Are Cables Really Directional?

[@Audioholics]

Editorial note: twister pair interconnects are only appropriate for audio, NOT video. The usable bandwidth is really limited to about 100khz since this type of cable doesn't have the proper 75 ohm characteristic impedance. This is one of the reasons why COAX has bandwidth advantages.

[@erlendse]

But you can change the equipment to 50 ohm coax or 100 ohm twisted cable(cat5+) if you really want!

[@Audioholics]

@@erlendse for long distances, coax is the way to go. It's why it's the standard for broadcast cable/satellite systems.

[@TomCee53]

There are video drivers and converters designed for twisted pair that can pass video, but generally they take advantage of digital transmission, which has a completely separate set of contraints.

[@Audioholics]

@@TomCee53 yes there goes beyond the scope of this video. Generally speaking coax is a better way to transmit high frequency content at long distance.

[@erlendse]

@@Audioholics Totally. Cat6+ cables with the right termination are actually good for many hundreds of MHz. Even before mentioning digital stuff! Also check AHD/CVI used for surveillance cameras. Coax is very popular, since it does work well. Signal loss is totally a thing on higher frequency. They just don't matter too much for audio frequency within a reasonable audio room size!

[@DavidKowalski]

When I sold cables in the 90s, I was actually told that the copper atoms became oriented in one direction or another (the cables were not made of an ultracold, dilute gas, by the way). Customers seemed quite impressed by this explanation.

[@michaelwright1602]

I always looked for something that would not break at the ends... LOL!

[@nexusofcrisis8881]

I actually got a tour of the AudioQuest factory in Orange County CA some years back and I met the dude who decides the directionality of every single spool of wire that comes thru the warehouse. That's the dudes job... he sits in a room listening to the same track, over and over, all day, every day. It's 100% his opinion. Back when 3D was cool again we discovered that even standard AQ HDMI cables would not display 3D if connected in reverse. When asked about it not even the founder could explain why.

[@Niceaux_B]

Well they're called Audio Quest. Not Audio Solved.

[@williammay8413]

To much BS in this hobby, back in the 70’s and 80’s I never even heard about cables could make a huge difference and now people are trying to sale us power cables that cost 1,500 or more and saying it makes a big differences, come on people wake up and smile the coffee.

[@DescartesRenegade]

Next thing we know, they'll sell us coffee to improve what we hear.

[@thomasmleahy6218]

Trying to SELL us. Smile the coffee.

[@Fathernimman]

Audioholics is my one and only source when it comes to teaching and technical, measurements, and everything in between. Since he doesnt bash anyone, and actually can tell you when noise do matter and when you cant hear it. Sp keep it up and thanks :)

[@edbrumbaugh9202]

Thanks Gene, great topic. I've seen those claims and I always think to myself what bullshit are they selling ... trying to justify some ridiculous prices for their cable. Like you said, if you want to spend that kind of money on your speaker cable, etc., knock yourself out. I just have a real problem with people that can look you in the eye with a straight face and talk about directionality of speaker cable, or how much more open your system will sound if you just buy there power cable for your AVR, Amp, etc. As always, very much appreciate your no BS discussion of these topics!! Keep it up!!

[@shpater]

Thank you for your informative video. some point of view from technical aspect 1) Wave length: Coaxial cables are designed for very high frequency. What is considered to as a High frequency? signals with short wave length, or specifically cable reaches close to (highest frequency) 1/4 wavelength or longer. for audio signal of 40000 hz the wave length is 7500 meters, 10% of the wave length is 750 meters, so never a coaxial cable will perform as intended for audio frequency. 2) Matching Impedance: Coaxial cable has usually a designed impedance as 50Ohms or 75ohms. in order for it to perform correctly it has to have a matching impedance of the source output and the destination input impedance. however, this is true for long cables (longer then wave length so this whole statement is irrelevant for audio signal 3) Skeen Effect: for audio signals there is a huge difference between cable connectivity between low frequency and high frequency due to skin effect, this is relevant only for low impedance input or high currents, but at any case the conducting wire should be threaded and not a single wire as a Coax center wire is. What is the effect on audio signal? I don't really know, but for sure a proper threaded wire will remove any doubt. 4) Capacitance: typical preamp output is around the 1K ohms area, this means we need the total capacitance loading to the Preamp output to be less than 1.5nF (for a 100Khz FR). this is relevant to long twisted cables and even more when shielding is added. 5) One side shield: the purpose (as per designer) is to conduct EMI interference to the received input shield while maintain a DC ground separation between the two units. on good designs units this is not necessary and sometimes it is even better to have the EMI earthed at shorter as possible distance of cable. hope this helps

[@damienlahoz]

Gene, ive gone to using double or triple shielded digital coax for all of my interconnects and they work flawlessly to my ears. I did this based on your older snake oil video so thank you for that recommendation. The only issue i have is that the quality digital coax ($25 per cable at MOST) is quite thick and inflexible due to the layers of shielding. But im happy to make that trade off for the performance and price. And they look goo too! Much better than standard "RCA"

[@rndm4642]

Which make/model coax cables?

