switching cables round DOES make a difference!!!

[admin_exported]

Having been decorating over the last month the dining room where my HIFI is sited and listened to , I have over the last couple of days been really struggling with the sound of my system after reassembling it exactly in the same position as it was (it was boxed up for a month whilst painting etc) , I have just found out

after an hour of messing about with the connections etc that the QED interconnect from the CD player to the amp was the wrong way round (the printed direction arrows on the cable point from the source to the amps) and I had it the wrong way round!!

I can not beleive the difference in the sound by having a cable the wrong way round , basically it was like the music was trapped and had no space or dimension and the treble was very very coarse. Now please don`t laugh , but I was just starting to think that the paint I had put on the wall had some how acoustically effected the sound.......(memories of Peter Belt here)

I think I may have to start switching the speaker cables round and polishing my ends!!! to see if it improves further (although i gave all that madness up a while ago).....

 

[chebby]

I can get my head around the need for a certain level of competence and build quality (and therefore expense) in signal/speaker cables, but I have never been able to understand the idea of "directionality" in cables where the signals are AC in nature (and therefore spend equal amounts of time going in both directions.)

However, you have heard what you have heard.

I doubt you can explain it though.

You did - after all - say you suspected the paint for a moment back there (

), so I am not going to ask you to explain the rationale of cable directionality.

If there is anyone here with suitable qualification to explain it to me I would be grateful. (WHF staffers?)

In deference to my equipment manufacturer's guidelines I have all my cables pointing the 'right' way. It can't do any harm and my speaker cables were soldered up that way anyway so leaving me no choice.

Still seems daft though.

 

[Anonymous]

you have not listened to your system for a month while you were decorating

now, you have set up your system again, and correctly connected the interconnect ... you say it sounds much better

but have you now tried to connect it the other way (as it was previously?) ... now that you have redocorated and not heard your system for a month?

am just just curious .... used to have an old solid silver interconnect that had arrows showing which way it should be connected, tried the other way and never heard any differences

 

[ElectroMan]

I'm curious how manufacturers actually make directional cables - wouldn't that involve construction/manipulation at a molecular level, or am I missing something?

 

[MattSPL]

Ive heard about cables being directional and audio grade fuses too, the fuses also have an arrow on them.

This is where the whole cable burn in debate comes in again. I know somebody who had his interconnect the wrong way round for years and when he changed it to the 'correct' way it sounded shut in. This is possibly due to being run in and used in one direction for so long.

 

[Anonymous]

The general theory behind directional cables is that when the metal is drawn in the factory the molecules end up in a special way... If this is even possible to measure I don't know. Can it be heard? I don't know. I can't anyway. One type of cable that really is directional from a physics stand point are speaker cables with some kind of RC filter/link, in this case the filter has to be at the speaker end or the whole point is more or less lost..

Regards

 

[Craig M.]

dim_span:
you have not listened to your system for a month while you were decorating

now, you have set up your system again, and correctly connected the interconnect ... you say it sounds much better

but have you now tried to connect it the other way (as it was previously?) ... now that you have redocorated and not heard your system for a month?

am just just curious .... used to have an old solid silver interconnect that had arrows showing which way it should be connected, tried the other way and never heard any differences

maybe read the beginning of the post again?

 

[Anonymous]

It may be down to the way the molecules align, as noted above, but I heard that all cables were directional .... after being used .... in that the signal travel affects the cable, once in use, so if you route it the other way it somehow makes a difference.

Must confess I have never tried switching - always preferred to simply follow any directional arrows, rather than bother one way or the other... but having done it by accident I'm interested in how it altered your sound.....

Many would say it cannot make a blind bit of difference - and many say cables make no difference either, yet may of us feel they do ..... so it's an interesting topic this 'directionality'.....

Would like to know what any cable manufacturers explain it with .... ??

 

[JoelSim]

I'm going to double check all the directions on mine tonight

 

[Anonymous]

Can anyone confirm whether the Atlas Equator is directional or not? I can't see any arrows on the sleeve but you never know.....

 

[Diamond Joe]

I've always connected them up in accordance with the manufacturers directions, when I get the chance I think I'll try them the wrong way round and see what happens. Should be interesting.

 

[JoelSim]

One half of my IC was the wrong way round, both of my speaker cables to the speaker switch box, and one from the switchbox to the one speaker was too.

It has definitely made a difference, just listening to Stone Roses, Second Coming, Love Spreads which I'd noticed was particularly lacking punch and there's far more attack now. Still a bit softer than it used to be on my car stereo but that could be something to do with valves and my far more refined gear.

 

[Anonymous]

I've tried this in the past with a full set of Nordost Heimdall RCA throughout my system, I didn't hear any difference whatsoever. I've got XLR's now and of course they only fit one way! If you're paranoid this could be useful to stop you tinkering and thinking you're hearing a difference..

 

[Anonymous]

chebby:
I can get my head around the need for a certain level of competence and build quality (and therefore expense) in signal/speaker cables, but I have never been able to understand the idea of "directionality" in cables where the signals are AC in nature (and therefore spend equal amounts of time going in both directions.)

