directional cables (1 Viewer)

[Frank Zimmerman]

whitch way does the arrow point in the reciever or my amp...need alittle help here.......

 

[Heath_E]

The amp. The arrow would always point to the next component in the chain. The theory is that directional cables reduce the amount of noise/interference from one component to the next.

 

[Frank Zimmerman]

thax pal................

 

[Tor S]

I've always found the concept of directional cables a bit... er... illogical. I may be very wrong, of course. Could someone please explain the scientific side of this? Thanks in advance.

 

[Saul R]

"I've always found the concept of directional cables a bit... er... illogical. I may be very wrong, of course. Could someone please explain the scientific side of this? Thanks in advance."

Ditto! IMO, this might be another misleading/unfounded/fraudulent claim of the industry. The whole notion of having cables that are directional - the signal passes with less intrusion, impedance or modification in one direction versus the other -- is undoubtedly suspect. In other words, I find this curious due to the inherent nature of AC where electrons simply rush back and forth in sympathy with the applied signal. A directional device is a semiconductor, and will act as a rectifier. If these claims are even a tiny bit correct, I certainly don't want any of them between my preamp and amp, because I don't want my audio rectified by a directional cable. Just my 2¢

 

[Tor S]

My thoughts exactly, Saul R.!

Sounds like a ripoff to me...

 

[anthony_b]

I don't believe in directional cables myself...

 

[FeisalK]

they're good for DC based systems

 

[Brian L]

IIRC, a direction cable is one where the shield is disconnected at one end. A "normal" interconnect has the shield connected to the outer ring of the RCA jack at both ends.

Not having it connected at one end will eliminate the possibility of a ground loop between two pieces of equipment.

Now, given that the gear you are connecting is normally in the same rack, connected to the same AC source, and grounded to the same point, I would doubt that there would be any difference in ground potential that would cause a ground loop. And if there was, would it be audible?

I tend to classify this with all the other outrageous, fraudulent claims made by certain cable vendors.

Of course, thats just my opinion.

BGL

 

[jeff peterson]

Actually, if I recall correctly, there is a physical difference in each terminated end of the cable. I think the ground (usually the covering woven cable) aka shield isn't connected to the terminating plug on one side but is on the other. What this brings to the table? I couldn't tell you.

I'm sure someone with more knowledge will step in here to verify.

 

[Heath_E]

First, let me state that I don't own or advocate buying directional cables. I just happened to be familiar with the theory and was able to offer assistance to the original poster.

With that being said, take a look at the quote below. This was taken from a FAQ at monstercable.com and best sums up the directional cable theory.

Directionality: All cables are directional, from hardware store electrical cable to the finest pure silver cables. All AudioQuest cables are marked for direction. With other cables it might be necessary to simply listen to the cables in one direction and then the other. The difference will be clear-in the correct direction the music is more relaxed, pleasant and believable. While cable directionality is not fully understood, it is clear that the molecular structure of drawn metal is not symmetrical, providing a physical explanation for the existence of directionality.

Well, I think that's enough!

 

[Brian L]

With other cables it might be necessary to simply listen to the cables in one direction and then the other. The difference will be clear-in the correct direction the music is more relaxed, pleasant and believable. While cable directionality is not fully understood, it is clear that the molecular structure of drawn metal is not symmetrical, providing a physical explanation for the existence of directionality.

Puhhhleeeeez!

Where is Chu when you need him?

BGL

 

[Saul R]

Health E, I still remain skeptical after the marketing rhetoric. Noting that I’m familiar with the design of Faraday cages, once again I think this is another ill implementation of a sound physical concept. The foil shields, braids and/or outer conductor in conventional coaxial cables are the same or in direct physical contact throughout the entire length of the cable. It is my understanding that in order to apply such principle one would have to isolate the shield. Therefore, any advantages that would be possible to obtain from such design in a coaxial cable are inherently lost due to the structure of the cable itself. With that said, I would think that currents generated by electromagnetic flux would inevitably express themselves at both ends of the cable. Consequently, IMO, the orientation of the cable should be irrelevant.

 

[Saul R]

Upps!

 

[Saul R]

While cable directionality is not fully understood, it is clear that the molecular structure of drawn metal is not symmetrical, providing a physical explanation for the existence of directionality.

...and I though it was a well known fact that annealed metals were isotropic.

 

[Saurav]

Monster Cable makes our Unbalanced cables, "Semi-balanced" by utilizing twisted pair cable. We use one conductor as the positive lead, terminated to the Tip, one conductor as the negative lead, terminated to the sleeve, and we terminate the shield to the Source side of the cable

So this isn't run-of-the-mill coax, this is a 3-conductor cable where the shield conductor is separate (and insulated) from the signal carrying conductors. You're right, if the shield is also the ground connection (as is the case with most coax), this won't make any difference. In fact, it won't work, the shield/ground conductor must be connected at both ends for the interconnect to pass any signal.

I think having a shield that's separate from the ground conductor has other benefits, especially with RFI rejection. You can't do this with commercial gear and RCA connectors, but if you build your own preamp/amps/interconnects, you could connect the cable's shield directly to the chassis/earth, while the 2 signal conductors go to hot/ground of the signal circuitry. This way, any RF currents induced in the shield find a direct path to safety earth, and they don't ride on the signal ground. I'm sure that can't hurt the sonics/functioning of the circuit, and in some cases may even help things a little.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Lifting the shield at one end is not uncommon in pro-audio applications, like studios for instance. However, in that situation we’re talking about balanced signals where the signal (-) does not ride on the shield. I’m not so convinced it’s functional with unbalance signals.

I will give Monster credit for noting that the reasoning behind their directional cables is “theory.” However...

We use one conductor as the positive lead, terminated to the Tip, one conductor as the negative lead, terminated to the sleeve, and we terminate the shield to the Source side of the cable...

...it looks to me like they’ve overlooked a fundamental of electronics, namely that continuity is continuity (at least for the sake of this discussion). If you lift the shield at one end yet it’s connected through a signal wire at the other end, you’ve gained nothing.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Saurav]

Ah, I see what you're saying. I was thinking along the lines of stuff I've done with umbilicals between power supply boxes and audio amplification boxes, but there the shield is an independent conductor from any of the voltage-carrying conductors.

I've read accounts of people who had hum with long subwoofer cables that disappeared when they reversed the cable, which happened to be 'directional'. Don't know if it was a repeatable test though, could have just been a loose connection that got tightened with the connectors being removed and re-attached.

 

[Saul R]

Saurav, admittedly, I overlooked that Monster uses twisted pairs for their "unidirectional" cables. However, unlike power cords and XLR cables, where drain wires and/or shields are independent (and the concept could be properly applied), such separation is not possible with unbalanced cables. I tend to agree with Wayne A. Pflughaupt when he said:



It's a curious gimmick nonetheless.

 

[Saurav]

Yup, I overlooked the fact that the shield was connected to the shield at one end, even if it was insulated from it through the length of the cable.

It might be possible to make this work by ensuring that an RF frequency signal has a lower impedance to earth in one component than the other (and then hook up the cable so the sield is connected at that end). Maybe by using different values of resistors/capacitors to connect the RCA barrel to earth, or something like that. That way, even though you have 'equal' connectivity at audio frequencies, you'll have different impedances at RF frequencies. But that's firmly in the realm of 'what if', as I really doubt that commercial home audio gear does anything like that.