I think the word “directional” can be misleading unless you understand why the term is used. The arrow doesn’t indicate that current flow goes only in one direction, but rather is used as a conceptual indication.

There are usually three conductors in such a directional unbalanced audio cable, two insulated conductors inside a ‘flexible tube’ shield. The two inside conductors are connected at both ends, tip and sleeve of the RCA type connectors. The shield is connected to the sleeve at only one end as a ‘drain’ for any captured unwanted electro-magnetic signals reaching the cable that would cause current flow. The desired audio signal travels via the two inner conductors just as well in either cable direction/orientation. The question is, at which end do you want any stray currents to be drained?

If both the source and destination devices provide equally able drain for stray shield currents without interference with the intended signal, then the orientation of the cable is not a concern. If you obtain better rejection of interfering signals by having the cable in one orientation or the other, then choose the better orientation. If in doubt, follow the manufacturer’s instruction.

As to break in, there have been thousands of words posted on this site on that topic, both for different types of equipment and for cables, with a whole spectrum of ‘believers’ in one idea or another. IMHO, irrespective of the usual audiophile publications’ opinion of income-aware ‘experts,’ human acoustic pickup and brain interpretation is likely much more subject to change over time than a properly constructed interconnect made from reasonable materials, whether you paid $20 or $20,000 for that interconnect.

In the end, if the system sounds great, don’t sweat the arguments, just enjoy!

Here, here!!!

Okay. I take it back. Still getting the pops. It is just so intermittent I thought it was gone. I have checked all my cabling (fine) and etc. It is seemingly random such as sometimes when I change the channel, switch cds or raise or lower the volume. Everything is the same as when I had the Onkyo 701 hooked up to the 7100. The only difference is the 950. I did unplug it for a while last night when I was checking my cables and then turned it back on to no avail. I did not have this issue with the Onkyo so now I'm wondering if there may be something amiss with my 950

I am getting popping as well, but most of it comes from the Motorola 9012 MOXI DVR. I have not found a way to cure this yet.

I have been trouble shooting with Steve and it seems that it is more likely interference with other things plugged in than my 950. I unplugged a lamp that was on the same wall as my system and that helped a lot but there was still some popping- just not as much or as loud. Then I isolated my satellite cable and made sure it was not touching anything else in the system. This seemed to help also. Last- I made sure that all my interconnects, ac and speaker wires were as isolated as possible. This has , so far, seemed to work.

i read on a different post about ceiling fans,just my 2 cents that are worth about a cent and a half by now!

I have those too . Steve also said that dimmer lights can affect a sound system and I have those but everything is good for now so I do not see needing to switch them out.

Getting the popping also, but it seems to be when my HD Tivo changes from PCM to DD. I'm checking my SAT and OTA cables in a few minutes.

Lee

Replaced the RG6 SAT and OTA cables, bypassed the Mon$ter 3500. No change.

The popping also happens when the 950 switches from PCM to DD on the DVD player also. Doesn't happen when switching from DD to PCM

Also when calibrating the channels using the internal test tone, the RF channel has to be set about 4db higher than the LF to get the same SPL. When watching a DVD movie the RF is definitely too loud. Ran Avia and recalibrated to its test tone and lowered the RF by the 4db, the levels came in fine. (Using a SPL meter).

Just to be sure, I swapped the amp for the mains with the amp for the surrounds, no change in the popping or channel calibration.

My HT equipment is on its own dedicated 20 amp line with everything powered through a Mon$ter HTS 3500. Front projector, 950, 4 two channel amps (100 WPC), DVD player, HD Tivo, sub controller.

I'll go back to trying to isolate the problem later tonight. See if I can find where the issue is coming from.

I'll search through the threads for something specific about switching from PCM to DD.

If I can't come up with a solution, I'll be calling tech support on Monday morning to see if they can help.

Also, seems to take about 5 seconds to switch between PCM > DD or DD > PCM.

Lee

i get a popping sound when changing cds in my cal delta, but this has been pretty much isolated to the brushes in the drawer motor.
more of a faint crackling sound.very subtle but still there