[@BoomerUKEngland]

I tried using shielded digital coax as interconnects, however I found the sound 'altered' and not as balanced, I put it down to the 75ohm cable. One thing I did notice is how noise free quality digital coax cables are. I have since used Van Damme Lo-Cap 55 cable, and it out performed digital coax for sound quality and at least matched digital coax for it's low noise.

[@TjPhysicist]

i've actually been debating switching back to ccheap "RCA" cuz the shielded cables are so thick i'm having a hard time getting them to stay connecting around bends and such. I guess i'll stick with the good quality coax cables i have...idk what to do about how thick they are though (i have a zdt jr where the L input basically keeps sliding off because of how thick it is and cuz it's being bend to reach the input).

[@michaelwright1602]

Gene, you mentioned coax cable. I went to Amazon and bought a set of the Worlds Best Cables Mogami 3082 coaxial speaker wire. I had to retune my system, as the bass was fuller, in a good way. I asked about this, and an engineer type fella, not into the snake oil, deciphered the Mogami cable engineering specs, as Mogami is one of the few audio cable companies that actually does this. He said he could see why the speakers may have sounded different. Here are his thoughts: I am amazed to read DC resistance per metre is soooo low. Also the net cross sectional area is 2.6sq.mm. This is very good. 0.054ohms total cable resistance for a 3 m cable to a low of maybe 6ohms impedance on a nominal 8ohm speaker. My mental arithmetic says that you lose less than 1% signal power through the cables. Irrespective of construction methods, that is why they are so good. Target is zero resistance, capacitance and inductance. These figures look very close. Thoughts?

[@informatiger9501]

All cables can be modelled as an Inductor (the cable itself) wired in series with a resistor (the cables resistance). Also there is a small capacitance between the two conductors, which doesn't make a lot of difference in the most cases. Therefore any cable is a weak low-pass filter, while the target is to have no inductance, capacitance or resistance as it would alter the signal. So besides overall signal level/volume there shouldn't be any reason why a cable should increase bass volume.

[@informatiger9501]

So the quality of any cable can be boiled down to how low it's resistance, capacitance and inductance is. For low power transmission (e.g. line level) isolation also makes a significant difference. However a low inductance cable will naturally pick up less electromagnetic interference.

[@informatiger9501]

Coax as well as twisted cables generally, have a lower inductance, because the electromagnetic field generated by the two conductors is opposed and therefore cancels out itself. This would however more likely lead to a better HF transmission.

[@michaelwright1602]

@@informatiger9501 Well, something is different... I am not one of those guys that can hear a difference between a $5 cable or power cord vs a $100+ one, I believe that is all snake oil, but something still happened here. These coaxial cables vs the OFC, maybe it was my homemade cables vs the soldered connection on the Mogami. And I have quite a few speaker cables laying around here, home made and professionally assembled, I cannot hear the difference between 14ga zip cord or any of the others I have laying around. But, they are all OFC, this is a first foray for me into coaxial cable as speaker wire. Well, I like them, there was a difference and they are staying. Thank you for answering and not insulting my intelligence. ;-)

[@informatiger9501]

@@michaelwright1602 probably just lower impedance in general and therefore higher volume. Coaxial cables are were specifically invented to carry HF signals in the MHz to GHz region. Definitely not because they are coaxial.

[@josephfranzen9196]

This. This is why this channel will always be relevant regardless if you’re an advanced enthusiast or a novice who just setup their first multichannel system.

[@mikrophonie5633]

AudioQuest, purveyors of fine snake oil.

[@petie40]

Radio frequency can be shorted out without affecting audio using a a small (very small) value capacitor in parallel to any source, speaker cable, power cable, even that am interference from power lines over street can be shorted out with very small value capacitor in parallel on power lines without shorting out power (the capacitor of very small value passes the lower frequencies and shorts out the radio frequencies when in parallel). This method of shorting out radio frequencies works like a crossover network in speaker passing only the desired frequencies.

[@motodork]

I use true coax for AC3 from my laserdisc to my preamp, and to connect my sub. Would never consider using anything else. Also, there is so much good information in this video. Well done.

