picked them up for a good deal at a local audio show.

Don't you think the direction could mean the side where the shield meets the ground? I saw the video here about a one sided shield grounding. So the arrow can show the side wich catches (or not) all the noise.

Like many have stated, this applies to the shielding not being soldered on one side specially for star quad cables used for rca analog applications. Its to ge the maximum rf and noise rejection when there are many electronics involved such as power supplies, phone, laptop chargers etc. all those power supplies can add noise if they are too close to the analo rca cable. There is no issue if its a star quad cable with a floating shield on one side. Has nothing to do with enhancing the audio signal in any way. Its about protection.

ALTERNATING CURRENT, if there is a difference the cable has semiconductive properties and is crap BOTH ways as it would modify the signal asymmetrically regardless of which way it's plugged.

I find it hard to believe there would be an audible difference unless there was a measurable electrical difference. Be it resistance, impedance, inductance, etc. I'd have to see the difference on a test instrument to believe it.

@bradleysmith681

5 жыл бұрын

Russell Hltn If this were true, it would show up as measurable distortion.

Late to the game here, I've heard the direction of a cable also due to the fact that the shielding is connected onto the negative side at the "source end", could that be correct ?

My MIT terminator cables have an extra box on the cable that I was told that they have attached a small circuit on the cable to improve. In this case, the direction is defined.

For unbalanced interconnects with shield, the tendency is only one end is earthed. This does not have any effect with balanced XLR interconnects. The direction indication is more for installation reasons. If you do have many cables running around, the direction indications do help you narrow down the choices trying to find the correct cable. In this case, it's not snake oil but those who have stage audio experience will know snake cables. :)

i had that oxidization thing on mine recently, the high's just went away. but now i need to figure out, how to get rid of a humming problem. my amp is connected to a USB dac. but at 50% the volume it has noticeable humm. when i disconnect it from the dac, it goes away. i tried using those transformer rca decoupler / isolators. no luck. also tried different wall sockets, plug orientations and put the cables away from any mains cable. maybe a USB isolator next time. btw after pulling those cables and changing its crystaline structure, why not inductively heat it up afterwards to make the crystals organize itself like it would be when casted this way. no need for expensive or exotic machinery. but i doubt that this has any effect on the signal at, just a mind thing. you dont hear it if you dont know about it.

@bjornahh87

6 жыл бұрын

what youshuld do is try with a different usb cable, not all of them are shielded so the possibility is that you have interference that is making its way via the usb cable, or if you use a higrade usbcable, the just buy a cheap one and test it out on diifferent usb ports too, could be the grounding in the ub connector at the pc side that is faulty.. best of luck and hope it helps...

Hmmmm. I do not know about a bunch of the crystal structure of drawn copper stuff but with RCA interconnects, there is a significant difference. A one end shielded cable in which the grounded end is connected to the source nets definite benefits in reducing EMI/RFI induced to the system. This has worked over and over for my system. I am wondering if the same one end shielded speaker cable could net the same results. I have never tried this with speaker cables but it would make some sense that if EMI/RFI can be induced to this wire, then shielding back to its source could benefit the overall sound.

Although the cable signal is an alternating current, small impurities in the conductor act as diodes allowing signal flow to be better in one direction over time. Regardless of the purity of the metal used, there are still diode effects in all conductors. In addition, the insulation material will change when it is subjected to an electrical field.

@marianneoelund2940

3 жыл бұрын

Please stop promulgating this nonsense. Impurities in metals are randomly distributed and do not and cannot, produce any kind of diode action. Diode junctions can only be made by careful arrangement and control of impurity concentrations in semiconductors, or by using metal-semiconductor interfaces. If there were any kind of directional difference in a conductor, it would result in harmonic distortion of ac signals which would have been detected and reported long ago.

Directionality in wire is curious being that the flow of energy with AC is bi-directional. It may have to do with the fact that the electrons in the wire really don’t move much, they just shuffle back and forth a little and pass along their energy like a bucket brigade. Put all the lefties in one line and the righties in another.

In my opinion is the complex audio signal going through a two wire copper that has varying capacitance per foot

I own some directional audio cables. The only reason they are directional is because one end has a ferrite core. This is used to keep unwanted interferences or noise. Many cables have ferrite cores. Computer cables, Xbox and Playstation all use them.

