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Tuning Collars on speaker cables - concept and any good?
Hello all,
I was wondering if someone can tell me what the effect is in the "real world" of having tuning collar on speaker cables. Are such tuning collars any good (for example Stealth Audio offers them)? Is there any downside by having them?
It would be great to hear from other fellow goners who have first hand experience with them, if possible with Stealth Audio cables.
Cheers and thank you for sharing your information
Mike
I was wondering if someone can tell me what the effect is in the "real world" of having tuning collar on speaker cables. Are such tuning collars any good (for example Stealth Audio offers them)? Is there any downside by having them?
It would be great to hear from other fellow goners who have first hand experience with them, if possible with Stealth Audio cables.
Cheers and thank you for sharing your information
Mike
28 responses Add your response
That's what I used to think. Then I had an actual symphony conductor over for dinner one night. After drinks he suggested some Stravinsky. Right away he jumps up stop stop STOP! Walks over to the tuning collars, slides them about a half an inch, sits back down, raises his arms in that way- you know one a littler higher than the other- and I cue the arm back down. Sure enough, we were sharp, now it was in tune. So they totally work. |
Tuning collars are awesome for people who don't understand the difference between common mode and differential mode signal rejection. Common mode noise is noise that appears on both signal wires equally. If the signal appears on both signal wires equally going to your speakers, then the "net" signal is 0 ... i.e. they will have no effect on the sound (at all). Now, if your speakers were "grounded" which pretty much no one does, then there would be path for the common mode signal to go, but still ... same signal on both wires, so the speaker would not notice. Why does this matter? Because these "Tuning collars" go over both wires and hence can only impact common mode noise/signals. Now, one could make the weak argument they reduce EMI, and that would be true if there was a ground path for high frequencies, but your speakers are not grounded, and your floors are probably not metal (and grounded), so there is not even a good capacitive path to ground for them to make any difference. I am sure there will be some made up argument about transmission line effects .... but I already sold all my swamp land in Florida. |
TECHNICAL NOTES Stealth Tuning Collars Based on numerous listening sessions with various equipment, a STEALTH “T” cable with a tuning collar in the optimum position, the overall result (sound) is better than with the cable without the collar, BUT – with the collar in incorrect position the sound is not as good as with a cable without the collar. The best sounding tuning collar position is different for every two pieces of equipment which that cable connect, thus it is impossible to point at the same spot (location) of the collar, giving the same sound as without the collar. Finding the best position of the collar is a lengthy process and requires some time and patience. Usually two people are needed (one is listening, and the other is moving the collar). It is even better to have several people, and listen together >>>>>Conclusion: the Stealth Cable Collar works on the same principle as the Shun Mook Original Cable Jacket and the Cable Wrap from Highwire. It absorbs the reflected electromagnetic wave. Case closed! 🕵️♂️ |
bkeske96 posts04-28-2020 11:59pm Back in the day, when Simon Rattle and I used to hang of an afternoon, we listened to his early recording and critiqued them on a Bose Wave that he loved But how can that be? Simon is one of the world renown conductors of our time. He should know better.......at least, about music. ( 😉 ). >>>>No shirt, that’s kind of why he said it. 😀 |
If we need to look for trinkets to "alter" the sound our system puts out, perhaps we need to re-evaluate our components performance to find what's missing. I used to have my ex wife try all these different makeup companies and application techniques, then one day it dawned on me. I went out and found another wife that I liked just the way she was! |
Which could be verified in about 2 minutes with an oscilloscope ... So the supplier must have scope plots on their web page of course? .... We can just ignore that transmission line effects are impedance based and position of the collar would be meaningless I assume? >>>>>Conclusion: the Stealth CableCollar works on the same principle as the Shun Mook Original Cable Jacket and the Cable Wrap from Highwire. It absorbs the reflected electromagnetic wave. Case closed! 🕵️♂️ |
heaudio123 Which could be verified in about 2 minutes with an oscilloscope ...geoffkait Are you volunteering? Please report result ...C’mon, Geoff, you know it doesn’t work that way. People here who say they favor measurements, double-blind listening tests, and other "scientific" studies expect others to do that work for them. They don’t seem to have any interest in actually conducting such tests themselves. (It’s likely that many wouldn’t even know where to begin.) In a way, I don’t blame them. In particular, blind listening tests take a lot of work to organize, and the tests themselves are no fun at all - they’re time-consuming and tedious. I also suspect that many who clamor for such tests don’t really believe in them, but simply reference them as a way to engage in argument. I’ve suggested here for years that there’s a real opportunity to conduct such tests at an audio show. None of the measurementalists have ever shown an interest and of course with the current Covid crisis, it wouldn’t be possible. |
Sure, you send me collars and I will test. I am fully set up, likely much better than the companies selling these. However, I am not in the habit of doing a vendor’s sales engineering for them, but in this case I will make an exception. Are you volunteering? Please report results. Thanks in advance. 🤗 There was a thread going on Facebook, people more than willing to put up the money for a room, bring in their own high end equipment, etc. What do you think the odds are that suppliers will bring in their products for validation? No, those who advocate for them fully believe in them. No one references it as a way to engage in argument. As most who advocate actually work in engineering and sciences, they would be more than qualified Oh, and no one mentioned blind testing, as this is purely a simple measurement test. I’ve suggested here for years that there’s a real opportunity to conduct such tests at an audio show. None of the measurementalists have ever shown an interest and of course with the current Covid crisis, it wouldn’t be possible. |
