A Couple Little Things I'm Wondering About


Two quick questions for anyone with any experience with either topic.

1. Why do some folks with usually higher end systems use those cable lifters to keep the cable elevated? What are they intended to do? If you use them, what do they do for you please? And if you know do they make sense from a purely technical standpoint? 

2. I bought a bunch of those gold plated caps to cover all the unused RCA jacks on the back of my AVR. I believe they are intended to keep noise down. If you use these, please comment on them. Do you think they do what they're supposed to do, and/or do they make sense from a purely technical standpoint?

Thanks!
jcolespeedway
Cable lifters can help separate speaker cables and interconnects from power cords, which can help to reduce or eliminate noise in your system. My previous system had issues when power cords were too close to other cables, so cable lifters helped to keep cables apart and the noise to a minimum.

Other than that, the mere fact of lifting cables off the ground does not lead to audible differences in my experience.

However, this is why I still use them:

1. Cable lifters prevent my robot vacuum cleaner from running over my cables. I use heavy ceramic cable lifters which do not budge when the Roomba bumps into them.

2. RCA caps keep dust and other particles away from my unused jacks, and I feel they also might be helpful in preventing oxidation.
My cables are draped across my wall to wall carpet and my system sounds great to me. As far as plugging unused rca jacks, I don't see how it could make much if any detectable/audible difference. Waste of money if you ask me. I'd put the money towards a nice power chord or something else....
cable lifters: snake oil

RCA shorting plugs: will protect against noise interference that may possibly occur at the unused rca terminals. Shorting them guarantees no signal, noise or otherwise will feed into your device.

@cakyol +1
In addition, some RCAs have a shorting mechanism built in which negates the need for a plug (as long as the designer connects up the third leg to ground). Ironically in my experience it's the most exotic and expensive ones that do without that mechanism.
Here we go again. How can you have an opinion if you have never tried it?

@audioguy85,  how does your post address the OP's question or contribute in any meaningful way?  You state " Waste of money if you ask me." Nobody asked you!

I am seriously puzzled as to why people who have tried and can't hear differences or just regard certain tweaks as snake oil etc. without having tried, bother to waste their time and the reader's time with their vitriol.

I thought the ethos, purpose and intent of these threads was to provide helpful input based on experience. Constructive disagreement is fine and to be encouraged but the dismissive comment 'Well its your money' which often accompanies these threads is simply a rude insult, suggesting those who claim they can hear differences are delusional or subject to expectation bias.