I’ve noticed that my speaker cables have more depth and airiness when I draw arrows on them.

Check out the absolute sound cable and interconnect construction.

Paul may have forgotten to explain about the shield grounded end of RCA cable.

Very interesting concept, would it be fair to assume even subtle differences would be revealed using Dirac or the likes and repeating flipping the cable?

Signal cables (unbalanced interconnects) often have their screen/shield only connected at one end - the source end, to avoid a ground loop and suppress noise. It's that simple. I wasn't aware that some speaker cables are marked as directional - this must be because of the "crystalline direction caused by cable pulling" mentioned in the video. Just use the cables in the suggested direction, with the arrows leading from the source. No need to make a big fuss about it, unless someone experiences great discomfort in following manufacturer suggestions.

@deejeemadrox1866

Жыл бұрын

Nope, asr reviewed the greatest snake oil brand, audioquest 5000 dollar worth of snake skins and they were tested worse, in both directions ..roflmao

the signal moves so fast (close to the speed of light) down the 3/4 meter cable that any minuscule change in the cable can not be heard. with that said, I did my own A/B test with some Audioquest cables and heard a difference. I guess some of those electrons were playing tricks on me.

Paul, I don't think the crystal structure is changed but the grain structure is changed.

So are you saying that there is increases resistance in one direction? If that's the case, a slight increase in CSA will solve any directionality problems you may have. It does not stand to reason that the crystalline structure of a wire would affect sound at all, the electricity travels in both directions to produce a wave form. The best speaker cables you can buy are the thickest ones you can find with as direct a connection to the drivers as possible (soldered to the tinsels is ideal). The best interconnects are the ones with the most secure terminations and the thickest shielding.

BECAUSE , they go places !

Have you ever seen the HUGE flat cables that Paul has on those massive speakers in the listening room at PS Audio?? You can bet your sweet ass that they have arrows on them and that the cables are hooked up in the direction specified by those arrows. I don't believe any of that "directional cable" crap, but if I owned those huge flat cables.... I'd have the arrows pointed in the recommended direction too! Just because they cost so much!!

I just flipped my cables around put on a beatles record and helter skelter started playing backwards...there is a god. Seriously though.If I disconnect cables I prefer to put them back in the same direction for no other reason than "just because".Slightly OCD?

@bradleysmith681

5 жыл бұрын

william louthen Ha!! That made me laugh..

I always thought the directional arrows on single ended coax cables also had something to do with which end the cable's shield was attached since the shield is attached only at one end to reduce noise.

@marianneoelund2940

6 жыл бұрын

The most common audio interconnecting cables - RCA patch cables - have shields connected at both ends because the shield is also the signal ground. It's possible to make a 2-conductor + shield cable which does not use the shield for signal ground, and then the shield could be connected at one end only. Whether or not that could have any sonic advantages, depends on the installation details of your system and there isn't a single answer.

@bjornahh87

6 жыл бұрын

do you have such a cable, and if so what is the brand, that does not use grounding on both RCA connectors so i can buy a pair, cut them open physically and check how they are made.... This reminds me of a sicence teacher a friend of me had, who claimed that a lightbulb was a diode, my friend instantly smashed the bulb and asked what part of the lamp was the diode.. the teacher could not answer him so he got an A

@marianneoelund2940

6 жыл бұрын

@bjornahh87 I've never seen such cables commercially available, although admittedly I haven't actively looked for any, either. When I have a need for special cables, I make them myself - which I've done many times, especially to make connections to test equipment or interface consumer audio sources to commercial sound systems. Generally, if you want to find out how a cable is wired, you can simply use an ohm meter rather than cutting them open. Interesting about the science teacher's misconception about light bulbs. I seem to recall hearing a similar myth many decades ago. It's true that incandescent light bulbs incorporate dissimilar-metal connections which form thermocouples, but that's nothing like a diode. There was also a fad where people would add disc-shaped diodes to light bulb sockets to reduce power consumption and greatly extend their life. Of course in today's world, light bulbs using light-emitting diodes are becoming quite common, so perhaps the teacher was somewhat of a prophet?

Getting in early for April 1st. ;) Glad I don't have a golden ear as that could get expensive.

A lot of people hating on the guy seem to be ignoring the fact that he said he thinks it doesn't really matter.

it's odd that the snake oil folks still click on the video knowing what it's about from the title.

