Directional cables - what does that really mean?

The different cable theories I have encountered have mostly been covered above, but I think the following should complete the story.

1. Cables with shield connected at one end.
This is referred to as a floating shield design. The purpose of this design is to conduct any induced RFI/EMI away to a single grounded point.

Ideally, the end with the shield attached should be connected to the source of the signal - regardless of where that component is in the audio "chain" - e.g. for a Pre-amp to amp connection the end with the shield attached should be connected to the pre-amp.

This prevents any RFI/EMI noise from being communicated to the next piece of "amplification" in the audio chain - resulting in a quieter signal.

The problem with using these cables is - it relies on all of your components being correctly grounded.

However, components that use a two pin plug or a Wal-Wart power supply can experience grounding issues (i.e. because they are isolated) so for them, connecting the cables in the other direction may actually be more beneficial.

One such component I have actually had a measurable potential on the neutral side of the RCA output.

One way around this imperfect setup may be to ground the chassis/case of components using this kind of power supply design. This does not guarantee success - as it really depends on the component's design, but it's worked for my components

2. Conductor Extrusion effects.
When the wire is being extruded is has an effect on the crystalline structure of the material being used, which in turn MAY effect signal transmission in some way.

Whether you believe it or not, there are many cases reported on this forum of cables sounding different and there are several well documented reasoning's for this on the web, but one thing for certain, many cable manufacturers put little arrows on their cables in order for the user to get them both connected in the same direction.

One thing for sure - IF - there is some sort of rectification effect, you would want it to be applied in the same manner to both left and right channels, otherwise it would effect the phase of the signals between the two channels and degrade the sound.

So - it is advisable to connect both cables in the same direction - hence the little arrows, but which direction may well be system dependent

3. Cable architectures
There are some very complex cable architectures out there now and connecting such cables one way or the other may have any effect on sound.

However - you DO want to have both cables connected in the same direction - hence the little arrows.

A cable architecture can be responsible for a noticeable degradation or improvement of sound - depending on which way round they are connected and in general the manufacturer gets the little arrows right, but there is no harm in trying them the other way around - just to see :-)

So, to sum up - in some cases the little arrows may only be there to ensure you get both cables connected in the same direction because the manufacturer believes it to be important. The actual direction BOTH cables must be connected in may be system dependent.

If a cable uses the floating shield design then it should be stated somewhere in the manufacturers literature, together with the "direction" the arrows should be connected.

One company I know uses this method is Van den Hul and they document it quite well.

Of course, there are those that believe a company will add little arrows on their higher end products just as a selling feature - just sayin :-)

Regards...

Cbozdog - Mitch2 indicated above that the effect of grain boundaries phenomenon is perhaps "minimal"

But something that has far more impact on SQ than grain boundaries is the cable architecture itself.

Here's a summary of what I have tried and observed over the last couple of years.

I started with Van den Hul d102 MK III using the floating shield design - that proved to be quieter and more detailed than the other cables I had been using.

The problem with more "conventional designs" that utilize two conductors in parallel is that they suffer "noise" that is induced from the signal conductor into the neutral conductor. This flows back into the connected components and impacts their performance. Sure, manufacturers put a slight twist in the conductors which is supposed to minimize induce noise, but it is not really enough.

I then moved to Stager Silver Solids - which has a very tight twisted pair (no shield) architecture - which were much more detailed and the tight twisting combats RFI/EMI and induction from the signal to the neutral, resulting in a blacker background and quieter operation.

Then I tried a braided architecture, where the two conductors were braided with thick single strand nylon. This separated the two conductors and increased the angle at which they crossed, reducing RFI/EMI and induced noise. These were significantly better than the Stagers across the board and I actually used the conductors from the stagers to construct them - so the materials used were identical.

I then started playing with my own Spiral designs where the neutral is wound around the signal conductor
- Winding the neutral around the signal effectively places the neutral conductor at close to right angles to the signal conductor which minimizes induced noise.

I have since tried several variants of this design, with the latest working extremely well.
- Basically, the signal is a single strand of solid silver wire
- The neutral is four twisted pairs of CAT6 wound around the signal.
- One wire of each twisted pair is cut short and remains unconnected at one end and basically acts like a floating shield and interferes with induced EMI/RFI.

The signal and neutral conductors are different lengths and different materials - but it does not matter, because when you take a look at the roles each conductor actually performs from the perspective of an actual circuit diagram you will see that the signal conductor is the only one that carries the "music" - the neutral conductor actually only maintains a connection between the neutral sides (i.e. ZERO volts) of the connected components. OK - it does also completes the circuit, but it is very important that the neutral side is kept as close as possible to zero volts for each component to perform to it's optimum.

Friends have also tried the spiral design and reported significant improvements in SQ.

Take a look at these links for a more complete explanation...
http://www.image99.net/blog/files/category-cable-architecture.html

http://www.image99.net/blog/files/7aa60eba36da56b621505bf2e248d60a-1.html

A couple of companies that I know offer cables designed along similar lines are:
- Anticables (for IC's)
- KLE Innovations (for IC's and speaker cables)

I have also applied the same spiral design to power cables and the effect was outstanding with a vast improvement in dynamic performance, clarity, image size and performer placement.

I personally agree with Mitch2, so I have stopped concerning myself with crystal boundaries issues - I can't do anything about them anyway - except keep both cables connected in the same direction :-)

For me - selecting the right cable architecture has provided huge improvements in SQ and has elevated my systems performance way beyond its modest price point.

Regards...