Alternating Current (AC)

When people refer to Alternating Current or AC they are usually thinking of it as opposed to DC or Direct Current in the transmission of electricity.  Alternating Current in this case is the transmission of electric current that modulates or varies in magnitude or direction over time. DC or direct current remains constant and in a single direction. The modulations in AC current are obvious in the sine wave characteristic of AC transmissions. The transmission of sound through speaker wires or cables is also an AC current, and is subject to the same modulations, and is indicted by a similar wave.  It is this characteristic wave or modulation that allows AC current in speaker wire to carry encoded information such as sound to your speakers to be “decoded” that you hear as music.