Anyone hear of the Black Cable Tie tweak?


Black Cable Tie Tweak. Just in time for Christmas!

Here's a fun little project. Count the number of drain spouts on your house or apt building - drain spouts are the long, 6" diameter vertical metal pipes that run from the roof gutters to the ground. You might know them better as waterspouts, downspouts, roof drain pipes or some other arcane word or terminology so don't bust my chops.

Obtain enough 14" black cable ties from Home Depot so you'll have one black cable tie for each drain spout. IIRC 14" black cable ties come in a pack of 10 which should be plenty unless you live in Buckingham Palace. If you encounter a drain spout that's too wide for the 14" cable tie, use two cable ties per drain spout. First, freeze the cable ties.

Place all cable ties in the freezer overnight (about 12 hours). Remove them the next day and allow to thaw to room temperature. Secure one black cable tie snugly around each drain spout at a point approximately one foot up from the bottom opening of the pipe near the ground.

After all cable ties are in place go listen to some favorite recordings.

Cheers, Geoff Kait
Machina Dynamica
Advanced Audio Concepts
128x128geoffkait
I have a feeling Geoff is experimenting not with the technical side of sound reproduction, but the perception side. “Listening” to music, at its highest level, is primarily a function of two things:

1. The pressurized waves of air in the room
2. The ears and brain decoding the waves

Geoff’s tweaks are not related to #1. Ties on spouts are not going to change the waves. 
BUT, that’s not to say that ties on spouts or photos in freezers can’t affect factor #2, how those waves are perceived. 
If you expect something to sound better, and you then perceive that it does sound better, then yes it actually DOES sound better! All we have is our own perception, which makes up the entirety of what each of us experiences as “real.” This kind of perception tweak won’t work for everyone...but then again some tweaks to actual components also don’t make an audible difference some of the time for some people. 
This is a different kind of snake oil. If Geoff were making outrageous claims based on science, it would be far more disingenuous. But as it stands, he’s saying “hey do these weird things and then listen to music and LOOK FOR changes,” which is a really good way to alter your end of the function of listening.