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Interconnect Directionality

Have I lost my mind? I swear that I am hearing differences in the direction I hook up my interconnect cables between my preamp and power amp. These are custom built solid core silver cables with Eichmann bullet plugs. There is no shield so this is not a case where one end of the cable’s shield is grounded and the other isn’t. 

There are four ways ways to hook them up:
Right: Forward. Left: Forward. 
Right: Backward. Left: Backward
Right: Forward. Left: Backward
Right: Backward. Left: Forward. 

There is no difference in construction between forward and backward, but here are my observations:

When they are hooked up forward/backward there appears to be more airy-ness and what appears to be a slight phase difference. When hooked up forward/forward or backward/backward, the image seems more precise like they are more in phase. The difference between forward/forward and backward/backward is that one seems to push the soundstage back a little bit while the other brings it towards you more. 

What could possibly cause this? Does it have something to do with the way the wire is constructed and how the grains are made while drawn through a die? Am I imagining this? Have I completely lost my mind?
128x128mkgus

Showing 2 responses by nonoise

nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,540 posts
 
I
n another thread, you linked a comment about capacitors. There are some audiophiles who believe capacitors cannot make a differences. However, for capacitors, we can show that the dielectric absorption effects are at least large enough that audible effects are possible. There may be electromechanical effects due to the large plate area that also comes into play
.
Roger Skoff points out in this article why cables can be considered to act like capacitors:https://positive-feedback.com/audio-discourse/capacitors-speakers-cables-and-other-magic-stuff/

If one were to accept what Roger states, then there's another way to look at cables and the possibility that we don't fully grasp the hows and whys of it all.

All the best,
Nonoise
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,540 posts
 
Here's a nice story about Pink Floyd and a recording studio they built. On a break, with some down time, they experimented with cable direction and heard the differences for themselves. It's a little more than halfway down the article.
http://www.tubemastering.com/philtaylor.pdf

All the best,
Nonoise
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