Dielectric?


I was listening to Bill Frissell "Nashville" last night. This disk has some of Nashville's best studio musicians working with Bill on a fantastically well recorded session. In the second cut there is the tinniest of cymbal, just shimmering in mid air. I'd never heard it shimmer before. As I continued listening I became aware that my system was pure magic and I took full advantage of the opportunity by playing some of my favorites." WOW, this is amazing" I said to myself with a huge Cheshire cat grin. As I was listening I noticed one of my vacuum cleaner hose speaker cables was hanging down while the other was bent slightly up. "This imperfection must go" so down on the floor working the two cables so that they align. ( I know it's sad, but I'm a perfectionist, I've tried to control it, but...) I'm talking maybe one inch or so, the effect on the coppers molecular structure is small, but I've now taken my closed hand and run it over the majority of length in each cable.
The cables looked good so back to my music. "Where is the magic?" I'd killed it completely, the presentation was flat, the shimmer gone. Oh all the information seemed in place, just no life!
My conclusion, the dielectric had over time created a field beyond the confines of the cable housing and I had discharged it, taking away the added benefit of the extended field. My cables are fully suspended so there is nothing within an inch and a half that can effect the extended dielectric. My amps stay on all the time which would retain the charge in the field even when the system is off.
Does this make sense? It's an easy experiment maybe some of you can try it to see if you have a similar result. I'm feeling like the casing of our cables has more to due with the performance than any of the other factors. The dielectric materials used have the ability to retain a potential charge that can be drawn on during high current demands, the cables dielectric in effect is doing the same job the capacitor dielectric is doing only with less efficiency. Plus some materials benefit in the shielding from other wave energy. Is this "the" factor in our power cord and cable discussions that were not giving the proper attention to.
Should we be discussing what materials best retain a charge and best shield wave forces. My reference to wave forces are of course RF, EMI but I've been thinking, there are far more than just that, there is Microwave, Ex-ray, Grama-ray, all emitted daily from the sun. Solar flares and the intense cosmic radiation have been tied to radio fades and power grid failures, I thing there is a lot to discuss here.
I realize I've exposed myself to great ridicule, but I'm far more interested in what I think I'm learning than playing a fool. Thanks for your thoughts, J.D.
128x128jadem6
Not quite on topic, but similar vein: where can we get good dielectric? Anyone know? Recently I stripped a mega$ pc, thick & appropriately heavy, to find it was filled with minuscule lead-shot and wire+insulation in the middle. The lot secured by heavy-suty heat-shrink matl on either side.

I want to try this on pcs I have laying around...

Thanks, Greg.
Not quite on topic, but, Jadem6, there is no Cymbals in 2nd or any track. In fact no percussion of any kind in the whole cd, but what you might have heard could be faint mandolin sound. Did not mean to argue, but I did not hear no Cymbals and I have (i think) pretty high resolution system!
Hi degauss your system (the cables in the path of the electrical signal and listen again. Your highs will come back.
J.D. Fascinating thread. Before reading all the posts I initially postulated that a blood-pressure change from getting up and walking over to the cables and back changed your seratonin levels. The quip about Prozac and OCD may seem cru(el)de, but there's no question that aural/musical/pschic nirvana is fleeting, and affected by physical movement as well seratonin levels. Relax, and enjoy the music! Ernie
Ernie, I think you are on to something. With the, count them 23 pills I take each an every day to keep me alive I'd guess moving my hand would change my body/ sound. Maybe I should start taking my blood pressure during listening to help understand yet another variable.

Nilthepill, I'll check it out. Right now I have no pre-amp so I have no music. Warning to all.... do not leave your power supply running when a leak forms in your house just above the supply. This makes for a char-boil set of components, but I must say the background is quite black and dead silent!

Jeff Delman I agree. I wish we had a way to physically measure this phenomenon. Does anyone have a thought of how to actually document the change?