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Can I get some feedback on the tweak where you speaker cables are set on top of some contraption so as to have them off the floor. Does this really work and have an effect or is it just myth?
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The risers do make the cables vacuum cleaner proof, as long as they themselves are vacuum cleaner proof. I bought 8 of those ceramic black and gray ones on line years ago. Not super cheap but not bad with a quantity purchase. They are upgrade proof and pretty much indestructible, should last forever. So it was a good enough investment.
I first tried raising the cables off the carpet by raiding my crockery cupboard and using some upturned small ramekins.
I played some music and after about fifteen minutes decided that there really wasn't any change to the sound. So I removed the ramekins. That made me realise that the sound had in fact been improved ( more open, more 3D and improved bass clarity) and I immediately replaced the cable supports.
Move forward several years. I had some work done at my place which necessitated tearing down my whole system. Two months later the work was complete and I could put my system back. For visual aesthetics I thought that I need not worry about raising the cables and just left them on the carpet. After a day or so I just couldn't stand how flat the sound was and had to put back the cable supports. By now I had changed the make do ramekins to some little grooved myrtle wood blocks from Cardas. I cannot say they were sonically any better than the old ramekins but they certainly looked a lot better.
BTW as I use active loudspeakers the cables were (are) long interconnects, not loudspeaker cables.
After much research, I went to a local lumber yard and had them cut a six inch wide maple board into the eight sections I needed for my speaker cables. You want density and maple is one of the hardest woods readily available.
I have carpet over god knows what. Comparing the cables on the carpet to being raised on the blocks, the sound went from slightly muffled and compressed to much more open, detailed and natural.
Your mileage may vary.
I made mine out of fence insulators, and square end caps for wooden fence posts.
For some I bought these round precut 2in high by 2.5 or2.75in diameter wood plugs. They are plugs or??? Anyway they precut and cheap.
I screwed on the threaded part of the insulator so it is flush onthe bottom. I then glued one insulator onto tbe round plug, and the plug to fence cap, others I glued two onto for ICs. They have a slot that is good for speaker cables and the other way you can slip in IC into it and holds it in place. The idea of using the spacers allows the speaker cables to be up higher than the ICs, so they can crossover without touching. If you don't like these, hardware stores will have an assortment of insulators.
I am linking to Amazon, but I got everything I needed at Home Depot. They are yellow so you can see them, but they look decent. The commercial cable platforms are pricey and some are quite flimsy. They probably wouldn't work with firehose sized cables, but my AQ Rocket 88s and my average size ICs fit perfectly.
Sure they look like doo doo. But free is free.
If that works then spend a few bucks.
If not save your money.
I would say yeah, It works a bit.
I like the wood dowels myself.
Absolutely no change...better/worse/different.
I heard a definite and unmistakable improvement in my last listening room (carpet on concrete slab), but very little if anything in my new room (hardwood on suspended floor).
Very easy to try -- just stick some empty boxes, styrofoam cups, etc. under your cables enough to get them evenly suspended off the floor, and see if you hear a difference. If so, look for something a little more elegant and decor-friendly to replace the temporary stuff.
I feel it's a benefit no matter what kind of floor you have. Carpet can convey a static charge, hardwood will vibrate/resonate and carpet over a plywood subfloor will combine the two. I have used 4" pvc unions with the large side down and notches cut in the top for the cable to lay in - ok, scrap pieces of 2x4 with notches - different and ceramic cable elevators that are available for $100.00-$150.00/8 and these to me make the most difference. IMHO no cables (shielded or unshielded) should be laying on the floor as only bad things can happen.
My understanding is that it is only a benefit on carpeted floors.
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Freak out...Far out...In out....
Mostly myth, IME. I tried various off-the-floor approaches and the main things I remember are tripping over the speaker cables and, one time, pulling the amp off its stand. Scary stuff. I fully respect the experts who say it matters and assume I just haven't yet found the magic key, or something. Or the improvement isn't something that matters to me. In any event, I've given up on this one.
Pulling the amp off its stand could definitely make a difference in the sound of you system, but not necessarily a positive one.
Dave
It ain't no myth. A suggestion would be go to Home Depot... and get 1/4 in wood doweling and 5/8 inch nuts to hold it together. Make a tripod with 11 or 12" long doweling. Try it out in the store to make sure it works. T
I just copied Mapleshade's approach and rubber-banded a trio of equal length cheap-as-hell dowel rods (the wooden rods I used are 3/8" to 1/4" diameter, 16" long or so.)
Go to Mapleshade's website and simply copy their approach and save big time. I did. It worked fine. Cheap as hell, too (and you gotta love that!) :-)
Remember: your flooring is just as much a dielectric absorber/releaser of energy as the actual constituent parts of the cable itself, and by elevating, you get the signal away from the distortions that such a massive amount of dielectric all along the cable's length imparts to the sound.
The better your system and ears, the more this tweak will do for your sound and enjoyment.
I didn't believe it either....... until I tried it.
I use these. Thirty pieces for twenty bucks at Home Depot. Cheap enough I just bought a box and used them whether or not they make any difference. They do at least keep me from stepping on them over and over. They are called rebar chairs and come in dozens of types and styles. There are wire ones as well for those against using plastic.
Edits: 06/17/16
These would be good too, if you could get a smaller quantity see link.
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