Does raising speaker cables off the floor really make a big difference?

When you say "mix", do you mean not pure enough?

This is so called "snake oil" stuff putting soap in your searching ears and attempting to grab your wallet. The MOST important part of any home listening experience is - without a single doubt  - acoustic treatment of where we listen to music.It can be achieved with surprisingly minimal expense ! Exempli gratia - an immense improvement I made to my listening room was to hang 12 x 5 Euros umbrellas hanging closely to my 50 sq metre ceillng filled with BAF wadding, ( copied from Sydney Opera House and the Royal Albert Hall ). Their treatments which are not - nota bene - cheap Chinese umbrellas, no doubt whatsoever cost them really big bucks. Enjoy the music ! Good wishes.

Just because people swear they hear something, or see something for that matter, does not make it so. The only thing you might hear by moving cables around-- lifting them off the floor or putting them on the floor for that matter-- is if there was noise or interference increasing or decreasing due to their LOCATION in relation to other cables and gear. 

If you already have a quiet system without a lot of hum or buzz, and you raise the cables a few inches off the floor and there is no increase or decrease in background noise, buzz, or whatever, then anything else you're hearing is in your head. You are hearing something-- it just has nothing to do with those $3,000 a piece ebony cable risers that were cryonicly aligned and blessed by a Tibetan Monk.

Audiophiles believe in a lot of tweaks like this-- like painting the edges of CD's with green sharpies or whatever-- you may hear something-- you are in fact hearing nothing-- your mind has done the rest-- it is, in fact, all in your head. But hey, if that makes the music sound better to you then go for it. The placebo effect is very powerful-- that's why giving people sugar pills and telling them it's medicine will often make them feel (at least temporarily) better.

What sucks are the people that peddle this stuff for "stupid money" prices while making all manner of empty claims (subliminal mental suggestions in this case) that are complete and total BS. That really sucks.

Thanks, headwesterly, that was very informative. 🙄

Just because people write something, it does not make it so.....

This constant siren call of insanity on the part of the listener is growing old and stale. No amount of sophistry or wordsmanship can mask the emptiness of their arguments.

The concept of lifting cables goes way back. I remember when it wasn't considered necessary for natural wood floors or for those who use natural fibers in their rugs. It was never a big deal until some unscrupulous folk started selling ridiculously priced gear to raise the cables. 

'nuff said about that as it can be done on the cheap and it doesn't hurt to try. Like I said before, I didn't hear much of a difference 25 years ago but my gear back then wasn't anywhere near as resolving as it is now. It was on a lark that I tried it, thanks to this thread, and I'm all the better for it. No biggie. Get over it folks.

All the best,
Nonoise