Well I am curious about the Cable Elevators and how they work! I have been into high end audio for almost 20 years now and only started believing about Power Cords around 5 years ago, I tried it and realized they made a difference unlike before that, I laughed about it.
I am one of those who don’t get roped in easily but can anyone out there tell me ( their own experience) how this industrial grade porcelain works, I would like to get some feedback before trying some out my self, my options are to place some of my high grade china ware I have collecting dust in the dining room than to buy something for $150 or maybe even using blocks or bricks or wood.
They say:
Cables come in contact with a wide variety of flooring surfaces. Each can have a different effect on cable behavior. By elevating cables off the floor you eliminate static charge and you lower capacitance. The net effect is lower noise and increased dynamics. Another factor is the dampening of the natural modulation inherent to all cable. That is an electrical signal passing through a conductor (cabling) produces a desirable mechanical resonance that is dampened when placed on the floor. This also constricts dynamics and low-level detail. Placing cables in free space would be ideal.
Just to add onto this,if the goal is to get the cables off the ground to a certain point, well I have so many ideas believe me, hooks? monkeys? ropes? kids? you know what I mean and so on, but why the industrial grade porcelain compared to 2x4 since there are options.
Thanks Chris Anyway I am going to try as many technics as I can including Lego and The cable elevators too and see what this is all about. Believe me I was in Singapore some time back and a demonstration was going on for the The Mpingo Disc by Shun Mook, man for those using this,I cant understand....to me I believe its definately Baloney (logic and true) those guys did not know what they were doing anyway, all action and no results, all the listeners were looking at each other and some shook their heads looking positive, I believe some should have got their heads shaken. Crap meter was almost blowing up! Anyway I should watch what I am saying but, anyway its interesting since what would really work fmr me is a good old fashion blind test!
Rapogee, if you believe in cable lifters, you can also make lifters from Lego pieces. You can choose your own colour and shape of the lifters. It is not expensive and it is fun to do. At last there is some audio gadget that is child safe. I know an even better option: let your children make them.
>>"The last 6 feet of wire going into your amp will change the characteristics that have developed on the 20 mile journey from the power company's generator to your transistors!!!!"<< >>>>>>>>>>>
As a matter of fact yes.... The power cord can be so designed to help eliminate RFI/EMI noise from entering the electronic component. Kind of like a water purifier at the end of the water tap with miles of water, and water line behind it, all the way from the water treatment plant......
Viridian, I was referring to the roadways, not the folks who live under them.
Jeff, I've tried the pipe insulators, but they need to be taped closed or they eventually work loose. Not pretty. In addition, it's not really thick enough or rigid enough to hold the cable off the floor.
In any case, I've come to the same conclusion as Albert Porter, which is that my PAD cables received all the elevation they needed when Jim Aud figured out his MSRPs!
A slight variation of Nsgarch's suggestion would be to go to the local hardware store and get the foam inlulation used for pipes on your hot water heater and interior plumbing. It already has a 'slit' down the center and is real eash to use and it is cheap.
I'm also told that now I must raise my speaker cables off the floor & also arrange all my cabling such that none touches another at all. However I haven't figured out exactly how I'm going to accomplish that trick;
It's done exactly like freeway interchanges. You'll figure it out ;~))
"Ah yes my boy, there's one born every minute." PT Barnum
A fool an his money are soon parted.
The last 6 feet of wire going into your amp will change the characteristics that have developed on the 20 mile journey from the power company's generator to your transistors!!!!
A passive device will change everything.
"Sure kid, that's why they call it passive"
The best amps is a straight wire with gain. Now then how to acheive that.
I didn't believe in elevating cables until just recently; I'm completely amazed now that I've tried it. A knowledable friend suggested this idea for improved sound, so I elevated a Purist Dominus fluid AC cord which he loaned me for audition. I really didn't expect to hear anything different (but I felt the same way when I tested my very first upgraded AC cord many years ago, and that was certainly a revelation). I cut some cardboard tubes into halves & notched one end so as to hold up the cable when standing on end. The improvement was immediately distinguishable: a deeper, wider, more spacial image was projected. I had some friends stop in for a sanity check; they were also amazed. I removed the elevators several days later & the image collapsed so they're back in place. Now I need to try something more permanant. Groups of 3ea. half-cut chopsticks fastened midway with a rubber band (to form a 'teepee') were one suggested economy approach. I'm also told that now I must raise my speaker cables off the floor & also arrange all my cabling such that none touches another at all. However I haven't figured out exactly how I'm going to accomplish that trick; it sure won't be easy.
Nsgarch, great idea. I think I would prefer the look of gray noodles to most of the commercial versions.
Iamsuperking, perhaps the foam or ceramic touching the cables in limited spots effectively work as an isolation device, providing fewer entry points for vibration to enter the body of the cable. If the raised cable and isolation devices are in the direct path of the speaker (airborne vibration) then your correct, probably would not be any help, maybe even worse?
In my system, none of these isolation devices work. Perhaps it's my stone floor, the room treatment or the design of my cables.
As I said, go for a cheap test with any of the materials listed and see if it helps. If not, throw away the foam cups or put away the glassware and be happy you don't have more clutter in the floor.
Albert, here's a really inexpensive and effective (they can't fall over!) cable lifter solution:
Buy (as many as necessary) polypropylene foam children's pool noodle play floats in your choice of color (including grey if you look around).
They come in 6 foot lengths, round or hexagonal cross-section (about 5" dia.) and most have a hole in the middle.
Cut them into 4" sections and thread as many as necessary onto your speaker cable.
Much more effective (and attractive IMO) than the porcelain insulators, which BTW are available for pennies at most used building or electrical supply yards.
The easiest and cheapest way to check for a difference is to buy a pack of styrofoam cups. use these to raise all of your cords/cables off the surface and listen for a week (to allow your brain to adjust to the sound), then remove the cups. it's my understanding that raising the cables keeps them from developing capacitance (sp?) over time.
I'm not sure vibration theory makes sense, wouldn't the vibration just travel up the elevators?
It depends a great deal on the materials covering the floor, what brand of cables, the amount of vibration (proximity) to speakers and if interconnect or speaker cables.
I have had improvement with the ceramic cable elevators with Nordost cable but it actually harms the sound of Purist Dominus. I can only guess its due to the design of the two cables.
This winds up like most things high end, the user should experiment and see if it helps their system. You can begin with crossed Popsicle sticks, Styrofoam cups or even small drink glasses from the pantry. If you get better sound then perhaps it's time to invest in a finished product that looks nicer.
Also go to AA, Tweaks/DIY, forums many swear by cable lifters. Sorry, I meant Cable Asylum..... [url]http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/search.mpl?forum=cables&searchtext=speaker+cable+lifters[/url]
I wouldn`t rush into elevators. Levitation Audio will preview their Reference spkr. cable @ RMAF. As soon as connected to the amp & spkrs., the cable automatically levitates 3" above the floor. It`s also very pet & child safe.
If your floor structure is a concrete slab on grade (dirt) i.e. it's well "grounded", there could be a very slight inductance built up depending on the actual configuration of your speaker cable, but due to the relatively low power in speaker cables, it would be so small as to have virtually no affect on signal transmission (sonics.)
As for damping, most high end cable makers (e.g. Purist Audio) go to great lengths to damp out any resonances or external vibration. I can't see why it would be desireable to preserve/encourage it.
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