Cable elevators - conventional wisdom wrong?


Reluctant to put any considerable money in them, the reasons for using cable elevators seemed intuitively correct to me: decouple cables mechanically from vibration and insulate them from the carpet's static. I have therefore built cheap elevators myself using Lego building blocks. (Plastic with a more or less complex internal structure; moreover, there is enormous shaping flexibility, for instance you can also build gates with suspended strings on which to rest the cables)
In their advertisement/report on the Dark Field elevators, Shunyata now claim that conventional elevators are actually (very?) detrimental in that they enable a strong static field to build up between cable and floor causing signal degradation.
Can anyone with more technical knowledge than I have assess how serious the described effect is likely to be? Would there, theoretically, be less distortion with cables lying on the floor? Has anyone actually experienced this?
karelfd

Showing 5 responses by ted_d

Ozzy,
The porcelain cable risers (nice looking- whitish base and brown top) are actually high voltage line insulators and as such they are brilliant. As a cable riser they are out of place due to the brown top- this is actually an iron ferrite glaze which in its intended role, acts as a conductive surface so that high voltage uninsulated wires do not spark when they come in contact with the insulator (in the old days when insulators were made out of either bear porcelain or glass they did spark). However when a speaker cable comes in contact with the iron ferrite glaze it creates an electromagnetic "bump in the road" that manifests itself as a thickening of the mid-range, loss of low frequency control, and a loss of air and slight compression of the sound stage when compared to either wood or Plexiglas cable risers.

Ideally you should look for a speaker cable riser that does not conduct electricity. If you live in an area that has a lot of static electricity, take a very thin wire and some electrical tape, give your speaker cables a few wraps with the thin copper wire (bare 28 gauge and not more then one or two wraps), and secure with electrical tape. Now place the bare wire in contact with ground- this will give your speaker cables a electrostatic drain without the detrimental effect of draping your cables over a conductive medium.

A good zero cost way for people to experiment with cable risers is to take 8 CD jewel cases (empty- CD's contain a metallic disk- usually aluminium) laying your CD cases in a "V" pattern on the floor 4 per 8ft speaker cable run. Now lay your speaker cables atop your CD case risers being careful to position the risers below each speaker cable in such a say as to allow the speaker cable to lay the way it wants to- not forcing it into a position if possible- this too will improve sound. Many people are surprised at the clarity and control this imparts to their speaker cables and best of all, its a free experiment.

Yours in music,
Ted Denney Lead Designer Synergistic Research Inc.
Dave,
It would be interesting if you could compare and report back on the Dark Fields to simple CD cases used cable elevators as outlined here:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?fcabl&1215950921&openflup&23&4#23

Yours in music,
Ted Denney III
Lead Designer, Synergistic Research Inc.
Joeyboynj,
I totally agree about the aesthetics. The suggestion to try CD cases is only for proof of concept for people who doubt that cable risers can make a difference- it costs nothing and also serves as a means to try a polycarbonate cable riser against other materials. Different materials have different signatures and this can serve to fine tune the balance of a well set up system.

Karelfd,
WOW- those are sexy cable risers! I'll get a set for my home system as I'm looking for cable risers that compliment the modern decor of my home- thanks!

Yours in music,
Ted Denney III
Lead Designer, Synergistic Research Inc.
PS. I have also had good luck with risers made from hard wood and MDF.

Yours in music,
Ted Denney III
Lead Designer, Synergistic Research III
Joeyboynj,
Splashkin's suggestion will work just fine. You may also want to simply lay your CD cases on their sides making the letter "V" (non tee pee, stable, and uniform height). Now simply lay your cables with at least 4 CD cases per 8ft run being careful not to let your speaker cables sag between CD cases while allowing them to orient themselves in such a way as to not force them into a position they do not naturally lie.

Yours in music,
Ted Denney III
Lead Designer, Synergistic Research Inc.