In Reply to: RE: Pop Quiz - Is stranded cable directional? posted by jea48 on February 25, 2014 at 09:09:16:
"If you can guarantee all bare strands of wire that make up the conductor are all aligned in the same direction as they were cast/drawn then yes, imo, the conductor would be directional."
I can actually supply a little actual experimental data here that supports your notion:
Over a decade ago I got the bit in my teeth to play with interconnects to try and get better performance and have some fun. Sparing you all the gory details and iterations I ended up with ~300ohm transmission lines composed of four strands of #28 magnet wire stuck in between two strips of masking tape with the grounds near the outer edges and the hots near each other in the center.
And they ended up a little directional, not a lot, but you could hear the difference. Since I built them I knew that they were symmetrical and also I knew that all four wires came off the spool in the same direction. The difference was audible in things like vocal sibilance, was it clear or 'spitty'. It's hard to describe sound but you prolly get the idea.
Obviously the thing to do was to build an identical cable alternating the wire directions in both signal and ground. So I did and the directionality went away. BUT I still preferred the sound of the directional design when installed in the 'right' way. So I just built them that way, drew an arrow on them so I know which end was the spool and have been happy ever-after.
I'm a technical sort and understand clearly that I don't understand clearly. Conversations with Stu years ago and simple reason convinced me that the most likely effect is due to the draw direction affecting the wire's crystalline structure in some manner.
The next step of course would be to see if both signal and ground direction mattered or if just one. But since I was happy with the sound and don't mind arrows on my cables I've just been building them that way ever since...
I'd say that this experience is likely appliccable to stranded wire but that the differences in it might not be as noticeable especially of it's of the bare, twisted variety, due to the possibility of strand interactions.
Regards, Rick
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Follow Ups
- RE: Pop Quiz - Is stranded cable directional? - rick_m 08:24:55 02/26/14 (2)
- RE: Pop Quiz - Is stranded cable directional? - jea48 08:52:57 02/26/14 (1)
- RE: Pop Quiz - Is stranded cable directional? - rick_m 10:14:26 02/26/14 (0)