what's an electrical engineer to do??

burdette
burdette Posts: 1,194
edited January 2003 in Basic Hookup/Wiring Questions
My new cables arrived today.. and, oh my god, some of them have directional arrows for hook-up. What is a classically-trained EE to do??

I may hook them up backwards just to see if I can hear all the satanic lyrics buried in all our DVDs and CDs. I'm pretty sure that "All the Pretty Horses" played this way will cause me to kill my family, or at least speak harshly to them for the evening. I don't want to even contemplate what "Life of Brian" played this way will do...

Anyway, fancy new fat cables for my CD, DVD and VCR hook-up to my receiver, and for receiver to TV... and all on the super-cheap from Parts Express clearance.
Post edited by burdette on
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  • TonyPTX
    TonyPTX Posts: 545
    edited January 2003
    What cables did you order? And on a second note, shouldn't this have been posted in the "Off Topic" forum?
    Damn....8 lines...I've gotta put my sig on a diet now....
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  • HBombToo
    HBombToo Posts: 5,256
    edited January 2003
    Originally posted by burdette
    My new cables arrived today.. and, oh my god, some of them have directional arrows for hook-up. What is a classically-trained EE to do??

    I'm with ya...:lol::lol::lol:

    HBomb

    still laughing!:lol::lol::lol:
    ***WAREMTAE***
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  • burdette
    burdette Posts: 1,194
    edited January 2003
    Originally posted by TonyPTX
    And on a second note, shouldn't this have been posted in the "Off Topic" forum?

    You seem pretty anal about the whole topic/forum thing.. this is the second post today that commented on location. Did you use to be forum moderator in a former life?
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  • TonyPTX
    TonyPTX Posts: 545
    edited January 2003
    Originally posted by burdette


    You seem pretty anal about the whole topic/forum thing.. this is the second post today that commented on location. Did you use to be forum moderator in a former life?

    Used to be an IRC op with an iron fist. Does that count? Seriously though, the basic forum rules are there for a reason. No need to explain them as I'm sure you understand why this post really didn't belong here to begin with.
    Damn....8 lines...I've gotta put my sig on a diet now....
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  • HBombToo
    HBombToo Posts: 5,256
    edited January 2003
    Originally posted by TonyPTX


    Used to be an IRC op with an iron fist. Does that count? Seriously though, the basic forum rules are there for a reason. No need to explain them as I'm sure you understand why this post really didn't belong here to begin with.

    WTF is an IRC?

    does stuff like this really matter?

    who cares says the HBomb!
    ***WAREMTAE***
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  • Tour2ma
    Tour2ma Posts: 10,177
    edited January 2003
    :lol:
    I'm with H-Bomb... funny...
    Even tho I'm a ChemE I did take one semester of EE intro...

    I understood the "WTF"....
    More later,
    Tour...
    Vox Copuli
    Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. - Old English Proverb

    "Death doesn't come with a Uhaul." - Dennis Gardner
    "It's easy to get lost in price vs performance vs ego vs illusion." - doro
    "There is a certain entertainment value in ripping the occaisonal (sic) buttmunch..." - TroyD
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  • shiu
    shiu Posts: 169
    edited January 2003
    I bet you its the way their electrical engineer design and implement the shielding that make the direction matter. As an example, in the case of many instrumentation cables, you ground the shielding wire on one end only, which end is to be grounded depends on the application.
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  • burdette
    burdette Posts: 1,194
    edited January 2003
    To answer your question, Tony, the cables were a variety... two AR 12' combination composite video/audio cables, two 6' audio patch cables that are Best Buy's store brand that they cleared out through PE, and a 3' composite video cable that is Part's Express new Dayton line. The AR cables were the real deal - on clearance for six bucks.

    And, yes.. I do think Basic hookup/wiring is an appropriate forum for a post on cables. I would have assumed that was obvious from the fact that this is where I posted it.
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  • TonyPTX
    TonyPTX Posts: 545
    edited January 2003
    Thanks for the info burdette. I think AR are the best bang for the buck when it comes to IC. Personally I think there just as good as the basic Monster series IC's at a more competative price.

    As for the topic about the validity of the post here in this forum, I'm not saying "talk about wires" doesn't belong here, but what I didn't see was the "question" in your original post. After all, this is the "Basic Hookup/Wiring Questions" forum. (I don't buy the comment about signal direction as a valid question because you obviously knew what to do here).
    Damn....8 lines...I've gotta put my sig on a diet now....
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  • phuz
    phuz Posts: 2,372
    edited January 2003
    Originally posted by TonyPTX


    Used to be an IRC op with an iron fist. Does that count? .

    **** man IRCops are worse that forum mods. ;)

    What network? Please don't say Dalnet.
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  • infinitiqx4
    infinitiqx4 Posts: 80
    edited January 2003
    Originally posted by TonyPTX
    And on a second note, shouldn't this have been posted in the "Off Topic" forum?

    No Tony, you're wrong too. This post should have been in the "car subwoofer talk" forum.

    This is my first time looking through the wiring forum and I'm laughing hysterically. My EE background is throwing the **** flag at half the stuff peeps are saying. Don't even bother wiring them "backwards" we all know there is no difference.
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  • shiu
    shiu Posts: 169
    edited January 2003
    If the wire is directional because of the ground/shielding design, it would make a difference in the EMI/RFI filtering effect if you do not follow the arrow (assuming it is from Amplifier to speaker). I do agree that the effect would be unnoticeable by most, unless you run your wire in an environment with a lot of EMI/RFI.
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  • infinitiqx4
    infinitiqx4 Posts: 80
    edited January 2003
    Originally posted by shiu
    If the wire is directional because of the ground/shielding design, it would make a difference in the EMI/RFI filtering effect if you do not follow the arrow (assuming it is from Amplifier to speaker). I do agree that the effect would be unnoticeable by most, unless you run your wire in an environment with a lot of EMI/RFI.

    I posted something to this effect elsewhere. The best option is of course to route wires AWAY from noise sources. But instead we see systems on here with $300 wires running parallel to AC power. DUMB. The problem of using normal wires in a setup like that isn't that the wires are junk! Its that the installation introduces noise.

    I actually have directional interconnects in my car (car has tons of noise sources and limited ability to avoid them compared to home). There is a "drain" wire that goes in one direction, so I get the idea of directionality with it. But there really is very little difference and I tried both ways running right next to my power wire. Next to the power wire there was noise no matter which way the interconnect was directed. Away from the power wire there was no noise in either direction. I'm not saying that I regret buying the more expensive cable- it does a better job shielding the noise than cheaper wire. But I'm talking about a $50 16foot interconnect not some $300 marketing hype.

    Also, the wire can not filter away noise. It just shields it from getting in.
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  • shiu
    shiu Posts: 169
    edited January 2003
    I agree with everything you said in this posting. Obviously as an EE you know the basic theory of grounding and shielding. If you don't think filter could mean the same as "shield it from getting in", I can go along with that too. I was simply quoting it from one of the manufacture's spec sheet. Thanks!
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