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Cable elevators - conventional wisdom wrong?

Reluctant to put any considerable money in them, the reasons for using cable elevators seemed intuitively correct to me: decouple cables mechanically from vibration and insulate them from the carpet's static. I have therefore built cheap elevators myself using Lego building blocks. (Plastic with a more or less complex internal structure; moreover, there is enormous shaping flexibility, for instance you can also build gates with suspended strings on which to rest the cables)
In their advertisement/report on the Dark Field elevators, Shunyata now claim that conventional elevators are actually (very?) detrimental in that they enable a strong static field to build up between cable and floor causing signal degradation.
Can anyone with more technical knowledge than I have assess how serious the described effect is likely to be? Would there, theoretically, be less distortion with cables lying on the floor? Has anyone actually experienced this?
karelfd
ted_d
86 posts
 
Joeyboynj,
Splashkin's suggestion will work just fine. You may also want to simply lay your CD cases on their sides making the letter "V" (non tee pee, stable, and uniform height). Now simply lay your cables with at least 4 CD cases per 8ft run being careful not to let your speaker cables sag between CD cases while allowing them to orient themselves in such a way as to not force them into a position they do not naturally lie.

Yours in music,
Ted Denney III
Lead Designer, Synergistic Research Inc.
dave_b's avatar
dave_b
3,159 posts
 
The CD cases do work! In fact, based on initial listening they offer the good improvements of the Dark Fields without the drawbacks i.e...blunting of transients, opacity and reduced dynamics. Instrument seperation is improved, definition is enhanced, the soundstage expanded and harmonics seem a little more natural.
clio09
3,356 posts
 
Okay, if the CD cases work, the expense aside, would it stand to reason something like this would be a good option as well:

http://www.cabletower.com/
dave_b's avatar
dave_b
3,159 posts
 
Something else positive I noticed was that the CD case risers create a bit of a tube like effect, in that individual notes are opened up more. Instrument sounds more rounded and dimensional while still retaining enough incisiveness to give a sense of believablility. This aspect of the CD elevation effect reminds me of the sound I had with my old Watt/Puppy 6's and an ARC VT100MKIII with an LS 25MKII preamp. Quite surprising:O)
tbg
5,263 posts
 
Clio09, can you not use the cheap little cd boxes rather than jewel boxes? I don't like plastic risers but do wonder whether the type of plastic matters.
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