Cable Elevators

audioguy · Mar 28, 2011

To set the record straight, I have never heard a difference in these products. I would use them only because my anal retentive factor is off the charts. In fact, I am a BlueJeans Cable guy.

But what I found fascinating is this quote by Jonathan Valin, not that he liked them (not a surprise) but rather that he considered himself a "skeptic", he who happens to be the President of the Speaker of the Nanosecond Club: "The damn things do lower noise, increase dynamics, remove haze, and open up the top octaves. Once you listen to their effects, even a skeptic like me has to admit that it is hard to take them back out of the system. Music sounds more like music with the Cable Elevators in place. I recommend them strongly, especially given their price!"

- Jonathan Valin, The Absolute Sound, Editor's Choice Award Winners

steve williams · Mar 28, 2011

I use them in my system but only as a means of tidying up the cable runs. They don't do anything else IMO

mep · Mar 28, 2011

Steve Williams said:
I use them in my system but only as a means of tidying up the cable runs. They don't do anything else IMO

To avoid ridicule, that's what I would tell everyone too if I had them in my system.

rsbeck · Mar 28, 2011

Hey -- if you can't hear the difference between elevators and no elevators......

rsbeck · Mar 28, 2011

I mean, come on, with 'em, your music sounds like, you know.......music.

You can't hear that?

rsbeck · Mar 28, 2011

Without 'em, music sounds like uh.......Monterey Jack cheese or college ruled binder paper or.....you know....not music.

You want that?

rsbeck · Mar 28, 2011

mep said:
To avoid ridicule, that's what I would tell everyone too if I had them in my system.

People who hear Steve's system are usually too busy trying to get their jaw off the floor.

What he really needs are jaw elevators!

rsbeck · Mar 28, 2011

Those will make your jaw sound like....a jaw!

rsbeck · Mar 28, 2011

Even to a skeptic.

microstrip · Mar 28, 2011

Steve Williams said:
I use them in my system but only as a means of tidying up the cable runs. They don't do anything else IMO

Steve,

I am not so sure as you. If we (or some of us) accept that metal purity, wire diameter, dielectric type, guard voltage polarization and several other factors that do not show up in measurements change sound, how can you be sure that triboelectric effects (generation of electricity due to friction in dielectrics) is not affecting cables?

I was never concerned with cable metal purity in my laboratory work, but for low current measurements we had to use a special low tribolelectric cable to avoid it and keep it away from vibrations. Keithley refers it in the Low Level Measurements Handbook. Teflon, one the best dielectric materials, is unhappily one the most triboelectric materials.

We never carried blind tests, but a friend who is usually skeptic about these tweaks uses Shunyata elevators with his Shunyata cables and says it is very noticeable.

rsbeck · Mar 28, 2011

Can you cancel out his testimonial by finding a guy who is usually gullible but doesn't notice the difference?

amirm · Mar 28, 2011

I am very skeptical that he was skeptical going into this

. I think he is saying that as a) defensive move against people saying he was inclined to like it and b) to make it sound like the device is even better than it is.

Has he ever been skeptical of something and then find it to not be good?

steve williams · Mar 28, 2011

amirm said:
I am very skeptical that he was skeptical going into this . I think he is saying that as a) defensive move against people saying he was inclined to like it and b) to make it sound like the device is even better than it is.

Has he ever been skeptical of something and then find it to not be good?

Are we talking about JV here

FrantzM · Mar 28, 2011

I will be forever amazed about our hobby ... Cable elevators ... At least they make for a pretty installation ... Else one more Audiophile "accessory" whose only benefits is to the bank account of those who sell them ...

mep · Mar 28, 2011

microstrip said:
Steve,

I am not so sure as you. If we (or some of us) accept that metal purity, wire diameter, dielectric type, guard voltage polarization and several other factors that do not show up in measurements change sound, how can you be sure that triboelectric effects (generation of electricity due to friction in dielectrics) is not affecting cables?

How do you have friction in a cable that is laying on the floor? I thought someone postulated (not proved) that the carpet on the floor acted like a dielectric and somehow affected the sound of the cable. Is there really an electric field generated by the speaker cable that exists outside of the speaker cable jacket? If so, has anyone measured it to see how big the diameter of it is?

Cable elevators are the type of devices that cause people outside of this wacky hobby to howl in laughter at us. They do dress up cable runs nicely though and that's probably worth something.

JackD201 · Mar 28, 2011

My cables are on the floor. They don't look neat and they gather a lot of dust. I ordered some elevators.

mep · Mar 28, 2011

JackD201 said:
My cables are on the floor. They don't look neat and they gather a lot of dust. I ordered some elevators.

So now you have an elevator with cables attached and soon you will have elevators with cables attached.

JackD201 · Mar 28, 2011

Yeah! Hahahahahaha!!!!!!!

microstrip · Mar 28, 2011

FrantzM said:
I will be forever amazed about our hobby ...

Surely you will ...

Do you know that the one who designs and builds equipment you and I love (Burmester) is an apologist of vibration control in electronics - as they say "The development of Burmester Audio Racks started as a private project for Dieter Burmesters’ own Reference Line System. Due to its tonal and optical preferences, the project soon gained momentum and secured its position among the Burmester product lines."

I once had the pleasure of meeting Dieter Burmester at a show longtime ago - his ultra-audiophile positions are well known.

fas42 · Mar 28, 2011

microstrip said:
We never carried blind tests, but a friend who is usually skeptic about these tweaks uses Shunyata elevators with his Shunyata cables and says it is very noticeable.

microstrip, you're certainly on the right track. The better a system is, the more sensitive it will be to such effects. In the end, virtually everything done to the system will have an audible result, so one has at least two options in dealing with this situation. Either work through every factor that is influencing the sound, to eliminate everything that is deleterious, which is my approach; or accept compromise, and introduce components or tweaks which blur or soften the deficiencies, which seems to be the approach most people take.

Frank

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