"Best" cable elevators?

I am a big fan of elevated cables, it creates instantly a quieter noise floor and a slightly blacker background. Though I have found out that with the more expensive cables it is less noticeable- but still there. I have used a number of different forms of elevators and they don't really seem to have a different sonic signature- I have used everything from plastic cups, coat hangers, pots, sticks(which is my favorite, more on that later...) stuffed animals, and fishing line hung from ceiling. I have found it is less import how you do and more important that you do it! Don't go out and waste hundreds of dollars on some ceramic elevator! I like the 3 stick method the best, they look nice(as nice as a cable elevator can look I suppose). Go to your local hardware store and by a number of short wooden dowels(3/8" or so should do it) you will need some form of rope as well. Make a small teepee(out of 3 dowels) but have the 3 sticks intersect about three quarters of the way up and you will now see a larger base and an area to rest your cables, tie the teepee together so it is solid and will not fall apart(that may take a little practice to get the hang of- this is where years of boy scout training will come in handy). Make as many teepee's as you need and put them where ever your cables need them to be, if you need a larger one make it larger, if you need something for big cables, get larger dowels, though I wouldn't go too crazy in either respect. Getting your cables 6 inches off the ground is MORE then enough. The idea is really very simple and it lowers the noise floor by increasing the surface area of air dielectric the cables see- it allows the electric field around a cable to be even and a few inches is near infinity in the cable world. The field itself- in theory- never dissapears, how ever a few inches of air dielectric is more then enough to allow an even field around your cables. I wouldn't recommend being too careful with your power cords though, they cancel out each other's noise by crossing each other's fields- so bunch them together! And of course keep your speaker cables, interconnects and power cords seperate and if they cross make sure they cross at as close to a 90 degree intersection as posible. This is cables 101 by my standards, so don't go crazy, just get those speaker cables elevated!

Tireguy is right on the money. They work great. If you need to support multiple cables try a 6"x12"x1/2" wood platform with two 3/4"x3/4"x6" wood extensions attached to the ends of the platform. Tie cotton string between the two poles and use that to suspend the cables. I use a short length of surgical tubing between the string and the pole for vibration damping on the ones I make. Try tireguy's idea. It works great but if this is not something you want to do let me know and I will make you some. Happy Listening! John

The good thing about this tweak is you can make some cheap ones to try in your system before you really spend any money, also you can add/remove cable elevators without disconncting anything so pretty easy to compare.

I know some people hear claim they hear difference, but I have had 2-3 people over and we tried several times with and without elevators and no one could hear any real difference, so I don't use them.

Some cables may be more effected than others, but I would experiment before spending any money on elevators.

Tireguy's teepee idea with wood dowels would be very easy and inexpensive to make. If you check Mapleshade Records site they have some "teepee" cable lifts for sale........another advocate for cable lifts.

Tim is right on, I have done the same thing at a fraction of the Mapleshade price. The only differnce between our teepee's is I used a ball between the three legs to build a common size. While the legs of the teepee were held securely I used wood glue to bond them together.
I use these tepee's to hold up my five meter pair of ICs too. They have worked very well but the initial setup can be tedious if you have heavier cables. My new Purist Museaus speaker cable is very heavy and give the stands a run for their money.
If I had it to do over again I would try using a short (1") section of shrink wrap placed over the form. It is easy to use and the small cup could help hold more glue where it is needed.
Good luck, and remember if you try it, this is a cheap tweek so don't get dicouraged if a couple of the tepee's break. Have fun!