Cable Elevators killed my bass

Has anyone used cable elevators under power cords? I've got a hardwood floor and thought I might elevate my pc's up and away from the other cables on the floor and had a similar experience with the OP. Bass went bye-bye. I was using pinewood blocks to elevate.

@ Kbarkamian - point taken. It is absurd to elevate cables in our quest for the nth degree of refinement; however, not unlike spending $400 for 3 footers, or using things like little myrtlewood blocks, or cd mats, or maple cutting boards, or...

It's all absurd. But I can hear differences. Once you accept you're an audiophile, and except just one 'absurd' thing as actually working, you're all in whether you like it or not. Try it and see, absurdity aside.

BTW my question still stands

Thanks Tbg.

Anyone have any experience with the inexpensive ESD isolators or Signal Cable risers? This isn't something I want to throw a bunch of money at, but if I'm gonna do it, it would be nice if they looked halfway decent.

I ordered the ESD risers. $40 for 10 (b-stock. hopefully they don't look like they came from the bottom of a dumpster) to see if they're better than the current wood blocks I'm using.

I have hardwood floors -- cable risers don't seem to make a huge impact in my system. Curiously, putting the wood blocks underneath speaker cables (Zu) sounds worse than when they lay on the floor.

Tbg, then based on your previous response, I'd suggest some sort of professional help... ;)

Br3098 - I'd love to see a pic of that.

Well, initial reaction after a bunch of swapping sessions (...somehow, that doesn't sound right) leads me to conclude that the my lame pine wood blocks win over the ESD foam risers. My observations follow. This is based on power cord elevation only. I briefly tried the risers under speaker cables, but actually didn't like it. For some reason, no matter what I've tried, my sc like laying on the floor. I have maple hardwood floors on a raised foundation.

1. I have a delicate 'glare' problem. I probably need to treat the room more, and/or adjust my speakers, but I've recently JUST (I mean barely) cured this glare issue at certain frequencies that I've been dealing with for close to a year. The ESD's made the glare more pronounced. The wood smoothed it out. That right there is pretty much enough to go with the wood, even if the wood almost smoothed over the highs too much (which it doesn't).

2. There was a difference between the ESD's right-side-up or upside-down, where the cable was resting on the 'bottom'. I actually preferred the latter. The former seemed to soften the highs and muddy the sound a bit.

3. This one is a little weird. i've also been dealing with a balance issue (...I know -- I need to adjust my speakers. Probably this weekend). The sound pulls slightly to the left, so I adjust for that with the Balance control. The ESD's actually exacerbated the pull. I have no idea how power cord elevators would do that. And conversely, the wood brought things back in line. huh?

So, I'll probably hang onto the isolators because they were $40 shipped; not even worth sending back. I may try them under everything once my speakers are adjusted. I'd be surprised if everything suddenly 'opened up' with the risers in the new configuration vs. my observations here. But since BALANCE was actually affected, who the hell knows? This hobby drives me crazy.

Not 'avoiding' ceramics per se, I wanted to try a low cost alternative that was specifically made as cable risers as an experiment. The ESD's are from cableisolators.com and were recommended to me by Ryan Tew, whom I believe is the owner.

Maybe I'm just not a believer enough to invest $100 or more on risers. My original post was really that i was surprised that the wood risers actually affected the sound at all, but I'm not sure I'm inclined to spend anymore time on what i still consider a minor tweak. If I had carpet, this may be a different story.

Tbg, going up to my folks house for T-day, believe my mom has some antiques in the cupboard. I'll try to remember that. Thanks

BTW, I believe I've since revised my thoughts on the ESD isolators. They do in fact make a difference, and now for the better. No idea if it was a 'settling' thing or what...but I inserted them again last night and results seem to be positive. fwiw, ymmv, wtf

Not sure why my last response didn't post -- I heard small differences with the ESD's: more air, clarity and separation. For $40 shipped for b-stock and a 30 day money back, it's a no-brainer.

Maybe in another 25 years, cable elevators will as common sense as washing your hands to prevent colds

Doubt that. And no idea how much metal is in the floor. Small differences i hear, nothing major. But at least the cables are off the floor, and more importantly, separated from each other.