[@jitrapornpha5104]

Respectfully Gene , there is an exception . Some manufactures , Like Acrolink Japan , make speaker cables with copper shielding. The shielding is connected at the amp end to the negative binding post of the amp. Therefore their speaker cables are directional because of the location of the ground. Not that i see the sense in having speaker cables with copper shielding ,

[@Audioholics]

I addressed that in the video that some cables have a shield grounded on one end. little point in doing that in speaker cables tho.

[@fredflintstone8048]

The electricians who originally wired my home put all the Romex cable in backwards, and instead of being able to power up my appliances and other electronics like hifi, the power was actually sucked out, and my electric utility meter spun backwards.. It was quite expensive to have the cables removed and turn around the right way, so yeah, all cabling is directional.. duh.. Only a flat earther would believe otherwise. Ok, enough commenting, it's time to go back to listening to my hifi and yes, the cables are all installed the right way around (all the little arrows pointed the right way and the happy little electrons dancing their way through). Seriously speaking, twisted pair has an advantage of NOT rejecting noise inductance, but rather distributing noise evenly on both conductors. If the electronics being fed with twisted pair has a common mode rejection stage where only the difference in signal is passed through, this noise gets blocked. This is how high speed ethernet cable like cat 5E and cat 6 can handle high speed networking signals up into the gigahertz range. The ethernet cable is made up of twisted pairs, no shielding required.

[@boeing757pilot]

Lol! Good one

[@Fabester71]

Hi Gene, Could you please make a video on the benefits of using a coax cable as interconnects and other uses, that sounds interesting. Thank you Gene for sharing your knowledge through your awesome videos. Best regards, Fabian

[@MrSatyre1]

Am I the only industry veteran who thinks Paul McGowan rambles more than he actually explains things? And when he does, he rarely actually explains anything?

[@carlosarques]

Please, don't violate engineering. Truer words were never spoken. Bravo Gene!

[@audioworkshop1]

For many years we made up interconnects using Belden coax, the quick and "dirty" method was to use a cable stripper and a BNC crimp connecter, and an RCA adaptor, this was especially useful doing custom subwoofer runs through cabinetry, we never had an issue with any these, personally, I preferred them to the cheap Chinese interconnects which don't use any shielding at all!

[@jez2234]

The Kimber cable is plaited not twisted which is what the out shield on the coaxial is like or am l wrong?

[@audioaficionado9494]

Put a diode at one end of the audio cable. Then it will be directional and sound different 😂 I hate snake oil. Thx Gene

[@terrycole2407]

This must come from the markings on some audio cables, featuring arrows at each end. Those arrows don’t indicate a directional quality of the cable itself. They’re routing indicators that help you be sure you’re connecting in to out and out to in.

[@chucklemberg4968]

I'm confused. Doesn't an AC signal move in both directions? If a cable is directional, how could it be used to accommodate a signal that needs to travel in both directions?

[@Audioholics]

exactly, see you're not confused after all ;)

[@fivish]

Dont try to understand as its BS.

[@chucklemberg4968]

@@fivish I guess my sarcasm didn't come across through the texting.

[@jwebster5840]

I have a Naim UnitiStar connected to a pair of Monitor Audio speakers with directional AudioQuest Rocket 33 speaker cables with silver connectors. The system is a year old. I always believed that my system was lacking imaging then recently observed that one of my speaker cables was connected in reverse. I had no idea that my speaker cables were even directional. I switched the one cable around so that the amp end was actually connected to the amp and the speaker end was connected to the speaker. The imaging I craved, returned. I guess our ears really are the judge for what it’s worth. Thanks!

[@jackanderson2773]

Thanks for your knowledge on this subject Gene . I just go for build quality when it comes to my cables .

[@thomasmleahy6218]

How do you know what the build quality is

[@jackanderson2773]

@@thomasmleahy6218 Post is 10 months old ...

[@Faxie83]

What if the cables used in the studio were backwards? Lol.

[@michaelwright1602]

What was that Beatles song, you played it backwards... Now I know how they did it!

[@Harald-MacGerhard]

Again Gene, thx for you knowledge transfers! Wish there were more people in the business like you I can only digress that Nikola Tesla was a very popular guy.... some people even name their companies after him!

[@ebaysnipa]

Hey can you do a video on how cables don’t make a difference? but then explain the benefits of twisted cables, a few more times. I just enjoy watching you beat a dead 🐎

[@Roddy451]

I know this is an older video, but don't forget to do cable "break-in"... (crickets)

[@WindomRettes]

Paul McGowan spewing snake oil !, No way.

