Speaker Cable Direction?

I just received my Grover Huffman SX Full-Range cables in the mail. Very excited.

Does direction matter? I've got one cable connected with the lettering reading to the speaker and the other with the lettering reading to the source (amp).

I figure it doesn't matter much but if I ever unhook 'em I figure it's nice to know which way they broke in when hooking back up?

Thought? Cheers...

 

Wire is simply a length of metal encased in an insulating sheath. It doesn't have a direction, whatever someone may tell you. Asking about the "direction" of a wire is as meaningless as asking which end of a slinky is the top. It conducts current equally well in both directions; if it didn't, you simply wouldn't get any sound out of it.

 

http://www.av-outlet.com/en-us/dept_216.html

Food for thought.

 

I was wondering the same thing yesterday when I hooked up some interconnects that had flow arrows. I hooked them up in the correct direction while wondering "What is this crap?"

 

The bolded part is where my horse-hockey detector goes to red alert.

The signal that your speakers are receiving is alternating current. It goes positive, then it goes negative, and it does this dozens to thousands of times a second. When it's positive, electrons are flowing in one direction. When it's negative, electrons are flowing in the other direction.

The electron flow needs to have equal resistance in both directions in order for speakers to function at all. If one direction conducts better than the other, you have some seriously crappy wire.

 

Like I said, food for thought - Not that I believe in this, until...
My little test:
I have Monster® THX™ speaker cable with directional cues. The Infinity EMIT tweeter in my centre speaker had a slight edge to the vocal when wired directionally the wrong way.

 

Yes, and you also knew what you did when you listened to the before and after.

I firmly believe in the necessity of double-blind testing. The mind is capable of amazing tricks. I've heard huge improvements in my system before, only to discover that nothing had actually changed, or that I was accidentally listening to what I believed to be an inferior component. I don't trust MYSELF to hear these differences, so why should I trust anyone else?

 

I thought it had to do with shielding being grounded on one side and not the other to reduce RFI/hum. It can't have to do with 'the direction' of the current, wire doesn't work that way.

 

Hundreds of money-hungry wire manufacturers would LOVE to make you believe otherwise.

 

Fair enough, I tend to have your view on the matter of double-blind testing, I'm only reporting what I "believe" occurred.

The mind is capable of amazing tricks. AMEN!

 

Wire does not have to be insulated.

 

If the cable has a floating shield at one end it will matter how its hooked up.

 

I can't say that I believe in 'directionality' of cables. But then, until a few months ago, I really didn't believe in the ability of cables beyond a reasonable price point, to make any difference. Man, was I ever wrong!

So, now the jury is still out. Meanwhile, all of my 'directional' interconnects are connected properly according to the arrows - just in case!

 

That's nit-picking. For any application where RF interference is an issue, the wire should be insulated.

 

The direction markings on cable may be useful if they were say being installed in a wall, and the installer wanted to know which direction he should be heading, apart from that it's complete crap. I once read on another forum a comment from a cable manufacturer who said he had seen the electrons flowing in a certain direction in his cables when viewed through an electron microscope. Wow! I'm not sure if he got the nobel prize in physics for the observation.

 

I'ts not nit-picking, it's being accurate. By the way, a lot of cable mfrs will tell you the best insulation is air; most of the sound quality problems from wires come from the plastic insulation acting as dielectric.

Where RF is an issue, it should be shielded, this is not the same as insulated.

 

Just in case they turn out to be diodes?

 

I wonder if he managed to clock them

 

I can just imagine a group of grown men standing around a piece of wire, betting on which electron was going to finish first. Like a horse race, only smaller.

 

you're like a professor!

..If one direction conducts better than the other...then is a semi-conductor ...must be selenium or germanium cables dopeds with "channels N or P"....
cheers, good post!

gee...now you told their secrets!
cheers!

 

Correct! (one more professor here)