A Couple Little Things I'm Wondering About


Two quick questions for anyone with any experience with either topic.

1. Why do some folks with usually higher end systems use those cable lifters to keep the cable elevated? What are they intended to do? If you use them, what do they do for you please? And if you know do they make sense from a purely technical standpoint? 

2. I bought a bunch of those gold plated caps to cover all the unused RCA jacks on the back of my AVR. I believe they are intended to keep noise down. If you use these, please comment on them. Do you think they do what they're supposed to do, and/or do they make sense from a purely technical standpoint?

Thanks!
jcolespeedway
Experimentation is (and always has been) the basis of scientific discovery.      It works in your listening room, as well (whatever the topic).       KUDOS, to those so disposed!
Make your own elevators out of cardboard. Take a listen. Please post results
Used elevators, listened , no difference. 

Of course this gives no useful information unless it was done in a controlled listening test and the results were repeatable. 
See what I mean jcolespeedway, tons of hand waving but not a real technical discussion no matter the expanding number of posts.

One person likes to use the word science a lot but offers no confidence they have any significant background in the related science. One likes to talk about vibrating cables but likely has never done the very easy work of measuring the level of induced signal in a vibrating cable.


I do encourage you to try out cable elevators just get someone else to raise and lower your cables without telling you what they have done.



"1. Why do some folks with usually higher end systems use those cable lifters to keep the cable elevated?"

What else is left for them to do?

2. I bought a bunch of those gold plated caps to cover all the unused RCA jacks on the back of my AVR. I believe they are intended to keep noise down.

Your questions both touch similar benefit.

From what I have seen on pictures, most of the cable elevators are too low.

Cable elevators of proper height help with vacuuming the floor. They have to be high enough that the vacuum cleaner can slide under them.

Covering unused connectors prevents dust from settling there.

I have covers for all the unused connectors. RCA, XLR, USB, 6.3 mm headphones, other (bi-amp) connectors on speakers, unused headphone connectors on Walkmen, etc. Covering only RCAs would be a half-baked approach.

I use rubber/silicon covers which cost a few dollars per bag that will probably cover all the connections you have.
I think I read once that most cable lifters are carefully engineered to make the user feel special and the seller to become wealthier.... but I may not be remembering correctly.