How can I make my own acoustic materials?

Since we were discussing about tests and validation, here are some thoughts on sustainability, validation and quality control:

I was looking at the classifieds here in Audiogon and I ran into an ad for a 'cable and interconnect cooker'. This is what the website says:

"The break-in process is believed to be due primarily to current flowing through the conductors of wiring components. Dielectric stress caused by a voltage difference between the conductors is also believed to be of some benefit. The fact that it takes many hours of in-system use for wiring components to break in is primarily due to the low-level nature of audio/video signals from normal program material."

When one reads for quality assurance (and I did it for a living) one must watch for empty, inconclusive statements.
The above parragraph lacks sustainability, proof, or any other data sustaining what it says. The very first sentence is a joke! Believe me, I've seen documents presented by chemistry labs with similar statements! Just keep your mind open...

Here's a few things to take into consideration:

First of all, Jon works for a major corporation that designs sound gear that is used by professional musicians, recording studios, pro sound reinforcement and "hobbyist" musicians. As such, he has access to EVERY imaginable type of test procedure / test equipment / computer simulation product available to a company of that size & nature. He uses this equipment on a daily basis as part of his job of building & designing both electronic and acoustic based products.

Previous to doing this, he had worked for several other manufacturers in the audio industry. As such, he has over 25 years in the industry. On top of that, he is a degreed EE and a member of the Audio Engineering Society with published papers in their journal and several different patents to his credit. Needless to say, he is well educated in the field, has TONS of education and first hand experience with THOUSANDS of testimonials / posts of praise to his credit. If you want "science", rattle off some technical questions to Jon over at the "cable asylum" and see if he can answer them. I'm sure that he can give you more than your fill of terms like velocity factor, dielectric absorption ratios, conductivity in mho's, reactance at various phase angles, etc...

Don't get me wrong as i DON'T "worship" the guy. He simply has very worthy credentials and lives up to them.

Secondly, some specific "cable burners" DO work. Regardless of the claims, hype, lack of understanding, etc... the sonic results can be QUITE obvious. I do agree that the text used in that specific case is "mumbo jumbo" and could have been worded in a far better manner.

Finally, ANYONE can talk a good game. Con artists make a living out of doing such. Just because someone has "marketing skills" DOES NOT mean that they can support their claims or deliver the goods when called upon to do so. Just because one can talk the talk doesn't mean that they can walk the walk. Unfortunately, some of us have learned the hard way that some folks are more "charlatan" than "genius". Sean
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This is getting into another subject, Sean...those guys are using that 'mumbo jumbo'--which they headline as a 'technical discussion' to sell a $649.00 piece of gear!

For that kind of money I can get the tonearm fluid damper for my Technics 1200 TT ($149), an Ortofon low output MC super 15 MK II ($225), a pair of Tekna Sonic C-10 fins for my JMlab speakers ($99) and still have money left for albums!

Crazy, isn't it?

I agree that some "tweaks" are outrageously priced. Keep in mind that even though you might be able to go out and pick up all of that stuff mentioned for about the same price, you STILL might not be hearing what your system (especially your cables ) is capable of doing. Believe it or not, it is the "truth".

For the record, one can make a VERY heavy duty "cable burner" for well under $100 if one was "handy". It might not be as pretty as the fancy mass produced ones, but it WOULD work. Sean
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I've just got my blueprints for the corner bass traps. Very well designed. I talked with Steve Deckert this morning about the particulars of my apartment setup. He was very helpful about helping me live peacefully with my neighbors...I've already recommended him with two of my audio salesmen. Definitely worth doing business with.