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Cable Lifters - cheap!

73.78.29.94
Posted on October 10, 2016 at 17:19:59
JerryS
Reviewer

Posts: 2026
Joined: February 24, 2001




I have 5 meter runs of audio, power, video, and trigger cables. No one makes anything to handle these multiple cables.

So...

A visit to Hobby Lobby solved my cable lifting needs!

Parts list:
Woodpile dowels, package of 7, .437" x 12" (cut to length)
Woodpile rectangles, package of 8, 2.5" x 3.5" (bases)
Woodpile Large Barrell Spools, package of 20, 3/16" x 7/8"
Wood glue
Total cost: about $17, makes up to 7 or more lifters

Happy listening!

 

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RE: Cable Lifters - cheap!, posted on October 10, 2016 at 18:15:30
Tweaker456
 Real nice. Good work. I made mine as a tripod from doweling and they are easily knocked down. This looks like a better solution. Good post. T

 

Try to avoid......, posted on October 10, 2016 at 19:08:58
Winston Smith
Audiophile

Posts: 1014
Location: PNW (summers) and Southern AZ (winters)
Joined: December 2, 2006
 ....running any of the AC power lines in parallel with any signal conductors. When it comes to power cables and signal wires being 'neighbors', remember what Robert Frost once (kinda sorta) penned:

"Good distance makes good neighbors" (or was that 'fences'?) ;-)

Ninety degree angles are usually suggested as best for intersecting AC lines and signal cables; if not possible, and if they must run parallel, then provide as much separation as you can. You can always put a few tacks in the wall and suspend the AC lines via some cotton strings well above your wooden cable station where the signal wires reside, if you wish.

Anyway, you may also wish to employ cotton balls under/around the cables where they rest on the supports to help reduce vibration and get the cables away from the wooden parts of the supports just a tad, as again, good distance between signal conductors and any unnecessary dielectric means (usually) better sound.

I assume you used non-magnetic screws or other fasteners (if more than just glue was employed to hold it together.) If any magnetic metals were so employed, you may also wish to consider swapping in non-magnetic materials as well. Just a thought.

BTW, I personally use the same 'cable lifter' method Tweaker456 uses, the tripod of wooden dowels, secured by a rubber band a little ways down from the top (which said design was lifted directly from Mapleshade's on-line catalog and successfully copied for under $3 @ "Lowe's"; why pay retail if you can easily DIY for peanuts?)

Otherwise, a very cool tweak for cables, and all costing a song.

A fine post, JerryS!

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers!

WS

 

Excellent! Use some type of exotic wood, package them..., posted on October 10, 2016 at 21:39:21
musetap
Audiophile

Posts: 31872
Location: San Francisco
Joined: July 8, 2003
Contributor
  Since: January 28, 2004
 elegantly and give them a catchy name and you can turn those into EXPENSIVE , audiophile cable lifters!

Smartassedness aside, those are really great and pretty damn ingenious!!!

"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination"-Michael McClure



 

RE: Excellent! Use some type of exotic wood, package them..., posted on October 11, 2016 at 07:05:03
JerryS
Reviewer

Posts: 2026
Joined: February 24, 2001
 Thanks for your kind words. This was really a problem looking for a solution when I went to Hobby Lobby. I didn't have the materials or design in mind when entering the store. But when I saw those "thread spools", the design became obvious.

I showed a picture of these to a dealer at RMAF last weekend to see if there was any potential to turn this into an actual, marketable product. The response was not very enthusiastic. And with the production (labor) time, packaging, and marketing costs, they obviously wouldn't be selling for $17 for a set of 7!

Happy listening!

Regards,
JerryS

 

RE: Try to avoid......, posted on October 11, 2016 at 07:14:25
JerryS
Reviewer

Posts: 2026
Joined: February 24, 2001
 Hi Winston,
Thanks for your suggestions. There are no screws, just wood and glue. If you look closely at the taller supports, the lowest cable support is spaced farther apart than the upper supports. This is to keep power cables farther away from signal cables. Of course, anyone making these is free to "go nuts" and make the spacing anything he or she might want.

I think the weak link is the junction of the dowel and base, where there is just glue. But as long as there is little side load, just the vertical weight of the cables, it should be strong enough. Reinforcing this area, maybe with 2 small wood triangles at 45 degree angles, glued to the base and dowel, would be a simple solution.

Happy listening!

Regards,
JerryS

 

RE: Cable Lifters - cheap!, posted on October 11, 2016 at 10:13:14
Mike B.
Audiophile

Posts: 26352
Location: OR
Joined: September 27, 1999
Contributor
  Since: September 1, 1999
 Very cleaver. I second Smith's comments about power cables and signal cables.


