Directional cables - what does that really mean?

Actually for cables manufactured by Audioquest, Anti Cables, Goertz and perhaps others you can rely on the arrows 🔜 provided on the cables since those companies control directionality for those cables. In those cases you do not have to listen to the cables both ways. Obviously, for everything else you have to listen to the cables both ways. But seriously, who really does? Not too many!  It’s also why you can rely on the fact the Audioquest high end power cords will be in the correct direction when you plug them in. Because they are controlled for directionality. Ditto the AQ HDMI cables. 

Morrow cable do the same thing indicating with an arrow  ….I think they are serious...To verify...

And furthermore...even if the 0.000001 parts of impurities acted as tiny diodes or magnets it doesn’t explain how that would affect the sound or the audio signal. Do you believe the tiny magnets or diodes pull the signal faster one way than the other? Cut me some slack, Jack!

And while I’m at it, there is no evidence that the separate strands of stranded cables would not (rpt not) be all in the same direction with respect to directionality. The reason the strands are all in the same direction is because the entire process of making wire and making cables is automated and controlled. They don’t just dump the strands in a barrel and pull them out willy nilly as needed.

When Skoff said

 there's no way—other than by listening to it—to determine which direction a piece of wire's "preferred" direction of signal flow may be.

please note geoff he said a piece of "wire" not "cable". Don't conflate the two. 

Which you just did again: 

 The reason the strands are all in the same direction is because the entire process of making wire and making cables is automated and controlled.

While probably true for wire, this is far from true for cables. Ted Denney for example seldom misses an opportunity to remind people his cables are all made by hand in California. There's video tours of him showing who and where they are made. Same for him explaining how when wire comes in before ever making a cable they test the wire for directionality. Not that he's the only one. But he does it. So maybe try and keep straight the difference between a raw piece of wire and a finished cable.

Even in the case of finished cables built and marked for direction there still is no way to determine which is preferred except by listening to it. Otherwise you are assuming not determining.

Personally, I was for many years one of those who assumed and never bothered trying to see if there was anything going on or not. Then one day I hooked up a really good interconnect and was crushed to hear how bad it sounded. Devastated maybe is a better word. I mean it was awful. Spent the better part of a day sick at having thrown away so much money. Then it hit me. Went and had a look. Sure enough. Damn. Switched ends. What a difference! Night and day! 

Same thing happened a few months ago with a Blue Quantum Fuse. Immediately felt it sounded better, yet wrong. More dynamic, but also a lot more confused. Hard to explain exactly. Flipped around, hugely obviously better. 

So again you guys can argue to the moon about why, just so everyone understands that being unable to say for sure why does nothing in the least to change the fact that wire is indeed directional- and the only way of determining this is by listening.

Actually, the companies who control cables for directionality know exactly which way the wire will sound best all along the whole process. As soon as they receive the wire they know. It’s not rocket science. All it takes is a little coordination. The ones who have to try a wire both ways are the ones who don’t care about wire directionality. So the claim is in fact a strawman argument.  

If the speaker cables or the interconnects are not controlled for directionality then you don’t necessarily know if both L and R channel cables are in the same direction. So reversing their direction simultaneously might not do anything except move the problem to the other channel.

Obviously I’m referring to big operations, in terms of stranded cables. If someone has a basement operation, and can’t automate, who cares?