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Re: Wire directionality

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Ted Smith

(B)

In Reply to: Wire directionality posted by Dawnrazor on August 2, 2006 at 20:39:39:

Howdy
Search for posts by Bob Crump (rcrump) on direction and you'll find his impressions, his recipe for the best directions and what he listens for. Since I like his cables and think they're a great bang for the buck I give his opinion more weight than some others :)
That said, I sure don't know universal the directionality he hears is. Does it depend on features of how wire is drawn as it's formed, how the insulation is applied, etc.?
-Ted

http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/search.mpl?searchtext=direction&author=rcrump&forum=cables (Open in New Window)

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Sorry - Dawnrazor 11:54:56 08/03/06 (1)
I should have searched...usually do, but for some reason I didn't this time.
Sorry for wasting your time when the answer was there already.
Thanks.
- No problem, searching is good but - Ted Smith 17:29:33 08/03/06 (0)
  Howdy
  I'm sure you could have found a lot of arguments about directionality easily, but if you didn't happen to know that rcrump was a big believer in directionality it might have taken some time for you to find his posts :)
  -Ted
Re: Wire directionality - unclestu52 10:38:07 08/03/06 (1)
All wire is cold drawn through dies, mechanically squashing the metal into shape. Well, I guess the people who make the Harmonic Technology, Acoustic Zen, and a few others may quibble, as they claim their wire is drawn when in the molten, or rather semi molten state. However even HT and AZ have directionality indicated on their wire. I believe this drawing is what gives wire its directionality.
In one orientation the wire has definitely better highs. The difference can be subtle, and often times the sonic choice of ends can outweigh the direction. However, I believe what Dawnrazor has done is fine for audio That is my standard procedure, anyway.

Stu
- Re: Wire directionality - QuadTodd 23:12:05 08/03/06 (0)
  I agree, point for point. About 10-12-14 years ago - Geez, how long have I been in this hobby? - I was replacing some so-so internal wire with some made by FMS and tried a test for direction before cutting and soldering. I inserted the FMS as the hot connection between a set of really cheep Rat Shack alligator clips terminated in the grey plastic coated rca plugs and recorded a cassette tape (yea, I know. Look how long ago tho.) with a cut from a known LP onto a Nakamichi deck alternating the direction 2 times. So A-B-A-B. And then played the tape back. Hmmm. Played it again. Faint difference this time - cleaner & a touch more dynamic vs slower & dirty.
  I had two other rolls of wire in different colors, so I hooked them up one at a time and just listened to the LP thru the tape recorder monitor - no recording this time. On both rolls, I guessed whether it was the "clean" or "dirty" sound, switched direction and confirmed it. Nailed it both times!
  This proved to me, in this instance with this wire and less than even good hookup conditions, that it may take a few A-Bs to even hear the slight difference, but once you hear it and train the ear, it was fairly obvious. But by no means was it a deal breaker either way. In fact, some may have preferred it the other way, YMMV.
  Todd

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