Directional Cable Question

[mr_spanners]

I'm currently making up some interconnects using a variety of different OFC copper cables. Thing is, some of the cable is directional...

Should the arrows point towards or away from the source???

~Phil.

 

[Bob McC]

Depends what hemisphere you are in.

 

[prowla]

My guess is away from the source.
But why not try them both ways and see if you can tell a difference?

 

[mr_spanners]

Thanks Prowla!

My guess is also that the arrows should point away from the source and towards the preamp (supposedly the direction of the signal!)

I'm going to try the cable(s) that are marked either way round and see if I can hear any difference. I have read that reversing the 'signal path' on directional cable can affect the higher frequencies but TBH, I take most marketing blurb with a pinch of salt!

 

[RustyB]

The other thing to consider is that the shield, if there is one, should be connected to the plug at the downstream end of the cable.

 

[cubastreet]

I gave up on directional cables years ago. Having to swap them around everytime the signal changed from +ve to -ve ruined my enjoyment of the music.

 

[andyr]

The other thing to consider is that the shield, if there is one, should be connected to the plug at the downstream end of the cable.

I believe you have this AaboutT, Rusty. From my research, I believe the shield should be connected at the source end.

Regards,

Andy

 

[zanash]

I'd go with the sheild connected at the source end too....

 

[Patrick Dixon]

That makes three of us then ...

 

[Ozi2]

Signal goes in both ways. There is no "signal way".

The "only" thing which is important here and actually is VERY important is the right hand rule which means that is needed to know in which way is the cable twisted. This is important even for spure cables.

Oz

 

[zanash]

your talking about current field motion ?

the signal in an ic is effectively AC .....so the rotational axis will be around the dirrection of the field as the polarity changes ....

not certain I can see why this is going to have any effect on the lay of the cable ?

 

[stevew_w]

Direction and twist make no difference, this is an AC signal we are talking about here. What is important for signal cables is capacitance, it should be as low as possible.

 

[prowla]

The "only" thing which is important here and actually is VERY important is the right hand rule which means that is needed to know in which way is the cable twisted.

That's funny!

The other thing to consider is that the shield, if there is one, should be connected to the ...

Perhaps it's that that makes the cable directional, rather than the illogical assertion that electrons only flow downstream from source to sink?

 

[RustyB]

I'd go with the sheild connected at the source end too....

Rising to the challenge, I went rooting through my interconnect collection. Third time lucky, I found one that didn't use the shield as the negative, and guess what, the shield is connected at the RECEIVING end. (The cable is an old AQ Ruby).

If the purpose of a shield is to drain off interference, then this may be more effective if the component is earthed, which is more likely to be the case for an amplifier than a source component.

And your theory is, gentlemen?

 

[LPSpinner]

My understanding of the “twin core and earth sheild” with the earth connected at one end only type interconnect design is that all earths should connect at one point in the system, a natural progression of the “Star Earthling” philosophy. The most logical point for all the shields to be earthed at would be at the Pre-Amp or the Amplifier where an integrated amplifier is used.

The direction of twist for the twin conductors will be the same regardless of which direction the cable is wired up and any way, as Steve_W and Zanash rightly pointed out, we are dealing with an AC signal so what is right for the first half of the AC cycle will be wrong for the second half of the Signal.

LPSPinner

 

[S-Man]

And your theory is, gentlemen?

Read any decent text about low noise techniques (eg. the Chapter in "The Art of Electronics" by Horowitz and Hill)

 

[martin clark]

For enough detail to make your head spin, see also 'Bonding Cable Shields at Both Ends to Reduce Noise'
here

 

[jackiechansthem]

Whilst there is merit in the behaviour of electrons/signals/cables etc., I don't beleive it makes that much difference to a system. Admittedly, I only covered electronics and digital electronics at a fairly 'basic' level at University, however, my ears are either very kind to me or the influence of cables upon sound quality is limited. I prefer to go with the second option! I make the assumption that the cables used are actually fit for the purpose.

I borrowed several sets of cables from my local dealer to 'audition' for a few weeks at a time. I really couldn't tell one from the other, even though I tried to hear several hundred £'s worth of difference between the cheapo set (QED) and the ridiculous set (Nordost (Ithink)). So I bought the QED and a few dozen CD's/LP's. If there was an improvement is sound quality, I simply didn't hear it from my B&W800's. Same goes for directionality too. If it's there, I don't hear it so consquently I don't worry about it but use my dosh to buy more software!

I'm not dissing those that can (or want to) hear differences or improvements. If it floats yer boat then good on yer!