Kimber from Monster First sound thin Now awesome

I just swapped Canare and Zu for PBJ and I'm speechless...who knew IC's could resubstantiate your whole system....well, I guess most of you did, but I didn't!

If you'll bother to look at the site I posted: You might note that National Semiconductor listed some simple tests that you can perform to verify that dielectrics DO INDEED store energy. It's not a matter of "buying" anything, but rather accepting facts. Based on the responses received so very often in these threads: I don't really expect some to either accept scientific fact, OR do any experiments(such as those mentioned above) on their own. It's much more comfortable(for some) to remain in the dark, than to admit one's misconceptions. There are those in these threads that remain open enough to accept new ideas, try new things and learn(like Weiserb). I've been an experimenter/tweeker most of my life, and with them I can relate. YES- Cable, interconnect or chassis resonances/movements do indeed affect signal transmission and a system's sound. That coupled with dielectric absorption, capacitive coupling to "Earth Ground", static electricity, and dielectric interference with carpeting(all possibilities- not necessarily present in every audio chain) are all reasons that cable risers can affect reproduction in a resolving system(believe it or not!).

I have a question about this stored charge issue. If a cable doesn't store to transmit charge though it's die-electric, why do cable risers have any effect?

I don't buy the storage energy thing either. What is stored should not be an issue. I think that the movement of cables deteriorates the sound and this is discussed by Cardas Audio and I have also heard this phenomenon. This may be some of the "molecular alignment" theory that is out there too. There is something to it, but there remains more questions than answers with regard to alignment/realignment. Jallen

Believe what you want. The only perfect dielectric is a vacuum(second best is air). All other dielectric materials absorb energy(it's called, "dielectric absorption") and in a cable, will release it with a slight delay(not desirable for a number of audible reasons). Capacitors will do the same thing, only with more obvious results: (http://www.national.com/rap/Application/0,1570,28,00.html) The better cables and capacitors available use polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, Teflon or foam with high air content dielectrics to avoid the problem. They are slower to absorb and absorb less energy. That's why these cables, interconnects and caps take longer to "burn-in", but(ultimately) sound much better. Make that: "don't sound" as transparency(adding or taking away nothing from the original signal) SHOULD be the ultimate goal of a cable, cap or interconnect. But that's just what I personally look for in those components.

Lose the charge? What charge? The dielectric doesn't store any charge...

-RW-

If cables have been sitting, unused, for a period of time- the dielectric will lose the charge that they've built during the "burn-in" period. That takes a bit of "burning-in(re-burning?)" to restore. Wait until they've been in the system for a couple hundred hours. Ill bet they continue to improve. OH- If anyone tries to tell you, "Your ears are just adjusting to the sound": Ignore them!