TimbreDynamics Cable Lifters

[Ron Resnick]

It is always fun to research even small elements of one's future stereo system. I found today a fabricator of what I think are beautiful and functional walnut cable lifters.

Mike Goppert, proprietor of TimbreDynamics, makes cable lifters. He will customize to satisfy specific requests.

They are quite heavy, and will not be tipped over even by heavy cables. Mike can substitute the standard felt on the bottom with Sorbothane.









From Mike's Etsy page:

Materials:

American Walnut, Urethane, Black Marble, Felt, Chrome metal


Description:

An attractive and highly functional audio cable management system made from the finest materials. The cable platform is made from 1.5'' (38mm) high-quality handcrafted American walnut butcher block hardwood. Includes a 1.5'' (38mm) tall marble base which makes for a solid heavy-duty platform on any surface. Designed to hold both ribbon and round cable. The circular opening can carry up to 1.25'' (32mm) round cable and is large enough to thread any standard size XLR/Neutrix connector. This will make a beautiful way to finish out any high-end system.


Standard Features:

Solid hardwood butcher block cable management
Heavy-duty black marble base with soft felt base padding
Ribbon and Round cable management
- Ribbon cable slot width: .25'' (6.4mm)
- Circular hole diameter: 1.33'' (34mm)


Options:

Choice of Wood Finish (Natural or Dark Walnut)

World-class Home Audio | Timbre Dynamics

Timbre Dynamics designs and builds custom high-end home audio components made with best-in-class materials with real attention to detail.

www.timbredynamics.com

 

[ddk]

Cable lifters are counter intuitive! What’s good about uneven support of a cable and stressing out the sagging sections in between the lifters given the weight of many so called audiophile wires?

david

 

[rando]

Watch this space!

Ching Cheng Cation Lifters

 

[bazelio]

Cable lifters are counter intuitive! What’s good about uneven support of a cable and stressing out the sagging sections in between the lifters given the weight of many so called audiophile wires?

david

And why is it OK for cables to rest on lifters but not on rack or floor surfaces? How do the electrons behave differently in one scenario vs the other?

Questions aside, these do look like robust lifters that won't be dragged around by the cables themselves. When I see most systems with lifters, they appear to me to be a sneeze away from toppling over. These things look weighty, and I could see some use in directing stubborn cables into a desired orientation.

 

[Al M.]

Cable lifters have two simple practical purposes for me:

1) They prevent me from stepping on my cables. Trivial but important.
2) They help to physically separate signal cables from power cables.

 

[sbnx]

As long as the lifters do something to minimize the vibration then I consider them good from a design perspective. But honestly I use them to try and prevent my non-audiophile friends from stepping on the cables.

 

[StreamFidelity]

And why is it OK for cables to rest on lifters but not on rack or floor surfaces? How do the electrons behave differently in one scenario vs the other?

Cable lifters reduce the coupling capacity, which takes place via the floor. If you lift the cable, the gain is instant, and capacitive coupling is reduced. This can be measured. See hifi today (written in German)

In addition, speakers move a lot of air and cause vibrations. Nobody wants a vibrating speaker cord on the amplifier.

For these reasons, cable lifters are essential hi-fi accessories for me.

 

[MTB Vince]

View attachment 74050

Well these are certainly the prettiest looking cable lifters I've ever seen. Mike clearly has a knack for industrial design.

 

[CKKeung]

Cable lifters reduce the coupling capacity, which takes place via the floor. If you lift the cable, the gain is instant, and capacitive coupling is reduced. This can be measured. See hifi today (written in German)

In addition, speakers move a lot of air and cause vibrations. Nobody wants a vibrating speaker cord on the amplifier.

For these reasons, cable lifters are essential hi-fi accessories for me.

Agree!

Roger Skoff, past designer of XLO and currently the designer/owner of RSX Technologies has written a short piece on cable lifters on Positive Feedback Magazine :

Bunking Cable Lifters - Positive Feedback

Bunking Cable Lifters: Roger Skoff Writes About the Other Side of the Discussion

positive-feedback.com

 

[adyc]

Cable lifters have two simple practical purposes for me:

1) They prevent me from stepping on my cables. Trivial but important.
2) They help to physically separate signal cables from power cables.

Totally agree. It is very useful to cross the signal cable to power cable at 90 degrees.

 

[Ron Resnick]

As long as cable lifters don't do any damage to the sound, isn't it enough that they make our spiders' webs of cables look a little bit more neat and organized?

I agree with the people who suggest that getting the cables off the floor makes them less likely to get stepped on or vacuumed over.

