You can try using empty CD jewel cases and see/hear what you think. I ended up getting the ones Shunyata makes for their aesthetics and because they help absorb vibration. I think the effectiveness of these "devices" (as Frank Zappa would say) depends on your system.
Cable lifters/towers- voodoo or the real thing?
This is something I've been wrestling with for some time. After spending as much on equipment as I have, I'm hesitant about dropping a rather menial sum on cable lifters or towers. It's literally the cost of a few cases of premium imported beer, but I just can't believe what I read about them. Six Moons glowed about Dedicated Audio's Cable Towers, but I'm not sure if I buy it. Perhaps it's because I don't understand the reasoning behind them. Any opinions or thoughts to educate me here? Am I being an idiot not getting any? Right now, I just have a tangled mess of cables lying on the floor, suspended in air from being relatively stretched....is it a good way to tweak a system?