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re: will freezing improve sound?

Posted by cheap-Jack (M) on January 20, 2004 at 09:24:42

Hi for whoever interested.

I read a thread here last week inquiring if freezing a cap would degrade its sound. IMO, it is a pretty interesting subject which was discussed a lot in Cable Asylum last year. Let me round it up here.

Yes, deep freezing treatment does improve sound. Years back, I did DIY deep freezing (-30C in my basement freezer), to my silver interconnects, silver power cords, Teflon jacketed silver plated oxygen-free copper hook-up wires, tubes, caps, even my CLC line-filter chasis-mount power inlets, etc. I find their sonics are improved, period.

Deep freezing treatment to metals has been a bigtime business for decades, in automobile, power transmission, telecom, aerospace, etc,
to improve their performance. 3M, for example, established superconductivity in high purity aluminum in its deep freezing process.

The proper terminolgoy of this industrial deep-freezing process is: cryogenics. It involves deep freezing down to -190C (=-310F), in a strictly (computerized) controlled environment. Improper implementation of the process will result physical damage to the material being treated due to thermal shocks.

There are many labs that carry out cryo-treatments to audio parts, components for the public, e.g. Jena Lab, Advanced Cryogenics, CryoPro, in USA, & Frozen Solid DCT, Cryogenics Services
in the U.K., etc. The process normally takes a few days (ramping
down in say, 12 hours or more, deep-freezing for say, 24 horus, & then
ramping up for some 16 hours or so to ambient temps, depending on the process) & costs as low as USD10 a lb of material. Pretty affordable, isn't it?

Why deep-freezing improves sound? Most solid materials are made from
its liquid form through a shocking process. This process results the solid structure in a very irregular & irratic lattice, quite different
from its orginal natural lattice layout. It is this deviation exerting the unwanted 'residual stress' across the lattice structure. In simple layman's language, the molecules are 'dislocated'.

By deep freezing the material in a PROPER-run procedure, the 'residual
stress' will be relieved (ie the 'stress' on the atomic bonds is dissipated) & the material will return to its orginal natural molecular layout. No more dislocation of its microstructure.
It provides much better flow of electronics across the conductor's
molecules, thus improving sound.

Trumpets & other brass musical instruments have been found sound
better after cryo-ing. So do pianos & guitars with their metal
strings so treated.

It sounds like magic! It also improves sound of a vacuum valve (or tube). How? The deep-freezing eliminates the residual molecular stress in the metals used to build the tube, & cut down the Q resonances which inherently 'live' inside the tube.

We have heard "fancy" claims that cryo-ing or even deep-freezing will
better the music recorded in a CD! Unbelievable sales pitch or what?
No, there is some scientifc explanations.

Enechoic sonic measurement shows the focus servo current of the
CD player under test peaks bigtime at around 800Hz, causing the CD
resonates with it. Deep-freezing or cryo-ing will NOT shift away
the resonance frequency, but damp down the Q resonanes. Lab tests
show damping materials help to some extent, but NOT as effective as cryogenics.

It has been "insiders' secrets" for years that quite some audio component/equipment makers, including speaker builders, have their electronic parts, & hardwares etc. cryoed before assembly.

IMO, cryo or deep-freeze help improve sounds.

Good deep-freeze listening

cheap-Jack
Jan 20, 2004.

PS: I'll present my DIY deep-freeze report, plus some DIY LN2 cryo
experiences of others, on request.

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