[@joel_hifi1994]

Gene, thanks for the very informative video, also appreciate the short format 👌 I’ve always been attracted to how cables with boxes sound (MIT, Transparent, AudioQuest)… very subjectively of course but I would say a little rounder/smoother and a little quieter/more relaxing. Could it be that the boxes add some type of coloration that is pleasing to my ears?

[@VandepoelM]

I like Paul 's content, but its often questionable advice. It has become a guilty pleasure, "let's see what outrageous claims they make today". TheAlphaAudio channel is filled with snakeoil gold.

[@aussie8114]

I think the Alpha Audio guys are very reputable.

[@swiftusmaximus5651]

What advice is questionable? Example or 2?

[@Audioholics]

@@swiftusmaximus5651 Paul's advice on cables is highly questionable.

[@swiftusmaximus5651]

@@Audioholics Wink Wink

[@MatthewBrannigan]

Paul's warm, avuncular persona makes me continue to watch, but yes, his advice should be taken with more than a grain of salt!

[@Richard-bq3ni]

Put a diode in your speaker cable, they become very much directional 😁

[@simonzinc-trumpetharris852]

The only time i/c cables are directional is when they have built in attenuators or have a shield connection at one end.

[@Audioholics]

Yes or active hdmi cables

[@mikeus77]

Hi Gene, I'm an audio engineer and I've always scoffed at people saying their expensive cables do this or that. Having said that, I do for a fact am aware that same type cables with the same inteconnects can sound different from one another, and some times substantially so. Could you explain why would that be the case, please? How manufacturers like Kimber for example, can make their cables sound different? Thanks.

[@michaelwright1602]

Brother, I'm a truck driver, and just ripped out my HT and installed a nice two channel system, I built around my KLH Model 5's. I am a big fan of Mogami cables, they all have measurements and most sound studios use them, so I figure that is good enough for me. I recently bought a set of Mogami 3082 coaxial speaker wires with Banana plugs, Worlds Best Cables on Amazon... I have always used OFC, have some professionally built ones and a lot of home made. I never heard any difference in any of them, 14ga zip cord or some pricey sets with fancy jackets and connectors... Until I through these Mogami coaxial wires in, I had to do a bit of retuning to the system. Everyone says I'm full of sh-t. I heard a difference, and have asked a serious question in regards to OFC vs Coaxial in speaker cables, I think that is an honest question, is there a difference? All I get are insults at the audio "science" sites, and no answers. I did find an engineer on FB, he took the published measurements and stated he could see why. The only honest answer I have gotten, along with one here regarding this subject. Really frustrating when something happens to your ears, and you have to physically start adjusting things as the sound DID change. I hope you get an answer.

[@mikeus77]

@@michaelwright1602 Hey there man. Well, cables are literally the last thing anyone should worry about in terms of sound quality. First, and second in the list is your listening space. Anyway, you shouldn't feel bad for being able to hear the difference between cables in your system. Cables can in fact affect the sound of a system, even though slightly. That's a fact. What I don't know, is how is it possible. After all, I personally care for a flat response, not cables with built in eq of sorts. Maybe Gene can help with the science behind this behaviour?

[@bartpappas3236]

​@@michaelwright1602 Every cable has an inductance and capacitance and resistance, as such it is basically a low pass filter (mentioned in the video). In addition differences in capacitance and resistance will create slight differences in volume between cables, sometimes. Remember the argument here is not that cables make zero difference, just that anyone telling you to spend a big money (many 100s to 1000s of $) on their fancy cables might be misleading you. If you're curious, here's kind of a worst case scenario for how cables can affect things: an Electric Guitar. Basically when you plug a guitar into a guitar amp, the pickup is now part of the circuit of amp: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sIG5fmChZZJjfqM The effect is less and less as you reduce the length of the cable. Notice he is testing 20 ft single ended cable. At 6 ft, it would be much harder to notice any of these differences. Again this sort of represents a worst scenario, in the differences cables can make, in the hifi world the need to run 20ft+ of single ended cable is maybe not so common. Again does not apply the same way to XLR cable or other balanced cable, only single ended.

[@jman8368]

Try 18 ga magnet wire for the speakers. Definitely gives a cleaner sound. Mapleshade is the best.

[@fivish]

Some cable have higher resistance and so the volume is different and the 'loudness curve' comes into play.

[@davidwells999]

Have you done a show on skin effect with cables small gauge vs. large gauge? If you have please post link. Thank You.

[@thomaslutro5560]

Well. All my line level cables are XLR male one end, XLR female the other. The one from the tt to the phono stage is 5-pin to RCA. The speaker cables will soon be spades one end, Speakon the other. The directionality is in the connectors.