 

[jeromelang]

It is always fun to research even small elements of one's future stereo system. I found today a fabricator of what I think are beautiful and functional walnut cable lifters.

Mike Goppert, proprietor of TimbreDynamics, makes cable lifters. He will customize to satisfy specific requests.

They are quite heavy, and will not be tipped over even by heavy cables. Mike can substitute the standard felt on the bottom with Sorbothane.


View attachment 74050



View attachment 74051


From Mike's Etsy page:

Materials:

American Walnut, Urethane, Black Marble, Felt, Chrome metal


Description:

An attractive and highly functional audio cable management system made from the finest materials. The cable platform is made from 1.5'' (38mm) high-quality handcrafted American walnut butcher block hardwood. Includes a 1.5'' (38mm) tall marble base which makes for a solid heavy-duty platform on any surface. Designed to hold both ribbon and round cable. The circular opening can carry up to 1.25'' (32mm) round cable and is large enough to thread any standard size XLR/Neutrix connector. This will make a beautiful way to finish out any high-end system.


Standard Features:

Solid hardwood butcher block cable management
Heavy-duty black marble base with soft felt base padding
Ribbon and Round cable management
- Ribbon cable slot width: .25'' (6.4mm)
- Circular hole diameter: 1.33'' (34mm)


Options:

Choice of Wood Finish (Natural or Dark Walnut)

Where is the "chrome metal" material being used on these cable platforms?
Can customers specify to remove the 'chrome metal" or any other metallic parts completely from the platform?

 

[Ron Resnick]

Where is the "chrome metal" material being used on these cable platforms?
Can customers specify to remove the 'chrome metal" or any other metallic parts completely from the platform?

I don't know. You would have to contact the manufacturer.

 

[nirodha]

As long as cable lifters don't do any damage to the sound, isn't it enough that they make our spiders' webs of cables look a little bit more neat and organized?

I agree with the people who suggest that getting the cables off the floor makes them less likely to get stepped on or vacuumed over.

Sometimes I feel it is considered wrong when something ADDS to sound. Everything should be pure etc. But sometimes the addition of something is a positive thing. Like the Furutech NCF boosters. They add transparancy, "reall-ness"to the sound. That they also just lift cables and look nice is a bonus

 

[jeromelang]

Any metallic materials introduced into the proximity nearby signal carrying cables are going to change the cables' sound. For precisely this reason I'm getting interested in these lifters.

 

[rando]

It is always fun to research even small elements of one's future stereo system.

Ron, is there something fundamentally different about this design that appeals to you such as (nearly) fully encircling the cable? Suspect with amount of focus devoted towards completion of your listening room I might not have arrived at the same conclusions. By asking up front the hope is to avoid contaminating your response.

Personally, just keep coming back to the large keyhole. Design wise it creates unresolved tension. Apologies to ddk if he felt the existence of more than addressing his point with humor. I just cannot look at those cable lifters without seeing distinctly non-analog visual trickery. Either a single cable centered in dead space or multiple cables entering and leaving in different directions without contact. At the same time I fully expect these lifters would be very presentable in listening space they seem destined towards.

 

[ddk]

Apologies to ddk if he felt the existence of more than addressing his point with humor.

Hi Rando,

No need to apologize I didn't even see your reply before this post.

david

 

[Ron Resnick]

Ron, is there something fundamentally different about this design that appeals to you such as (nearly) fully encircling the cable? Suspect with amount of focus devoted towards completion of your listening room I might not have arrived at the same conclusions. By asking up front the hope is to avoid contaminating your response.

Personally, just keep coming back to the large keyhole. Design wise it creates unresolved tension. Apologies to ddk if he felt the existence of more than addressing his point with humor. I just cannot look at those cable lifters without seeing distinctly non-analog visual trickery. Either a single cable centered in dead space or multiple cables entering and leaving in different directions without contact. At the same time I fully expect these lifters would be very presentable in listening space they seem destined towards.

Purely aesthetically, I like the black marble base; I like the walnut butcher block; I like that Mike will replace the felt on the bottom with a layer of Sorbothane. (I would like a visco-elastic absorption layer somewhere between the cable and the hard floor.)

I, personally, don't care for the keyhole. The slot, I suspect, is for a ribbon cable (which I don't happen to use).

If I order these I would ask Mike to cut off the keyhole so that the cable rests in a concave half circle which is fully open at the top.

 

[spiritofmusic]

These are obviously not for power cords?

 

[Ron Resnick]

Mike told me that he can make the hole larger.

I think I would just ask him to cut the keyhole in half to moot the issue.