Mystery solved! Now we know why you got the results you did. Thanks for playing along. Next up, you reverse the speaker cables, yes?
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?
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?
- ...
- 346 posts total
That sounds like a winning plan. Is there a way to tell the direction of a wire without listening to it? E.g. can you identify the direction of the copper grains? The reason I ask is because it would be nice to know whether or not the signal and return wires are in unison or opposite without taking the wires apart and retwisting. |
I believe this is the PS Audio post you mention: https://forum.psaudio.com/t/belden-iconoclast-interconnects-and-speaker-cabling/2038 You weren’t kidding. It’s over 2,000 comments. |
Oh, I dunno, I read the first page of comments on the PS Audio thread on Iconoclast cables and am a little non-plussed. For any cable brand throughout history you can always find somebody somewhere who goes ape. 🦍 It’s the same with almost all audio component or device. I did not run across any discussion of directionality on the first page of comments. Was there any later in the discussion? Pop quiz - if there are no audio frequencies running through cables why is “skin effect” an issue? Free tweak for the first correct answer. |
- 346 posts total