You are correct, the audio signals amplitude travelling through your cables will deviate in both the positive and negative directions around the zero level. This means that the currents flowing in these cables will also be travelling in both directions.

i.e. uni-directional.

 

[sae2003us]

So how should the arrows point? To the source or away?

 

[Anonymous]

The direction arrows on the qed cables I use i beleive to be correct when the arrows are facing from the source of signal towards the amp (ie from CD player to AMP) it`s the direction of the signal CDP >>>>>>>>>>> AMP

As i described on my post , I have definately heard a difference in the sound after switching the cable round and may I say that I didn`t actually try this as an experiment or test to actually try and obtain any difference in sound , I discovered this totally by accident/mistake by actually not realising that I had the lead the wrong way round when I reassembled the HIFI components back together.

I havent tried the cable the wrong way round again yet as I don`t want to start down the road again of fiddling and playing about with my ends etc... as i expalined I gave all that up a long time ago as I`m happy with what I listen to , but I`m surprised at the difference in sound when the cable was accidently placed the wrong way round discovered completely by accident.

 

[aliEnRIK]

All metals have a 'grain' structure meaning its quite feasable that electrons would 'flow' one way easier than the other

Ive seen pictures of cutting tools that have been cryogenically treated and the difference at the molecular level is quite astounding to see

My personal theory is that 'most' cables you wouldnt hear any difference one way or the other, unless it has been 'burned in' a particular way then you should continue to use that way (Which is why arrows are a good idea)

(***RUNS FOR COVER***)

 

[Anonymous]

I seem to remember that the shielding on some cables are earthed at one end. The amp end? Or is that just mains cables?

 

[Anonymous]

leenorris78:I seem to remember that the shielding on some cables are earthed at one end. The amp end? Or is that just mains cables?

At least interconnect cables from Supra have its shielding earthed in one end. This end should be connected to the source side.

Anyway, people should learn some basics about human perception. When one, accidentally or not, suddenly hears something that couldn't be heard if science were to be trusted, there's lots of things that explains this from the human angle.

First, we do not have anything like an exact memory of sound. It's not possible to actually compare sound samples, if we hear them with more than a couple of seconds between.

Second, human hearing is selective. There's always lots of things going on at the same time; still we are able to focus on certain aspects and ignore others. We do this unconsciously (like when a vinyl enthusiasts ignores rumble and scratches), as well as on purpose (like when we focus on one melody line or instrument in a complex piece of music).

Third, what we hear will always be unconsciously filtered through our expectations and prejudices. There's no such thing as objectivity; it's always a matter of being aware of how our subjectivity influence us.

In short: What we 'hear with our own ears' are not to be trusted, unless he do our hearing under strictly controlled circumstances: Instant switching between samples, no knowledge about what we actually hear etc.

Beside these human sources of error, there's also acoustic ones. Actually, if you move a speaker only a centimeter, this might cause an altered frequency response at your listening position. Same thing if you move your head. These are measurable facts that anyone with a mic and a computer can check for themselves.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm almost afraid to state the obvious, since sceptics prefering logic rather than vague and unfounded myths tend to get scolded here...

But as a few posts in this thread have already mentioned, electrical current flows both ways, and in equal amount. Cables "burning in" in a certain direction is not logical (I'll stay away from the question whether cable burn in is a logical phenomenon at all). Directionality of cables is therefore highly unlikely. I'd like to see some evidence, or at least a logical explanation of the hypothesis before believing it. "I just heard the difference", isn't a very good one since subjective observations are susceptible to a placebo effect.

 

[Anonymous]

I personally dont think my ears are good enought to notice the small changes cables can make but some of you need to read the first post more carefully.

He noticed the difference by accident. He didnt know the cable was the 'wrong' way round but noticed something was causing a problem. Turned out to be the cable.

How can there be a placebo effect if you werent looking for a difference in the first place?

 

[Anonymous]

'we do not have anything like an exact memory of sound. It's not
possible to actually compare sound samples, if we hear them with more
than a couple of seconds between'

Surely this only applies it the sound samples are very similar? If there is a noticeable difference this doesnt apply.

 

[Anonymous]

I can think of many causes for perceiving a difference that are MUCH more likely than directionality of a passive speaker cable and an alternating current going through the cable. If the difference is big, as the OP suggests,it becomes even more likely that there is another cause (bad contacts/plugs? better contact due to fiddling with the cables? Wiring of the cable a bit damaged). It is perfectly fine if someone does not want to test these alternatives (including the psychological effects), but please just do note make unfounded claims about directionality then. I think this is also what Chebby and some others stated, albeit in more friendly terms.

 

[Anonymous]

If Joataboy noticed a difference then it is not unfounded. I agree that it could be poor contacts or something else but he could turn them the wrong way again and see if the sound changes.

I also think that putting things in friendly terms tends to be the most polite way to have a discussion!

 

[Anonymous]

And it wasnt speaker cable!