An interesting thread. Does anyone know if the changes due to "cryo" treatment are permanent, short lived, wear off gradually, or what. Alexc above presents some questions and cautions not everyone would think of. It'd be interesting to know more about this. Thanks. Craig.
Cryo your cables?
I was talking with a buddy of mine that builds racing engines for karts and the subject of cryogenic freezing came up. For the past couple of years this has been THE hot thing to have done to your engine parts to reduce wear and friction. I checked out a place on the web called 300below.com that does this work. Now for the interseting part relating to cables. They say that one of the frequently treated alloys is copper, espescially welding electrodes. Quote- "The increased durability of Copper from cryogenic treatments is increased homogeneity of the crystal structure. The material becomes more compact, dissolving gaps and discolorations or, for example, chrome carbides found in class II copper. Because of structural compactness there is less electron obstruction which improves electrical conductivity. It has also been learned that as a result of increased conductivity, welding amperage can be reduced thereby further prolonging the service life of electrodes." This got me thinking, what would such a difference in crystal structure do to interconnects and speaker cables? It would seem that what they claim of reduced electron obstruction and increased conductivity would be a positive thing in an audio environment. Has anyone ever thought about this before or actually had their cables treated? I would like some other opinions on this. I'm definitely having my drag-bike engine shipped out this winter to be treated, but I never thought before about how it might make cables sound different.
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- 14 posts total
- 14 posts total