At first glance, Alpha-Snake's design looks like a traditional coaxial cable. However, there are many very important differences, each of which greatly influences sound quality. Alpha-Snake has identical conductors for the positive and ground connections. Underneath the 100% coverage foil shield is a bare conductor, exactly the same as the insulated center conductor. The conductor under the shield does double duty as a low distortion audio connection, and as the drain wire connecting the shield to ground.