The Great Cryo'd Outlet Test

It *is* interesting how cryo never seems to be alleged to make anything sound worse, or that its promoters don't seem to find it ineffective in any area...

Speaking of there being no money in cryo, I don't know if that's true across the board, but I do want to restate for the record that not only is Albert Porter basically selling his outlets priced to just cover his costs (and maybe time, though I'm not sure he isn't essentially donating that), but he even offered for me to keep the outlet he sent me for free if I didn't hear an improvement. I paid for it anyway of course, but it should be clear to everyone that Albert is only doing this because he finds it helpful and wants to help others, not to make money. He was also eager for me to try the PP even though he must have known in advance that chances were I wouldn't report hearing a difference and might write here saying so. Were he not the stand-up guy he is, he'd probably be on this thread right now pointing out that I carry my own psychological prejudices into this audition which might well prevent me from hearing a difference no matter what improvements the outlet may make, so I'll stipulate to that again myself.

I also want mention again that Hdm previously offered to send me one of his spare outlets without charge as well, and that although I have expressed my doubts about this tweak in excruciating detail and suggested that the pro-cryo'd-outlet rhetoric has been a bit over the top, I don't think for a second that any of the A'goners here extolling it are doing so for any reason other than to share their enthusiasm with their fellow audio travelers. I may be a skeptic and have my criticisms, but I don't think this cryo business is some kind of nefarious plot, and I appreciate all those proponents who've accepted my commentary at face value and in good grace.

Zaikesman: It should be noted that there are some people (Bob Crump among them) who have reported that they do not like the results of cryo. We also have Stehno's observation, positive on the iec inlet but actually negative on the outlet (sorry Stehno!), so Stehno is perhaps still up in the air. But it is difficult (at least in my experience) when you are working with multiple/different outlets, and I am the first to admit that I made mistakes under the same circumstances.

It should also be pointed out that it is probably very easy to have bad cryo that may result in thermally shocking and perhaps damaging items (the key, at least to my understanding, to good cryo is very slow ramp down and very slow ramp up) and that, at least on Audiogon recently there have been a number of companies (and I use that term loosely) promoting cryo that, to me, definitely lacked credibility.

I am either deluded or have just experienced good cryo I guess. The outlets I have had done were done by Alan Kafton at Cryogenics International, and I now have a cryo vendor locally at a small family owned heat treating company so have actually been able to drop my stuff right into the unit (which does not look much like some of the wonky photos of cryo equipment being touted on Audiogon!) and then remove them 48 hours later when they are still on the cool side.

In any event, you will find detractors as well as proponents for cryo and the debate will rage on. Your final remarks in your last post are appreciated.

Of course my assumption about Stehno's results is that if he went through the same blind audition identification process on the outlets 100 times, the final tally would be pretty close to 50/50 (implying a success rate little different than pure chance), meaning I'm not ready to ascribe any positive *or* negative qualities based on his findings so far and suspect that there are really no significant differences to be heard either pro or con. But you are apparently willing to assign Stehno a 'negative' audition result for the cryo'd outlet based on extrapolation from this very limited data such as it is. One more demonstration that the human brain incessantly searches raw information for patterns, connections, and above all *meaning* - even if such conclusions may not be rationally supportable due largely to our often-limited observational abilities/opportunities. (Whoops, can I say that and still be an audiophile? :-)

"no significant differences to be heard" Doh!(Stenho did hear a difference, he just didn't "cook" 'em right)

Maxgain,throws back the rest of his snake oil Manhattan, turns his back and leaves the forum... muttering something under his breath about a doubble "deaf" test....silly old farts.....Julian Hirsch couldn't hear the difference......his brain searches for "meaning"......the answer to some question being "NO"........then starts laughing his ass off!

From "The Further Misadventures of Maxgain",in "Shootout at the Tin Ear Corral"

Zaikes. As you know, I'm in disgrace. And I have the perfect response for all of my enemies who have conspired against me in this endeavor. I just haven't thought of it yet. :) (just kidding of course).

Seriously though, I remain a very committed believer in tweaking the electrical for sonic improvements. I've witnessed too many very real improvements to believe otherwise and I certainly cannot explain why.

This was a humbling experience to falsely read these two outlets. I'll admit I was a bit cocky going in knowing that I had the most resolving system I've heard to date. I actually thought it would take me all of about 40 minutes to determine which was which. In fact, I was almost naive enough to declare which was the cryo'ed outlet without ever installing the second one.

As I stated earlier, it would have been perhaps a better test to use non-plated outlets. To more easily distinguish any tizzyness from perceived benefits. Or perhaps, it's best with the plated versions for just such a reason as this.

I am still curious why I perceived better sonic benefits after a few days of burn-in. And I barely gave the second outlet 14-16 hours of burn-in time. Again, that is with my amp (the component where I always obtain biggest benefits from tweaks) plugged into the lower receptacle and the cdp in the upper receptacle. As I stated earlier, the screws were missing from the lower receptacles which would lead me to believe they were perhaps used less than the upper receptables, if at all. I really should install the second outlet again and let it burn-in for a few more days just for my own edification.

At the very least I've learned that even though this is just a hobby and a very enjoyable and even serious one at that, there are always credibility issues in every endeavor. At the very least it's taught me not to be so cocky or even reckless, and I need to be more thorough and methodical if I wish to maintain any credibility. I wondered why Eldartford took such a long time before he came to a conclusion. Now I know.

-IMO