Cable isolators ???

Eldartford, I attatched the speedometer of my car to the speaker cable and ran a signal through it, but it didn't go any faster than when I had no signal running through it.

Honest1...The loudspeaker in the box with the (outboard) phono preamp was driven by a spare power amp. The test signal played through the loudspeaker was a "warble" tone that I swept over the range of 22.5 Hz to 250 Hz. (I may have also used a white noise signal but I don't remember that). The phono preamp output was fed as it always is into my regular audio system which includes a spectrum analyser. With no vibration applied, I cranked up the regular system gain so that the noise floor of the preamp was clearly displayed. Then I increased the vibration, and varied the warble frequency in an effort to affect the preamp output. There was absolutely no change in the spectrum analyser display. If there was any change in the preamp output it was below the noise floor. And this for a SPL of 110 dB from a speaker just inches away from the circuit.

Of course it's just my opinion, but my experiment seems more convincing than the "wife walked into the room" story that I have heard a thousand times :-)

Brainwater...Sorry, I forgot tube electronics which are microphonic, and would benefit from vibration isolation. Apart from that we agree to disagree. What the hell...Vibration control, along with exotic cables are what is keeping the high end industry from bankrupcy! Oh, and Clever Little Clocks too.

I use them in both my systems, and they made a readily audible difference, mainly by lowering the noise floor. Well worth the investment, IMO.

Hi
I live in Peru and I thought that was way off to buy the real ceramic ones "cable isolators" and bring them here. They are way heavy. So I started to look for a local replacement. I crashed into a local electronic industrial supply store, the ones that sell equipment to the companies that supply power.
And I found almost the same ones, ceramic, (the size was like the big of the real cable isolators) 98% same look, very nice finish in dark brown, and they are designed to work isolating a lot more than you need. The Brand is Gamma. I bought each at $3.5(at that price I took 12
I tested them in my house and then with my local audio seller isolating the ICs and the speaker cable and the results were not so dramatic but real. The high extension was cleaner and the bass was more tight, also the background noise was reduced.
So, I think, if I could found this in Peru, there is no doubt you will find them in USA and maybe cheaper. Any doubts contact me at my email.
Good Luck

I use a set of audiophile cable insulators to lift my speaker cables off the carpet. They make enough of a difference that the day I put them in, my wife came home from work while I was listening to a well-recorded CD of jazz vocals and the first thing she said when walking through the door was "Did you change the tubes today? That sounds really good." So in my system it makes a real difference.

I also use cables isolators on my system, i bought them because i did not wanted to let my expensive cables on the floor.

The sonic improvement is totally non existent to my ears.

I am usually in complete agreement with much of what Mr Eldartford has to contribute . I have also learned much from his posts over the years . This time however we agree to disagree. Isolating the components from the effects of vibration is { im my system , to my ears} a critical component in high end sound reproduction . Isolating a transparent digital source can make a dramatic improvement in its performance as well as tube amps and tube preamps in my system . These improvements only became clear once my system reached a high level of transparency however. I am however speaking of a system that is in a room with suspended wood flooring .

ElDartford - interesting experiment - How were you monitoring the preamp? On an oscilliscope? Connecte to a power amp and speaker? I've always felt the same - cna't understand how vibrations affect solid state electronics, and especially cables - although I could see where proxsimity to a di-electric such as a carpet might affect the cable properties.

I use cable isolators on both of my systems. They are used only to keep speaker cables and power cords off the carpet and route cables away from each other. Although they do not produce a dramatic improvement in sound, they do tend to slightly deepen and tighten bass and lower the noise floor. I would rather have them in my systems than do without. I would gladly purchase them again...

The dielectric characteristics of foam are much more invasive than ceramic. I have used teepees and ceramic in previous systems, and I like the ceramic better.

Carpet is a dielectric that DOES effect the ability of cable to transfer signal.

Very interesting advice. Thanks. I guess I was under the assumption that because cable isolators were ceramic, that the problem was due to static electricity (hum) more than vibration. Great ideas. Thanks.

The foam is a good bet. All that ceramic stuff gets you no better results.

I was doubtful about vibration having an effect on electronics, much less wires. Rather than argue about it, I put a high gain circuit (phono preamp) into a box along with a small speaker system and a SPL meter. Ran the SPL up to about 110dB, and looked for any change of the preamp output. Nothing.

I think that vibration isolation is for turntables, where the pickup is expressly designed to respond to tiny vibrations. Elsewhere in the system, do it if it makes you feel good.

I've had luck using 3 wooden dowels in a "teepee" configuration to get one set of cables away from the others (signal vs power).

i went to the local farm supply store and got ceramic insulators for rigging electric fences. They are about 1.5 in dia with a grove in the side to hold the cables. They seemed to have an effect in cleaning up the high end some as i remember. I doubt they are more than $5 or$10 a dozen. Haven't used them for years since the twins discovered they made decent projectiles.

cleaning up cord runs is very helpful.

I heard a convincing demonstration at both my home and at one of our audio society meetings of the benefits of getting interconnects off of vibrating surfaces (in these cases, the floor). I think Elizabeth's tips are sound, and her insulating materials are effective enough (rubber pipe insulation could also be used for vibration isolation). The effect was greater on interconnects than speaker cables, as the vibrations at the IC level get magnified by the amplifier.

I do have some of the old Right-way ceramic isolation devices which I use on my speaker cables, and their effect is very small even on a very revealing system, not really worth their price. A friend makes some with rubber isolation which work slightly better, but I'd stick with Elizabeth's suggestions on the speaker cables.

Yes, they work to isolate speaker cables from electrostatic charges from carpets. Never used them on interconnects. Do yourself a favor and purchase vintage porcelain insulators - the kind used on electrical power poles - from Ebay (or your local Antique Collectible store) for about $5 apiece instead of the overpriced audiophile version which is esentially the same thing. As to interconnects, I've found cheap foam water pipe insulators from Home Depot - about $3. for a 4'piece - to be effective at separating the interconnects from other cables.