[@edwardallenthree]

Lol

[@jamesvitale7132]

So if you have a directional cable... what direction should that cable run... Ex: eARC set up - TV to Avr or Avr to TV?

[@GammonMaster-PcP]

Setting up my M&K sub. Used a thick directional subwoofer cable I bought years ago. Cable did not work, thought it strange, so I looked on the cable for damage, found a arrow, turned it around to that direction from amp to sub, worked just fine 🙃 Now I am curious as well as confused after this vid

[@awwbollocksthen1359]

Are you still confused, or do you need some explaining?

[@simonzinc-trumpetharris852]

You probably had a bad connection and it was pure coincidence.

[@awwbollocksthen1359]

Certain cables like some HDMI's are designed to run directional. However, analogue cables in my experience are more about the way the conductor has been burnt in. I once thought I burnt in a cable the wrong way round only later to discover now that it's been burnt in. One would be better off leaving it and going with the flow (pun intended) Confirmation came when I put it to the test!

[@DougMen1]

How can a cable be directional when the signals traveling through them are AC, which means they travel in both directions

[@immovableobjectify]

While the current is bidirectional, the energy transfer is certainly directional. That being said, I don't accept that crystalline structure resulting from the cable being drawn during manufacturing has any audible effect with regard to directionality.

[@DougMen1]

@@immovableobjectify "The energy transfer is directional"? You clearly know nothing about electronics. AC stands for ALTERNATING CURRENT! Current travels in both directions! DUH! The current IS the energy? What planet are you living on? 🤡

[@pogromcakoparek]

It's also worth mentioning, that when talking about a twisted pair ability to reject some unwanted signals, we have to keep in mind that it's not just the twisted pair itself, but the whole connection needs to be balanced. So, we need a transformers or differential amplifiers at output and input to get rid of unwanted common distortions. Twisting wires connected to an RCA connectors just doesn't make any sense, as RCA is unbalanced.

[@tommyK7282]

I like hooking up my powered subwoofers using hi level running to my left and right channels of amplifier or receiver. I get better performance all around.

[@MaestroPrep]

So, now I know why, when I plug in a cable backwards... The audio plays backwards... I thought it was just the Beatles!

[@Audioholics]

Number 9. Number 9. 😅

[@WOLFx1950]

I really need your help , your voice and opinion can hopefully make denon acknowledge my issue. I am beyond frustrated with the HDMI 2.1 implementation and I feel denon is not giving my issue enough attention. My denon X3700H is having lots of issues with VRR when HDR is also turned on , that's on the PS5. The screen randomly flickers on different games on random areas for no apparent reason. They released a firmware update that is supposed to have fixed the issue of desaturated colors on VRR+HDR , But now I am suffering screen flickering. Tried different cables to no avail , going directly to the TV works fine. I would appreciate your help so much 🥺

[@miikasuominen3845]

On x4700h, the last 2 updates fixed my intermittent problems on Series X. Occasionally it lost the signal sync, when game changed to HDR or on startup, it didn't fix on the signal at all... That was really, really annoying! Whole hdmi2.1 is handled REALLY BADLY, methinks... Good cables are very important, but also firmwares can fix a problematic things... They started to make some new cables for 2.1? Was it on next revision or something? Like, amplified... Cannot remember exactly, but saw some news on it, a while ago... Don't have PS5 (yet), but I think many sites and tech tubers said the VRR-implementation is still buggy... Maybe you just must wait for updates...

[@damienlahoz]

I go straight to the TV and utilize E.ARC for this very reason. I had to turn off the HDMI control as E.ARC causes some weird behaviors when HDMI control is active on the ps5. But i have ZERO issues with sound or picture. Not ideal I know but its just better in every way to the receiver implementation.

[@WOLFx1950]

@@miikasuominen3845 I have been suffering from loss of signal when making a new handshake for so very long. And unfortunately it's still unfixed for me. It's better than it used to be , but still I have it. After the new update I am having random screen flicker on some games when HDR+VRR are active on the PS5

[@WOLFx1950]

@@damienlahoz Yes going through the TV is way better , but unfortunately I lose the 7.1 PCM surround. I have a samsung Q80T and it can only return 5.1 dolby digital signal through arc , the difference between PCM and dolby digital is HUGE! That's why I am trying to avoid arc as much as possible

[@WOLFx1950]

@@miikasuominen3845 kzbin.info/www/bejne/nHnEk6iCbs15ps0 that's my issue

[@WorldFamousUnfluencer]

Some cables are indeed directional, some are not.

[@Audioholics]

cables, yes bc of shielding, wire is NEVER directional.