 

RE: Cable Lifters - cheap!, posted on October 11, 2016 at 14:39:59
WntrMute2
Audiophile

Posts: 782
Location: Detroit
Joined: September 16, 2002
 Not to take anything away from the OPs creation. I bought a package of rebar "chairs" from Home Depot. Cheap at $22.00 for 40 and nicely secures the speaker cables.

 

Nice!, posted on October 12, 2016 at 08:14:06
Awe-d-o-file
Dealer

Posts: 21037
Location: 50 miles west of DC
Joined: January 10, 2004
 Would you speak to sonic benefit if any.


ET

"If at first you don't succeed, keep on sucking till you do suck seed" - Curly Howard 1936

 

Sonic benifit, posted on October 13, 2016 at 07:10:08
Tweaker456
"Laying speaker cables, interconnects, and AC power cords on an artificial fiber carpet will immediately dull the sound of your stereo. And that's true for all makes and models, not just Clearview cables. Unfortunately, the carpet is a huge mass of low quality insulation (dielectric). It absorbs and smears energy from the several foot wide field around every wire. The effect is pretty grim, making music sound both dulled and harsh. A simple, ear-tested solution is to raise the cables off the carpet by at least 8 inches. That's exactly what our good-looking maple Triad (designed by Marcia Bauman) does." Mapleshade. Sound is improved off other types of flooring also. Tweaker

 

RE: Nice!, posted on October 13, 2016 at 08:17:27
JerryS
Reviewer

Posts: 2026
Joined: February 24, 2001
 The soundstage is noticeably deeper and more specific and the upper frequencies are more open and clearer/cleaner.

The lifters didn't transform my system, but they are a worthwhile upgrade.

 

RE: Cable Lifters - cheap!, posted on October 13, 2016 at 08:24:37
JerryS
Reviewer

Posts: 2026
Joined: February 24, 2001
 Very cool! Thanks for posting this.

I was in Lowes yesterday getting a sheet of 1/8" cork ($8) to make a turntable platter mat. The 2x4 foot sheet will make several mats. It's amazing - like your suggestion - what we can find that is very useful for audio.

Happy listening!

Kind Regards,
Jerry

 

RE: Cable Lifters - cheaper still!, posted on October 13, 2016 at 13:20:52
Basslines
Audiophile

Posts: 373
Location: The Great White North
Joined: October 22, 2003

Do you have an Ikea nearby? Try these. 49¢ each. Need more height? They stack!

 

Nice!!, posted on October 13, 2016 at 14:38:39
dee eye why
Audiophile

Posts: 1148
Location: so. ohio
Joined: March 20, 2003
 Ikea is chock full of things useful for audio tweaks.

.
Freak out...Far out...In out....

 

RE: Cable Lifters - cheap!, posted on October 14, 2016 at 04:58:45
SgreenP@MSN.com
Audiophile

Posts: 3537
Joined: April 23, 2007
 Have never heard a difference with or without cable lifters...

 

RE: Cable Lifters - cheaper still!, posted on October 14, 2016 at 08:06:25
Crazy Dave
Audiophile

Posts: 14371
Location: East Coast
Joined: October 4, 2001
 At that price, I think I will give them a try.

Dave

 

RE: Nice!, posted on October 14, 2016 at 14:41:04
bcowen
Audiophile

Posts: 1076
Location: North Carolina
Joined: December 19, 2015
My system from a long time ago. Getting the cables off the carpet made a very noticeable difference in the same areas Jerry notes.

I'm on a hardwood floor now and I can't tell any difference with or without them. Different room and components (many of lower caliber) so a lot of variables, but I think the lack of carpet is the main thing at play.




 

RE: Nice speakers...., posted on October 14, 2016 at 20:42:06
alan m. kafton
Manufacturer

Posts: 5285
Joined: April 7, 2000
 Were those Coincident's?

 

RE: Nice speakers...., posted on October 15, 2016 at 05:46:07
bcowen
Audiophile

Posts: 1076
Location: North Carolina
Joined: December 19, 2015
 Good memory, Alan! Yes, those were the Coincident Total Eclipses, probably the most favorite speakers I've owned. Wish I still had them (I stupidly sold them to "upgrade"), although my current listening room wouldn't be an optimal environment. Perhaps if I knocked out a few walls....

 

RE: Cable Lifters - cheap!, posted on November 29, 2016 at 17:42:00
MRMB
Audiophile

Posts: 130
Location: Midwest
Joined: August 16, 2001
 For years, I've used hardware store purchased glass blocks - the ones used to construct windows. Never done an A/B comparison, but at the very least, they take the strain off cables running between components....
-Mike

 

Remind me to build something to hide cables, posted on November 29, 2016 at 21:59:13
jedrider
Audiophile

Posts: 15166
Location: No. California
Joined: December 26, 2003
 next time I assemble a Hi-Fi system. I really don't see the attractiveness of a bunch of wires, even if they are spaced out with lifters.

 

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