@felixdukeofuke

6 жыл бұрын

welcome to the internet

@lumntoob999

6 жыл бұрын

It's an opportunity to express there contempt, not for the subject but the people that discuss and/or believe in cable differences. There is also a growing group that believe all dacs sound the same, because ones and zeros are ones and zeros.....The cable haters are much more hostile but both are equally uninformed and over opinionated.

@lumntoob999

6 жыл бұрын

The Internetwanderer when did I say all cables sound different or cable haters? Your discontent with this subject is making you see things. In reality I believe most cables in most scenarios will sound the same and I disagree with your statement that the only thing making a sonic difference in dacs is the analog stage. These are my opinions and some random comment will not effect them, I do not want to alter your perceptions in any way either, after all ignorance is bliss.

@lumntoob999

6 жыл бұрын

The Internetwanderer you know what, I just noticed you are the same person that responded to this post with, "its a morbid attraction to bullshit", if your comment to me with the delusional quotes was just an attempt to satisfy yourself and look for someone to argue with I promise you, you have not found that here. I said what I wanted to and won't be giving you any satisfaction with another response, your a troll.

@johnc8910

5 жыл бұрын

The Internetwanderer: "And DAC's don't sound the same, however, the difference is in the analogue section." Disagree on the first part. You can take a good, high speed DAC and a "utility" version and if pin for pin compatible, plug them into the same circuit (same analog section) and they may sound different. Likewise, you can take the same circuit with the same parts and install them into two different circuit boards and they may sound different. On the other hand, like you, I am more than a skeptic on the subject of cable directionality.

High end directional cables are like an optional spoiler on your new car, it does nothing but sure looks cool.

@DaveJ6515

3 жыл бұрын

So my Harmonix cables are the exception: they do not look cool at all but they sound very well.

Are there any measurements or whitepapers regarding AQ DBS system? I just can't get my head around how such a system would have any benefits but I want to keep an open mind as well. They do look nice so I own couple of their less high end interconnects :)

It really puzzles me, why Paul is saying all these things? He sure does know better!

The actual electrons go both directions, back and forth, as it is an ac signal driving the speakers. Socthe theory of copper crystal wouldn't make any difference either way

I had to reverse the direction of my discharge pipe coming from my toilet. The waste just didn’t want to leave the bowl,, and flow towards the sewer. After changing the direction of the pipe things flow much better now. The plumbers who did the installation just weren’t well versed in the plastiology that involves how the PVC was drawn through the pipe forming flange. Next time I’ll hire a more expensive plumber.

So with my diy occ cables directionality is not a thing. Thank you Paul, as a side not occ sounds light years ahead of ofc cables.

So how should I connecting the cable wire based on the direction? Going from the AVR ---> to the right left speakers and center speakers etc?

directional wire must be a big seller over at ps audio. ;) Never speak ill of your products.. Right?

@paulb.3227

4 жыл бұрын

They don't sell wire. Don't speak nonsense.

@szulat

3 жыл бұрын

@@paulb.3227 "PAUL'S REFERENCE AudioQuest Dragon ZERO Speaker Cable PS Audio's choice for our Reference System" "PERFECTWAVE AudioQuest Robin Hood ZERO Speaker Cable PS Audio’s choice for our PerfectWave Series" "SPROUT AudioQuest Q2 Speaker Cable PS Audio’s choice for our Sprout Series" "STELLAR AudioQuest Rocket 44 Speaker Cable PS Audio’s choice for our Stellar Series" and they all have arrows! 🤪

My short counter-argument to directionality: the signal itself is bidirectional, so directionality would improve half the waveform and ruin the rest

@bradleysmith681

5 жыл бұрын

Lawrence Job Yes, and create distortion..

It is important to plug in the cable in the right direction. Last night I connected my cable the wrong way and today when I woke up I had Leprosy.

What testable electrical property of the cable makes it "directional"? Is there any difference in inductance or capacitance when switching directions? A phantom source of rectification? What scientific analysis supports the assertion? What electrical engineer will support this?

@bradleysmith681

5 жыл бұрын

Doug Elick No engineer will..

@dougelick8397

5 жыл бұрын

@@bradleysmith681 My point...

@bradleysmith681

5 жыл бұрын

Doug Elick indeed!