No they don’t. But that is because they are are not insulated. They are in electrical contact for their entire length and so behave to all intents and purposes as if they were a single strand of wire. If they were insulated and only connected at each end then that would indeed constitute a ring.
I think I must be missing your point.
If what travels down each strand is the same at any given moment and no current can ever travel around the ring that you picture, how is it meaningful to describe it as a ring?
Is a single cable with some strands isolated from others (like a speaker cable) always fairly viewed as making a ring?
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Nick, I think you are muddying the waters here and things can get potentially very confusing. As far as I am aware it is not usual to talk about ring or radial circuits within a single cable and to consider each strand of that cable (if insulated) part of a ring. Forget this aspect for moment. No doubt someone with greater knowledge may clarify this aspect later!
Basically if a consumer unit is connected to a single socket with two twin and earth cables then that constitutes a ring circuit. If it is connected using only one twin and earth cable then that is a radial.
What you seem to be thinking, if I understand correctly, is that connecting with two twin and earth cables amounts to the same configuration as using a single cable of double the CSA. But it doesn’t. It is a different type of circuit, ie. a ring rather than a radial. And it will behave differently.
The sparks who made my dedicated supply did not take that view.
I also shared this thread with a chum with over 30 years experience in recording studios-I think you have made his day.
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Well, you only have to look at what it says on-line regarding domestic electrical circuits and I think you’ll find that what I’ve said is accurate.
Can you provide links?
It may help me and even those less slow on the uptake to understand what you mean.
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Hope this helps. Seems fairly clear and straightforward,
For some reason it is not posting the link!
Try again.
OK. Don’t know what’s going on.
Just google Wikipedia Ring Circuit and it will get you there.
I don’t think that there is any dispute that ring circuits exist. The question you raise is whether two or more cables in parallel from a common start and end-point constitute a ring and so distinct from a single supply.
The first few links I found were these: -
https://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/79105/Running-Multiple-Cables-in-Parallel-Good-Or-Bad-Practice
Parallel Circuit Wiring | CE - Clean Energy. Bright Futures..
None of these suggests that they have made a ring. Rather than bore everyone here, or concluding from what you say that the electrician who wired my house is incompetent or a liar, perhaps we should let people speak to a qualified person themselves and assume that they know what they are talking about.
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I do not profess to be an electrician, but it is self-evident to me that running two cables from the CU to a socket constitutes a ring, albeit with only one socket, rather than a radial, since a radial consists of only one cable. Imagine that arrangement and then adding another socket. Would you now class it as a ring? The answer would have to be yes. So why is it not a ring with one socket? How does it differ? A radial consists by definition of only one cable. So it can’t be that. So what is it?
Whether in practice it makes any difference to run two cables or a single cable of double the CSA to one socket is another matter. I would guess not in everyday terms, but I’m not a sparks and I could well be wrong about that. However in hi-fi terms, ie. will it impact on the sound, I would guess that yes, probably it will sound different.
The MusicWorks mains block has its six sockets wired in a ring configuration (though star earthed) as they found that better than a star wired configuration.
Anyway if you are happy with your set-up and it sounds good then it doesn’t really matter.
I can agree with the last sentence, so let’s stick with that bit and move on.
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Did you have a Naim system?
Right now, you don’t have a Naim system, so a radial might not make much difference to sound quality.
For decades, Naim has recommended installing dedicated radials in some of their amp manuals.
I would be surprised if Moon does the same.
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I did have a Naim system then.
Moon don’t recommend any particular mains configuration. They do warn against using any sort of distribution block and insist that their products should be directly connected to the wall sockets. I ignored this as my system sounds much superior to me plugged into my Chord S6 block. Their recommendation makes little sense anyway as if you look at pictures of Moon systems at shows they are usually plugged into a Nordost mains block - which Sim Audio Moon recommends!
There is some relevant information and results on this thread:
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Thanks I will have read through this. I take it you must have very long tails back to the meter as your CU is in your listening room?
No - the meter box is on the outside wall on the other side from the dedicated Hagar CU, so it was just a short run of a couple of metres of 16mm Earth wires.
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My meter tails are 20” long and on the same board as my CU.
And my earth is spiked. 
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There are limits to the length and routing of meter tails as they are unprotected. The general rule is to keep them as short as possible and don’t bury them in a wall chase.
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