Directional cables - what does that really mean?


Some (most) cables do sound differently depending on which end is connected to which component. It is asserted that the conductor grain orientation is determining the preferential current flow. That might well be, but in most (all) cases the audio signal is AC (electrons going back and forth in the cable), without a DC component to justify a directional flow. Wouldn't that mean that in the 1st order, a phase change should give the same effect as a cable flip?

I'm curious whether there is a different view on this that I have not considered yet.
cbozdog
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?
A free tweak to the best short explanation why wires and cables and fuses sound different when you reverse them. I’m not talking about whether they act as diodes, magnets or porcupine quills. I’m talking what physically takes place to produce such differences. I’m not even talking about measuring voltage drop differences. In the case of fuses, disregard the fuse holder to discourage arguments by you know who.
Wire is cast and then drawn through a die, which creates a pattern in the grain structure and a non-symmetrical pattern at the surface of the wire, affecting high frequencies and causing the sound to be comparatively flat and grainy in one direction and more relaxed and natural sounding in the other.....so they say
This is an interesting subject to say the least.  
Some say directional
Some say bs
Patience costs money lols
mitch2
Wire is cast and then drawn through a die, which creates a pattern in the grain structure and a non-symmetrical pattern at the surface of the wire, affecting high frequencies and causing the sound to be comparatively flat and grainy in one direction and more relaxed and natural sounding in the other.....so they say

>>>>>>That all might be true. But it doesn’t explain how the signal is changed by differences in the surface pattern. Or how that change to the signal translates to differences in sound heard by the listener. For example, very slight differences in resistance would not entirely explain the relatively large differences in sound, as I and others have pointed out. Your explanation also fails to explain why low audio frequencies are also better when the wire is in the proper direction.