Directional arrows on cables?

heiney9 · July 2005

madmax wrote:

So if I read this correctly... it is your opinion that sound differences are possible but if the rest of a system isn't up to it then it is not worthwhile to spend additional big dollars on cables because you wont hear it?

madmax

Yes, thats basically what Im stating as my opinion. If you have a cheap receiver, cheap speakers and cheap CD player why spend a couple hundred bucks on cables. Makes no sensetake that money and spend it on the components until you have a system that might benefit from upgraded cables. You will certainly get more benefit from buying higher grade components than you will using low grade components and high dollar cables. Its been said here beforeits all about the synergy and all the pieces working together to the benefit the whole.

It would be less than ideal to own a Conrad Johnson amp and use out of the box patch cords to connect to the pre. Just as it would be silly to own a few hundred dollars worth of components and use a few hundred dollars worth of cables to connect them with. Its not my intention to reduce this to a $$$ issue, its just the best way to get my point across. Cables are always going to have a sonic signaturecan differences be heard? depends on your system, your ears and your belief. Unfortunately the cable/interconnect industry has made it very hard to discern between the truth and the sales pitch, and thats where much of my personal skepticism comes from.

H9

dorokusai · July 2005

I'm wondering how many times we're going to comment on the directional arrow on a interconnect? This was explained awhile ago....or is everyone just on drugs?

In addition, Bruce Brisson didn't design Monster Cable as Noel Lee is actually quite educated. MC used a few of Bruce's designs in their cables, not the other way around.

dragon1952 · July 2005

Well the only reason I brought it up again was because what was stated in the two comments I posted hadn't been stated before in that way. That the arrows (if used to indicate which direction the ground is) should all point to the load, not necessarily in the same direction throughout the system.

heiney9 · July 2005

Seems to me we were able to squeeze out just a little bit more info/opinion. Geez, I didn't know there was a limit on how much/many times we could discuss something. Overkill is the theme around here most of the time

Damn looks like I just added to this thread again :eek:

H9

P.S. for the record I wasn't commenting on the direction of the arrows

dragon1952 · July 2005

Maybe they should be painted in Glo-paint and point the way to the bathroom in case you're watching a movie in the dark.

bknauss · July 2005

Directionality of cables is BS (well, typical cables at least). If the designers of military grade equipment don't worry about which way they point their cables, then we sure as heck shouldn't worry about it.

Now cables like some MITs have a circuit in them, so hooking them up backwards would be bad.

disneyjoe7 · July 2005

BS I say not, in the Telecommunication sector of the world. The ground in on the source side only, on important signals like clocking and such.

dorokusai · July 2005

bknauss wrote:

Directionality of cables is BS (well, typical cables at least). If the designers of military grade equipment don't worry about which way they point their cables, then we sure as heck shouldn't worry about it.

Now cables like some MITs have a circuit in them, so hooking them up backwards would be bad.

MIT networks are passive, and you won't harm anything by using them backwards.

How can you compare a military grade connection to a consumer grade connection? You're just generalizing, as their are more variables than a ground wire termination in the construction of any type of cables and/or connections.

bknauss · July 2005

I was saying you shouldn't hookup MITs backwards because, if I remember correctly, they're more or less an RLC filter... and you won't get the same response forward and backward.

And yes, it was a huge generalization. It would take a couple pages to go in depth into each sector of business that uses cables and their practices.

And yes, I did overlook grounding techniques. Oops... these types of posts pop up when you've been painting a house for several hours and its late at night

dorokusai · July 2005

Painting? Ugh, I hate painting.

As far as the MIT, I just meant you wouldn't blow anything up by hooking them up backwards.

disneyjoe7 · July 2005

So if I connected / broke in a set of AudioQuest Diamond backs backwards, I thought that the arrow was the direction of signal flow not the ground end.

Should I now reverse them or forget it.

disneyjoe7 · July 2005

disneyjoe7 wrote:

So if I connected / broke in a set of AudioQuest Diamond backs backwards, I thought that the arrow was the direction of signal flow not the ground end.

