Speaker Cable Direction

[AlmaataKZ]

But if you think of the impedence of the cable as a combination of resistance, capacitance and inductance and draw a simple diagram using one of each, then the capacitor that spans the two conductors must be either in front of or behind the inductor which is in series with one of the inductors. This model is not symmetrical which implies direction does matter.

I am not sure about this... If you reverse the signal direction, you reverse the diagram/model as well (because the model must represent the behaviour of the cable)?

 

[Anonymous]

I am not sure about this... If you reverse the signal direction, you reverse the diagram/model as well (because the model must represent the behaviour of the cable)?

That is a most excellent point!

Another thought...I can see that a cable is directional if it acts like a diode. One way the cable would reduce the "top" half of the sine wave, the other way it would reduce the "bottom" half - just like a rectifier. That should reveal a clear and measurable difference. Whether it would have any effect on the music though is another matter.

If the signal were more like an impulse than a sine wave, a diode chracteristic could have a greater detremental effect on the waveform one way than the other.

 

[AlmaataKZ]

... and whatever the effect, it should be quantified as it may be miniscule even to detect/measure, not to mention to hear - or change other (unquantifiable!) things like 'musicality', 'transparency' etc.

if that's not done - no point to take notice.

 

[idc]

QED in their 'Genesis Report' available on their site report blind testing cable directionality and finding no discernable difference. Sadly, there are no details of the test.

 

[aliEnRIK]

QED in their 'Genesis Report' available on their site report blind testing cable directionality and finding no discernable difference. Sadly, there are no details of the test.

If they used their own cables im hardly suprised

 

[CJSF]

Oh boy . . . I vowed I would not get involved in the audiophile side of hifi again . . . hold me back some one J) . . . No degrees, no O'levels but many, many hours of component and cable listening under ones belt during the 80's. With high end and carefully matched/balanced analogue hifi, usually valve based, there was, in some cases, a distinct difference in which way round (which end) the speaker cable were connected. The more expensive the cable the more noticeable this difference was. 'Expensive' usually related to conductor quality and size (thickness) of said conductor. However we, concluded that it was diminishing returns as the price increased. Settling on a 'quality budget' 79 strand QED cable of the time. A similar experience took us into component listening, concluding, cheap components v. expensive had little effect in some areas of circuitry, however in other the differences were mind blowing . . . often a 1 penny resistor dramatically out performed its quality and expensive counterpart! . . . the reverse was also experienced, depending on the part of the circuit in question. Personal conclusion now, 20 years down the line, I believe the word I used earlier 'Balanced' was a key then. These days, just dipping the toe back into music reproduction, I dont see a lot of balancing going on? . . . Most?? storage and therefore retrieval is digitaly based these days, I have not yet had time to work out how this effects the end result at the 'ears'. Summery; '20 years ago' there were audible differences in which end of the cable was connected to the speakers . . . :| CJSF

 

[phph001]

Let us look at this as a matter of simple physics. Take a multimeter, measure the resistance across the cable both ways (for accuracy, use clips to attach to the cable and switch the test leads round in the meter sockets. The readings will be identical. The apparatus for measuring impedances at different frequencies is slightly more complicated, but the results are the same (unless you build a diode into the cable, which would no good to the hifi).

In short, the directional markings on the cable are complete nonsense. Alas, snake-oil salesmen have always been with us, but there really is no need to buy their wares. Save your money, don't bother with the experiment of "directional" cable, and enjoy your music instead.

 

[Al ears]

Let us look at this as a matter of simple physics. Take a multimeter, measure the resistance across the cable both ways (for accuracy, use clips to attach to the cable and switch the test leads round in the meter sockets. The readings will be identical. The apparatus for measuring impedances at different frequencies is slightly more complicated, but the results are the same (unless you build a diode into the cable, which would no good to the hifi).

In short, the directional markings on the cable are complete nonsense. Alas, snake-oil salesmen have always been with us, but there really is no need to buy their wares. Save your money, don't bother with the experiment of "directional" cable, and enjoy your music instead.

This thread died, and rightly so, in June 2011.....

You must have done some digging, althouth not too sure why you would want to resurrect it.

 

[gramps23]

Personally, I find this whole thing about cable directionality obsurd.

People have gone into the physics during the course of the thread, but here's what I see as a couple of very basic points, which I believe discount the theory that speaker cable is in any way directional -

1 - Speaker cable, unless badly made, or has some magical device attached, is symetrical, each conductor having identical electrical properties.

2 - Metals do not differ in their conductivity according to which way the electrons pass through them.

3 - AC current is made up of successional bursts of electrical energy, which travel back and forth along each conductor in equal measure and precisely out of phase.

4 - Sine waves are formed from energy that oscillates back and forth, from pole to pole, in equal measure.

If the above is correct, then thinking a loudspeaker cable (that is symetrically constructed, transmitting an electrically identical signal through either conductor, in order to create an audible waveform, that is also formed from an equal content of energy fluctuating between two poles) could possibly be considered as 'directional', is just silly talk.

I rest my case.