A cable routing reminder

@steakster , and @richmon , you're welcome. I wish I could take credit for it but someone else here turned me onto that simple and cost effective tweek a while ago. That insulation makes it so easy to address the problems that reside behind the rack. 

All the best,
Nonoise

@nonoise Thanks for the tip about pipe foam insulation. It works great! I’ve installed it wherever one cable touches another cable - whether it be IC, SC or PC.  Even if a cable is shielded, physical separation from another is still good.

The insulator I use (which is a foam used inside of piping with a slit down the side) provides about <1" of barrier between the cables and it worked for me.

If I wasn't so lazy, I'd set about creating larger distances, but, like I said, I'm lazy.

All the best,
Nonoise

How many inches are required between a shielded power cable and an unshielded interconnect? How about a ballpark figure: 2”, 6”, 1 foot, etc. 

This recent thread should be of help: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/does-raising-speaker-cables-off-the-floor-really-make-a-big-difference?highlight=raising%2Bcables

All the best,
Nonoise

If one wanted to build their own cable risers and separators. What type of materials work best? What would be something to look out for?

@steakster,
Thanks for starting this thread. One can be in this hobby a long time and forget some of the dos and dont’s.

Case in point (no, I’m not Rod Serling), I raised my cables a short while ago and heard the benefits. Then, I sold my beloved Barcelona chairs with matching ottomans for a recliner I could get in and out of easily, and fiddled around some more behind the audio stand.

Listening while trying out my new recliner, I notice the soundstage was lower and the lows were weak and not as focused compared to before. I checked everything with my laser and my head was only about 2-3" higher and just couldn’t settle on that being the answer. I could slump down and nothing improved. It was after reading this thread that I took another look behind the rack and saw that two pairs of ICs were now sitting directly atop two PCs, but at right angles.

I got some of that insulation made for tubing with the slit down the side and fashioned some short pieces to wrap around the PCs, raising and isolating the ICs from them and viola!

The soundstage is now as tall as it used to be and the lows are back and impactful as ever. To quote Billie Eilish, Duh.

All the best,
Nonoise

Out in the wild , the main lines under the sidewalk have to be a foot apart. And thats separated by a foot of sand. I think there is a lot more at stake in those lines. Anyways , yes keep them apart . Zip ties , whatever. 

you guys mush be really bored or no life... 😂😂😂

“Yeah forgot the doc said double up on the Xanax before reading audiophool forums.”

Well that explains why you can’t help yourself interjecting off topic chatter in almost every thread! No wonder the standards here gone down since you graced us with your presence 😎

“supporting cables cannot possibly make any difference.”......what a BS!
millercarbon....did you forget to take your meds?

Yeah forgot the doc said double up on the Xanax before reading audiophool forums. According to him, if audiophools blather blather it works, and also works equally well when they miss obvious sarcasm.

Audiophools are like Drax in the first Guardians movie: "Nothing goes over my head. My reflexes are too fast. I would catch it."

Most importantly I've found that the ICs between the turntable tonarm cart leads and phono stage/SUT to be the most critical in terms maintaining distance from PCs in order to reduce noise.  There are less noise implications I've seen with ICs related to DACs and linestages and amps....especially when using XLRs.

Yes but didn't you know, supporting cables cannot possibly make any difference.

But in this case, it sounds like the support was to keep the IC away from the power cord, so it did make a difference.

It turns out that when I replaced the power cord - one of my unshielded IC’s fell from its support - directly on top of the shielded power cord. 

Yes but didn't you know, supporting cables cannot possibly make any difference. 

Me too, lalitk.

Thanks for sharing. I have been using Shunyata’s Dark Field Minis to separate IC’s from PC’s. They also works great to lift your cables off the carpet.