Should I now reverse them or forget it.

Ok, I'm not trying to be an A$$ ok. I know to feeling is that it doesn't make any difference, but I ask because of some noise at times so this may be my problem. So if a cable is broken in one direction can you re-break it in the other direction?

madmax · July 2005

Whether it really makes a difference or not you should shoot for the proper orientation.

Remember, a good system doesn't always sound better with the addition of one tweek. It is the combination of multiple tweeks that really makes the difference. (I stole that remark from F1Nut).

madmax

dorokusai · July 2005

Audioquest uses that arrow for more than a grounding reason, so from their perspective use the arrow as it is defined by Audioquest....signal flow. They also say that a cable can change state if it is unused, thus it can "break-in" or "adjust" again. Just go with the signal flow idea, and don't worry about it anymore.

disneyjoe7 · July 2005

dorokusai wrote:

Audioquest uses that arrow for more than a grounding reason, so from their perspective use the arrow as it is defined by Audioquest....signal flow. They also say that a cable can change state if it is unused, thus it can "break-in" or "adjust" again. Just go with the signal flow idea, and don't worry about it anymore.

Thanks guys,

I will keep the Audioquest Diamond Back cables in the direction I have them in. The Arrow is facing the signal way, so on AQ cables the arrow is not for the ground end?

bvette94 · August 2005

Imo i think the cable is designed in a fashion to keep out interfearence. The way the wires are twisted. if you plug all of your cables in the direction that the arrows show any innerfearence would deflect out and away from the cable. It would be like sticking two magnets together. sort of like the telephone cat 5 wiring principle. IF you wire your system like this it is one less source of interfearence or unwanted noise.

PolkThug · August 2005

bvette94 wrote:

Imo i think the cable is designed in a fashion to keep out interfearence. The way the wires are twisted. if you plug all of your cables in the direction that the arrows show any innerfearence would deflect out and away from the cable. It would be like sticking two magnets together. sort of like the telephone cat 5 wiring principle. IF you wire your system like this it is one less source of interfearence or unwanted noise.

Just make sure that if you move south of the equator, to re-twist the wires in the opposite direction.

bvette94 · August 2005

PolkThug wrote:

Just make sure that if you move south of the equator, to re-twist the wires in the opposite direction.

yea that is helpful.

dragon1952 · August 2005

bvette94 wrote:

Imo i think the cable is designed in a fashion to keep out interfearence. The way the wires are twisted. if you plug all of your cables in the direction that the arrows show any innerfearence would deflect out and away from the cable. It would be like sticking two magnets together. sort of like the telephone cat 5 wiring principle. IF you wire your system like this it is one less source of interfearence or unwanted noise.

If you read the previous posts you would have found that sometimes the arrows are to reference the ground, sometimes just informational for those that wish to connect them the same way everytime and sometimes because the manufacturer states that their design is optimal if the same direction is always maintained. Directionality, as it pertains to interference rejection, is immaterial for unshielded cables. Twisting can help with interference but an unshielded cable using twisting for RFI rejection is non-directional. How can an unshielded cable that uses twists possibly be directional? It's exactly the same in both directions. You can't make a general statement like that regarding arrows when there are multiple reasons for putting them there in the first place. You have a lot of nerve dissing Polk Thugs remark. You can't even spell interference correctly let alone the same way twice :rolleyes:

bvette94 · August 2005

Thank You for correcting me. i will not make any more wrong opinions or spell any words wrong again. I am sorry. You guys are so smart.Thanks for pointing them out. Next time i will do my homework before i try to get involved with chats regarding things i dont know anything about.

polksda · August 2005

I connected some interconnects with the signal going in the opposite direction from the way it was marked on the cables, and my microwave exploded.

dorokusai · August 2005

Lol

Polkersince85 · August 2005

What happens if you use the red one for the left channel?

Directional arrows on cables?

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