Cable elevators - conventional wisdom wrong?

CD cases are better..at least no blunting of transients or opaque artifacts.

Dark Fields have improved the sound for me. Better seperation, lower noise floor and enhanced definition.

Yup, that pretty much covers it Mmarvin19:O)

Tbg might be on to something...today, after several days of settling in with the Dark Fields, I noticed that some of my favorite recordings were sounding a bit constricted in the midbass and middle C range of the piano etc... Highs were also sounding slightly dry. Hmmm, I will experiment further, but there may be a costly trade off with the risers.

OK, I can say that there is definately a reduction in transparency and low level detail along with a dullness evident in the lack of sustain on instruments. Body and weight of instruments are also decreased. After trying various Shunyata products over the last two years I can safely say that the "House Sound" is a bit dull, lifeless, dry and lacking in weight and energy. Live recordings sound less exciting and piano in particular sounds damped and lacking in overtones and sustain (most notable here). I am returning my Dark Fields asap.

Update...after further listening I have decided against using the elevators. For whatever good they appear to do for my system, there seems to be a shift in tone, defintion and dynamic contrast that becomes apparent upon lengthy listening sessions. Things seem less exciting and less colorful somehow:O( Oh well!

I may do that. Several years ago Jonathan Valin did a review of the ceramic cable elevators and concluded that there was no free lunch. He found that the body and weight of instruments were reduced, thus affecting their apparent palpability and solidity. As a designer, I would be careful as to how much of the "Music" is often discarded in an attempt to address other supposedly more important aspects of the reproduction of sound. Lack of distortion, a lower noise floor, blacker backgrounds, smoother highs and enhanced transparency, to cite a few examples, are worthy goals indeed. The problem arises when the pursuit of ideals overshadows our emotional connection with the music. A presentation that has all of the hallmarks of "Audiophile Sound" but none of the connective tissue that conveys a sense of drama, emotion and realistic scale, is worthless. Live music is clear, dynamic as hell, full of contrast and color. Without these crucial ingredients in good measure, the listener may as well be a robot...or worse, a reviewer!

Re-checked the Dark Fields in my system and found an immediate dulling of the sound and a blunting of leading edge transients. Not good! The product is a failure as far as I am concerned.

I'm going to check out the Acoustic Revive stuff...very interesting.

The CD cases do work! In fact, based on initial listening they offer the good improvements of the Dark Fields without the drawbacks i.e...blunting of transients, opacity and reduced dynamics. Instrument seperation is improved, definition is enhanced, the soundstage expanded and harmonics seem a little more natural.

Something else positive I noticed was that the CD case risers create a bit of a tube like effect, in that individual notes are opened up more. Instrument sounds more rounded and dimensional while still retaining enough incisiveness to give a sense of believablility. This aspect of the CD elevation effect reminds me of the sound I had with my old Watt/Puppy 6's and an ARC VT100MKIII with an LS 25MKII preamp. Quite surprising:O)