[@tomb375]

Always keeping it real and cutting through the Bull Sh_ _ Thank you Gene. Always great and informative video's! Sorry about that age thing in North Carolina at the audio show. Keep them coming, thanks again.

[@WilliamCooper-ur6xo]

Gene, if you use optical hdmi cables which are directional, does this effect the use of the arc or earc from your display back to your Avr?

[@SwirlingDragonMist]

Sometimes RCA cables will have a shield that’s only grounded on one end, and the thinking is to have the ground trickle it’s energy backwards to the source component, having it disconnected is an effort to alleviate ground loops from the devices have different ground potentials which can come from transformer leakages or having gear plugged into different outlets in the room. I believe it does address the ground loop problem it intends to. I’ve never seen it quantified what level of influence there is whether it’s grounded on the source side or the amplification side. I’ve had my own firsthand experiences with ground loops and 60hz hum, and with a healthy understanding and respect for the science electromagnetic fields and induction, I’m a believer in twisted pair power cables because they’re AC and right in the rats nest of all the signal wires. Also a believer in toroidal or electromagnetically encased power transformers as if there is DC offset on the power theDc offset can saturate the transformer and radiate EMi inside the Chassis, and XLR interconnects which have an almost flawless rejection of all noise and Emi, probably to the point of XLR being the begging and end of any of these concerns. But as an optimizer and a nerd, I love squeaking every last drop of perfection out of things. But I’d never spend any significant money on cables. Most I’ve spent is $250 on Braided Krell Kryo cable by Maze Audio. They’re like 8 gauge, braided, beautiful, gold plated prongs, and they drag all my gear onto the floor with their weight. For my sensibility, they’re still expensive at $250 like too much. But they were the cheapest braided power cable I could find, and Probably light years ahead of any other high end nonsense that isn’t braided or has lower gauge. Check it out, Maze Audio “krell kryo” (it has krell end plugs) I got a 4 foot length just to clear my signal cables of any localized EMF.

[@preservedmoose]

Kimber Select cables have arrows... is this bogus too?

[@Audioholics]

Rewatch the video. They have the shield tied in one end of the cable and it's floating on the other side.

[@geoffreybove1850]

30+ year experienced electrophysiologist says --- grounding is great. Shielding is awesome when needed. Broken cables suck. And if it says Amphenol, I'm happy.

[@kewlbug]

Pretty sure the Directional RCAs (at least car audio, like Stinger) have to do with the shielding "drain wire". Not sure how, or if it works. It must though by the way they talk about it. Stinger- "we've added a 3rd drain wire to pull noise away from the 2 twisted signal wires. These 3-conductor cables (per channel) are designed to reject noise and pull noise away from the the next device. To visualize, we only connect the 3rd (drain) conductor to the source side and the 2 signal conductors at the end component, keeping the noise from transferring to the next component."

[@Audioholics]

I discuss this in the video.

[@kewlbug]

@@Audioholics Sorry, was working and watching, lol

[@thomasmleahy6218]

Yes! I read about it somewhere on the forums, expressed as directing your money into their pocket

[@marcbegine]

what about the MIT T2?

[@brandobond]

I run everything off my HTPC and I have learned that the biggest source of noise in my audio system is the graphics card. There is poor electrical isolation of the HDMI port from the rest of the card and I often hear pops and staticy noise from my speakers that corresponds to things changing on the screen (the graphics card outputting different data). You'd think that a high end, expensive card like my RTX3080 would be better built! I replaced my HDMI cable with an optical HDMI cable in hopes it would reduce the noise being passed on and it helps but does not completely eliminate the problem.

[@justinbeamon6624]

That sounds like a faulty card. I have a 3080 and do not experience that and neither to most all 3080 owners unless I'm missing a fatal flaw.

[@brandobond]

@@justinbeamon6624 Wish I had another card to test and see. I researched online and saw many others with the same problem. The consensus was that graphics cars aren't made with very good electrical isolation (most likely because 99% of end users aren't audiophiles and won't notice/care if there is sometimes pops/noise).

[@justinmitchell9195]

So active hdmi cables being directional meaning only will work plugged in a certain way is a waste of effort shopping for if I’m only going 6ft? Thank you!

[@Meerlu]

If i bought RG-6/U cables with the common tv termination and added screw on F to RCA adaptors.. would that be good?

[@Audioholics]

Yes!

[@Meerlu]

@@Audioholics Cool. Thanks for the great vids :)

[@midevil1980]

Great topic, and love the shirt! 🍻

[@granthampson5917]

Hi Gene. Can you do a video on Coaxial vs Fibre vs RCA vs HDMI, pros n cons, audio quality of each explained

[@jc6993]

Whats the difference between digital coax cable and coax RG6?

