Freeze first, or cook first? Your recipe?


I have recently been experimenting with cryoing and cooking my cables, but I have not yet perfected my recipe. However, I've found that a light spritzing of Nordost ECO antistat and garnishing with a few Shakti stones/onlines and cable risers makes a lovely presentation. Any suggestions for the cable chefs and gourmets out there?
thsalmon
There is something I don't understand about cryo treating audio components. Is the elements/chemicals'physical property really improved sonically after cryo treatment?

I learned in geology that molecular shape and crystallization, uniforming crystalline structure, is a process that takes extreme heat and pressure then THOUSANDS of years of gradual cooling.

I don't know if what I learned in geology have anything to do with cyro treatments, but it is the source of my cynicism towards freezing cables and such.

I do have cryo and non cryo powercords of the same make and model. And I do hear a differences in each. Why is that? It certainly shouldn't have anything to do with each respective cables' physical properties, should it?
Thsalmon. I've never used those combinations of ingredients but I can pass on a great recipe consisting of pan seared ahi tuna, sauteed morel and shitaki mushroom with a wild berry compote, finished with wasabi aoli and garnished with flying fish roe and spring onion...bon appetite!
Mr Salmon your experiences with ECO3 can be duplicated at only 20% of that cost, by picking up a spray can of Endust for Electronics locally.
From there I would move on to a good dry contact cleaner (dry meaning without any oily residue base) such as Kontact.
Next get yourself a good interconnect cooker such as the inexpensive Mobie, available from Chicago's Music Direct. A speaker-level cable cooker such as the Nordost will speed up that process for your speaker cables & AC cords, but that can also be accomplished a few other ways at less cost, unlike the interconnect cable cooking process which does require a burner box.
Cryo treatment would be my last endeavor, because all of the aforementioned enhancements can be done first, at home, therefor leaving the effects of cryo, if any, to be more easily realized separately from the other treatments.
I recently had a pair of Audioquest Anaconda XLR interconnects cryo'd by Jena Labs and the improvement is real. These cables had been burned in on a Cable Cooker and then used about 150 hours in my sytsem. We used my buddy's identical cable as reference, having verified previously that we could detect no different between the two cables.

After receiving the cryo'd cable back from Jena Labs, I noticed it needed a slight break-in again, but much less than when new (maybe just 10 hours). When I compared it with my buddy's cable as reference, both of us agreed the cryo treatment delivered as promised. There was more weight to the music, and the noise floor seemed lower. It was easy to tell which cable was better (no struggling to hear a difference this time).

This doesn't anwer you question exactly, but it's the results I found. Also, much to my relief, no problems with the dielectric or any other part of the cable due to the cryo process. They look like new, they just sound better. Jena Labs has some technical information on their site. The main thing to know if you're a do-it-yourself type is that dry ice isn't cold enough to effect permanant change, so don't bother. It takes a much colder temp. and requires a specific immersion and warm-up cycle to achieve the best results. Besides, the cost isn't that much, so why not just have it done right and be sure of the results.

Cryo treatment is a part of my Swan's modification by Dan Wright (MODWRIGHT). Dan told me he prefers to burn in components first and then sends them to Jena Labs for cryo.

As for burning in my 'already broken in' power cords, they do show improvement in openness and dynamics after being plugged to my refrigerator for four days. I am using a PS Audio Juice Bar: I plug my refrigerator to the JB and the power cord to the wall outlet and the Juice Bar's IEC. It works very well.

I plan to send my interconnects and Absolute Power Cords to Jena Labs. Think about it--the Absolutes are $40 and are an excellent cord. Spend some money for cryo and I'll be set.