Cable Elevators

[FrantzM]

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

There was a thread on this very subject ...

 

[rsbeck]

"The better a system is, the more sensitive it will be to such effects."

We've got effects, too?

What effects?

 

[es347]

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

..or the more sophisticated...cable escalators

 

[JackD201]

..or the more sophisticated...cable escalators

"Electrons standing still, please stand to the right to allow others to pass"

In another forum one fellow suspended his cables with fishing lines hooked to the ceilings. Cable Cars or Ziplines?

 

[rsbeck]

I love escalators 'cause escalators can never be broke.

Escalators can only become stairs.

Ought t be a sign.

Escalator has temporarily become stairs.

Sorry for the convenience.


-- Mitch Hedberg

 

[rsbeck]

In another forum one fellow suspended his cables with fishing lines hooked to the ceilings.

4 pound test gives you more sparkling highs, 60 lb test is better for your bass.

Best to go with a weave for best sonics over the entire spectrum.

The blue woven fishing line sounds fantastic.

 

[rsbeck]

Even to skeptics!

 

[rsbeck]

Of course, that's with Classical music and some kinds of Jazz.

If you listen to a lot of female vocals, you need the green fishing line.

 

[rsbeck]

For Hip Hop, use kite string.

 

[fas42]

We've got effects, too?

What effects?

As stated by microstrip: "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?"

In one sense it is rather amusing that people are intensely seriously about how one style/brand/configuration of cable is the best, just right for their system, yet when people mention different ways of organising these cables in the room it then becomes hysterically funny. You know, it may be, just may be, the interaction of the cable with other elements in the room that is part of the reason for differences in sound between cables ...

Frank

 

[fas42]

For Hip Hop, use kite string.

What are you on at the moment, rsbeck ...?

Frank

 

[rsbeck]

Right now? Seared ahi tuna. Righteous stuff.

 

[rsbeck]

Of course, it's medical Ahi. I've got a doctor's note.

 

[rsbeck]

It's for this acoustimass in my blaupunkt.

 

[garylkoh]

At the risk of being ridiculed .... I think that cable elevators make a difference in some systems.

A very long time ago, I noticed that when I touched the tonearm cable (at that time my system was Rega 3, Creek 4040) it would hum ever so slightly. Fast forward some 20 years - I was redesigning the servo-feedback cable for Genesis. The original cable design was a simple 4-conductor loudspeaker cable by Audioquest. But since 2 conductors were current-carrying to drive the woofers, and 2 conductors were voltage sensing to detect the accelerometer, using a 4-conductor speaker cable didn't make sense.

So, I rigged up a coax interconnect for the accelerometer, and a separate 4-conductor speaker cable to connect the amplifier to the woofers. The first time I touched the interconnect, the hum nearly scared the wits out of me. So, an insulated cable can pick up hum??? When I touched something grounded, I got my usual static shock (some people seem to pick up more static than others)

Since the accelerometer feedback was not grounded - the shield/ground was "live" and it seems that even though it was insulated, the black PVC was still sufficiently conductive for a charged body (me) to induce a huge hum in that sensitive cable.

Since then, I've found that a speaker cable with a black insulator on a wool carpet benefits the most from cable elevators. If the cable has a black outer jacket, but none of the internal wires have black insulators, the effect is far less. With a grounded shield around the cable, elevators make no difference. With Steve's Valhalla speaker cables, the conductor is separated from the insulator by a teflon thread, and cable elevators to make absolutely no difference (I use Valhalla too).

As usual YMMV.

 

[fas42]

At the risk of being ridiculed ...

There are some excellent clues in all that you've mentioned, Gary. Put it this way, if I didn't worry about the effects you've mentioned I wouldn't be getting the results that I've mentioned in my posts ...

Frank

 

[JackD201]

4 pound test gives you more sparkling highs, 60 lb test is better for your bass.

Best to go with a weave for best sonics over the entire spectrum.

The blue woven fishing line sounds fantastic.

60Lb Test for Bass? More appropriate for Dog Tooth Tuna methinks.

 

[DaveyF]

At the risk of also being a little ridiculed, I really like the cable elevators. In my system, I definitely hear less grunge and blacker backgrounds with the cables off the floor. Plus, the already stated benefits of cable configuration are obvious to see.

 

[rsbeck]

60Lb Test for Bass? More appropriate for Dog Tooth Tuna methinks.

LOL. If you've got Dog Tooth Tuna coming out of your speakers, though.......fishing line probably ain't gonna help.

 

[rsbeck]

All kidding aside for a moment, I will never ridicule anyone for saying, "this is what I do, what I hear, what I like and what works for me. YMMV." Ever. That's a promise from me to you.