[@Audioholics]

other than the terminations, the same cable can be used for both applications.

[@alphonsowalls630]

Good information

[@Bill4Vendetta]

Off topic, but have you considered producing Audioholics gear? I would definitely love a logo t-shirt

[@alialamri8525]

Thank you for this video ... Would please make another one for RCA cables and what is the best value of it ? In RCA cables, i notice minor difference when i changed the RCA Cables .

[@johnsears4197]

It seems like in every area of Audio someone will take a little truth and run a muck with it "Audio quackery

[@335i101]

I don’t have a dog in this fight, other than I use cables, like the rest of us. When I set up my theater system my tv kept cutting out, like it was losing signal from the receiver. I noticed the cable had arrows on it and I had it installed backwards. I reoriented the cable and it solved the issue.

[@ImJustMe555]

As far as internally amplified speakers, what kind of cables do you recommend? 10 gauge speaker zip wire or XLR cables? I'm asking because generally people say you want the largest gauge possible, but XLR cables are usually smaller than 18 gauge, but are balanced and shielded.

[@jdk_360]

So from my experience if you have a pair of powered speakers where each one is internally amplified you would use XLR to connect the two. If you have a pair where one is active and the other is passive you would use regular speaker wire to transmit the power from the active speaker to the passive speaker. XLR connections are low voltage so you wouldn’t use XLR to transmit power to a passive speaker.

[@jnagarya519]

But -- but -- but -- all the sound from my AVR travels only in the direction of the speakers! Should I add batteries? Or have we evolved to solar?

[@steviegene4006]

Paul's head just exploded.

[@mikeausra6950]

very vary important for arc and e arc tyvm >

[@Steve30x]

I don't know about speaker cables but I have an optical HDMI cable thats 100% directional. When I first connected it to my blu Ray player and TV I only got audio with no picture. I reversed the connection and I git both picture and audio. I changed my speaker cable to OFC 2.5 kebledirect speaker cable a few days ago and finally put banana plugs on the cable. It wasn't expensive cable.e either.

[@shashank_mittal]

An active cable (cables with chips inside) is directional. Gene was talking about audio cables, which are passive and not active. What you said is true for all active/fiber HDMI cables or any other active cable (USB, thunderbolt etc).

[@Steve30x]

@@shashank_mittal I've never bought into the expensive speaker cable tripe though.

[@shashank_mittal]

@@Steve30x I make my own audio cables using Belden, Mogami or Canare bulk stock and Neutrik connectors. Expensive cables aren't for me either.

[@edwardallenthree]

Yes, this was addressed in the video, and is an important observation. Many HDMI and display port cables that are over 2 meters long are optical or powered and directional. The main reason for this is that it needs power from your device to manage the optics.

[@gaurd3]

Gene According to PS audio and GR- Research your equipment is just to cheap for you to notice. You need to buy some of their gear to hear the difference.

[@kewlbug]

Are you saying use Coax cables for analog audio instead of regular RCAs?

[@Audioholics]

Coax cable with RCA terminations.

[@michaelwright1602]

Mogami 2964 wire, Worlds Best Cables, Amazon.

[@denisdube8893]

You are the best dude 👍👌

[@doc666ify]

Good review.

[@ronlysons6750]

I was taking to a guy at an hifi show who makes cables. He was telling me coax cables need to be a minimum length. I think he said about 5ft. What your view on this Gene?

[@miikasuominen3845]

No snake oil to me, thanks. Never bought to these cable nonsense thingies. Except for things like proper shielding, big enough diameter, build quality and connector quality.

[@seanb3303]

If the noise the Audioquest cable is adding is 2nd harmonic, that can definitely sound better.

[@Audioholics]

LOL adding distortion caused by RF pickup will NOT sound better.

[@seanb3303]

@@Audioholics good point. My Greenwave EMI/RF filter is an absolute gem btw.

[@Jimsathome]

Well done Gene. On topic and to the point. Nonsense cable pushers need to chastised at every turn.

[@chinkc111]

Yes ! Fully agreed.!

