Capped off?

On the one hand I know a good deal about what and how. I know for example an otherwise perfectly ordinary plug can be transformed into something remarkable simply by putting a dab of goo on it. I know for example there is a reason for the little blob of gray goo on Synergistic Research Orange fuses, and it is for the same reason they tell you not to remove it. Also know something very much like that is going on with a lot of these things. 

So yes it is materials, and maybe a little design too. What materials? Aye, there's the rub.

Shorting plugs, if that's all it is, then they do nothing. The outside of the RCA is ground, and ground is ground. The inside is hot. Look inside any component you will see one wire, the hot one, going to the input selector. All a shorting plug does is connect that short little bit of wire to ground. That's it. Minus the shorting plug that hot wire was just sitting there disconnected from anything. With the shorting plug its now connected to ground. I leave it to you to imagine how much difference there can be from one foot of one wire not connected to anything.

As opposed to the magic goo. Which I guarantee you makes a huge difference.

I don't know about Cardas, but if you were using the old PPT caps there would be no doubt. The reduction in noise, improvement in clarity, and image focus, is obvious and easy to hear. 

That's the problem with these things. Tweaks, I mean. Someone makes one that is truly outstanding. Everyone hears and says wow that is amazing. But then instead of buying the good stuff they decide to try something else. Which of course turns out to be crap. Or they use something that looks the same, and jump to the conclusion it is the same, and then in a Beamon size leap of logic conclude everything that looks like that is snake oil, to use this sites preferred vernacular.

Get the PPT ones. If you can. Anything else, oh well.