Sub cable unidirectional??? Complete beginner, be gentle.

[j_garcia]

I've used the "directional" interconnects for years without issue. I wouldn't worry about it at all. These are SIGNAL cables, so unless something REALLY bad happened, they aren't going to see voltage that should cause a problem. If something did happen that caused major voltage to get on those cables, you would already likely have a fire on your hands.

 

[Haoleb]

Once again an entire non issue is getting blown out of proportion here

I don't think everyone in this thread understands what is going on here with this type of cable.

there is no floating ground.

the signal ground is STILL connected. The only thing that is connected at only one end is the foil/braided shield. This is done with shielded cable to prevent ground loops. But in an environment such as RCA in a home stereo I would say that it is not effective because the signal ground/chassis ground is still connected and there is still a path for ground loops with or without this shield connected. In an industrial environment where you are not connecting a conductor to ground it is a different story.

Best way I know of to prevent ground loops in home audio equipment is connect a large grounding conductor bonded to chassis ground to everything in your system in a star ground configuration which offers a lower resistance path than through your interconnects.

Please... Stop telling people they are going to burn their house down and they should send this cable back and stop using it immediately

 

[ARES24]

Please... Stop telling people they are going to burn their house down and they should send this cable back and stop using it immediately

Exactly, use a blow torch to burn down your house and then use the cable to hang yourself!

jks

 

[runswithscisors]

Exactly, use a blow torch to burn down your house and then use the cable to hang yourself!

jks

I'm more worried about the 3 arc welders and the acetylene torch in the garage burning my house down than a subwoofer cable.

 

[TLS Guy]

Please... Stop telling people they are going to burn their house down and they should send this cable back and stop using it immediately

No one has said anything about burning houses down except Adam in jest.

The issue is the return. A circuit can not dead end. The flow has to return and if the ground is lifted at one end of a cable, and the term for this is floating by the way, the return is obviously literally round the house. How round the house, will depend on the situation as I illustrated.

I certainly don't want my returns going though the neutral wiring of my house, which it has to under some of the situations I pointed out.

There will not be a high voltage, but even low voltage at inputs or outputs can do damage under a variety of circumstances.

As well has making for unusual return paths, as you correctly point out this cable will not prevent ground loops in unbalanced circuits.

I maintain there are no good reasons for making a cable like this only bad ones.

 

[96cobra10101]

Please... Stop telling people they are going to burn their house down and they should send this cable back and stop using it immediately

Unless the economy killed its value and you can't sell it for what you owe. J/K

 

[runswithscisors]

I certainly don't want my returns going though the neutral wiring of my house, which it has to under some of the situations I pointed out.

The cable has dual core wires. This is the sub end. The brown wire connects to the center pin. This is the signal wire, correct? The black wire connects to the outer contactor on the connector, this is the return wire, correct? So, they use a seperate return wire instead of the shielding brade. Correct???? Receiver end looks the same but the shielding braid and black wire are soldered together on the connector. So, IF I'm correct, which I'm not claiming to be but just stating my assumptions, a return path is provided to complete the circuit and the world can keep on turning. If my assumptions are incorrect, please educate me.

I apologize for the crappy pic, but its 3:15 AM here, and I'm not digging out the digital camera for this. SO, it is what it is, a pic taken with an android phone in one hand and a flashlight in the other.

 

[TLS Guy]

The cable has dual core wires. This is the sub end. The brown wire connects to the center pin. This is the signal wire, correct? The black wire connects to the outer contactor on the connector, this is the return wire, correct? So, they use a seperate return wire instead of the shielding brade. Correct???? Receiver end looks the same but the shielding braid and black wire are soldered together on the connector. So, IF I'm correct, which I'm not claiming to be but just stating my assumptions, a return path is provided to complete the circuit and the world can keep on turning. If my assumptions are incorrect, please educate me.

I apologize for the crappy pic, but its 3:15 AM here, and I'm not digging out the digital camera for this. SO, it is what it is, a pic taken with an android phone in one hand and a flashlight in the other.

A picture is worth a thousand words!

Yes, it does have a return. That cable is no different to a standard single core cable.

There are cables out there that have no connection between grounds, which is the ones I and Kurt were referring to.

By the way it won't matter which way you connect the cable.

 

[Alex2507]

That cable is no different to a standard single core cable.

I've seen Gene comment somewhere or other that a well shielded coax is less prone to problems than cables like this dual conductor Monster which leads me to believe that there can be a difference. Something about him saying 'I know what can happen' comes to mind.

I've got a similar 18' dual conductor monster subwoofer cable that I've used on and off for a few years without issue. What's nice about it is that it's very flexible. I've since gone to putting my own ends on RG59, RG6 and RG6 Quad. I remember reading on BJC that a subwoofer signal is the least prone to picking up audible noise because of the range of frequencies involved. I also seem to remember reading that RG6 Quad is over rated.

OP (Runs), check out the BJC Cable Articles if you're quota for cable info hasn't been met.

 

[mtrycrafts]

....and from the looks of things their legal department is too busy chasing sellers on Craigslist to be tied up in that sort of thing.

.

You mean if I had some used ones to sell they could sue me? What, they ran out of businesses to sue with 'monster' someplace in their names?

 

[Hi Ho]

I don't know what Monster claims in regards to the directionality of their cables but I do know that Audioquest markets all their cables as "directional", not because of anything special they did but because they claim that they do listening tests on each batch of wire that they use and determine which direction sounds best.

You can read all about it here: http://www.audioquest.com/pdfs/aq_cable_theory.pdf

 

[agarwalro]

I have a similar directional subwoofer cable from the Monster. I tried both directions and could not discern any change in sound. Since then I have not cared where the arrow pointed. It works fine either way.

 

[markw]

I don't know what Monster claims in regards to the directionality of their cables but I do know that Audioquest markets all their cables as "directional", not because of anything special they did but because they claim that they do listening tests on each batch of wire that they use and determine which direction sounds best.

You can read all about it here: http://www.audioquest.com/pdfs/aq_cable_theory.pdf

One would think, or at least hope, that with all the advanced engineering theu espouse that they would be able to design which direction would sound best beforehand, no?

Of course, this presupposes that they DO sound different in each direction.

 

[runswithscisors]

Audioquest markets all their cables as "directional", not because of anything special they did but because they claim that they do listening tests on each batch of wire that they use and determine which direction sounds best.

Even if there was the slightest difference, how seriously do you think the kid getting paid $7.50 an hour to listen to wire takes that job?