[@JonathanDFielding]

Gene, you probably picked the speaker cable picture randomly, but I couldn't help but notice the brand - Pyle. In case the younger generation isn't aware of this companies notorious motto adopted by the general public, it's "Pyle of crap". the car audio equipment is some of the worst on the market. their pro audio equipment isn't any better than a cheap Sony integrated components receiver. They just really suck all around. I wish they'd close up shop. sadly, I bought a microphone stand from them which is a heap of garbage. 20 years ago when I got into car audio I knew someone who had one of their amplifiers which we opened up and noticed that the chassis of the amplifier was about 30% bigger arbitrarily then the components inside. there was a huge gap between two boards just so that the amplifier would appear bigger and more powerful than it was. the transformers are undersized along with the capacitors

[@glenjo0]

Why yes, everybody knows electrons flow better downhill, but it is tough to run upstairs to adjust the volume, and back to the basement to listen. 8D

[@MrBonger88]

Awesome t-shirt

[@oldDH72]

Gene, how do they implement this battery on a speaker cable. when I was a lot younger I remember connecting a battery to speaker and depending on the polarity it would either push the cone out or force it inwards. So by placing a battery on this speaker cable it would force the loudspeaker cones in one direction, and one direction only, and stay there the entire time it was connected. Not to mention the amplifier would not like it either. All this is pretty basic stuff, so why are companies trying to push this type of trash on to people, do they really think their custumers are that stupid. I have studied both electronics and audio engineering and some of the things I have read, seen and heard make me mad and sad to think people and companies can come up with so much nonsense. Just a little logic and some common sense, would go a long way.

[@Audioholics]

The battery is a scam. It's connected to the dielectric so it does nothing.

[@mladenbasic1]

Love the t shirt!

[@jimdowell1729]

Can you please provide real world cases to use coax? You mention how well it works but I'm not really clear on the layman terms of how to use cable. I've got a 4700h with a outlaw 5k powering a great svs ultra tower center and bookshelf ear level with 4 svs elevations with two pb 2ks. Thanks for absolutely everything Gene! You are soooo valuable. Ya need at least your biceps on my Rushmore 😂

[@chrisnicholasbushell9106]

Coax/Coaxial digital CD transports or CD players DVD players

[@bobc455]

Wire is extruded? I've been in rolling mills and drawing mills but I haven't seen extruded wire

[@bobc455]

And neither rolling nor drawing would cause electrical directionality of any kind

[@atzeotze2256]

Great Shirt ! 🖖🏻

[@elendal]

no, but what if you anneal them?

[@Audioholics]

Doesn't matter electrically

[@elendal]

@@Audioholics i agree ;-) it was a joke

[@fshjdkfhasdkfhsd]

Being sold these exotic psychoacoustics and snake oil is like the rich man's white van speaker scam.

[@ChristianGoergen]

Next topic: are electrons rectangular?

[@waterlover]

Still waiting on gr research for the test video

[@michelvanderaar1711]

So right 👍

[@mgsee]

Yes they are, It certainly makes a difference to the way music is presented on my system - in terms of the smoothness of the treble quality and the sense of spaciousness to the stereo image If it's not apparent in your system it's because other issues are masking the effect. Stop measuring and listen to your music to hear the difference. Measurment is a way of verifying what you hear, not a way to re-inforce your preconcieved notions.

[@chrisnicholasbushell9106]

[@bobdexter1029]

You should Always leave a shield open on one end.

[@Audioholics]

No you shouldn't, especially if you use coax.

[@edwardallenthree]

This aspect of the hobby is why I have mostly found myself stepping away from it. So much of it feels like it is a con job, and so many "reviewers" have demonstrated extreme bad faith and judgement. Paul McGowan, with his folksy charm, seems like a nice and decent human being, but he has repeatedly demonstrated bad faith in his product reviews and ideas and certainly in the product line of company.

[@Edward135i]

2:30 I literally inverted polarity of my left front speaker and didn't notice till my Denon AVR x4700h told me it was inverted 😂, Listening is freaking worthless in my opinion.

[@Audioholics]

If one speaker is wired out of phase it should be very audible when listening to stereo.

[@Edward135i]

@@Audioholics I pretty much never listen in stereo, I'll give it a try to see if I can hear it.

[@mohamnazeerhm2019]

Thanks for your knowledge Well done Gene. On topic and to the point. Nonsense cable pushers need to chastised at every turn.

[@louissilvani1389]

I can’t hear it

[@BoomerUKEngland]

I use double shielded Van Damme Lo-Cap 55 (also called Silver series) cable as interconnects, they can be purchased for around £35 for 1 meter pair, to my ears they sound very good, they retain plenty of detail without being over bright sounding.

[@rynev3392]

My brother and I found out the hard way that some 4k/8k HDMI cable’s are directional, that was a pain to rerun through the wall 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@fivish]

I use 13 Amp twin mains cable between amp and speakers. Just 5 meters between each. Its 20 ohms per mile so negligible compared to an 8 ohm speaker. Ignore the cable BS.