I didn't order one, and I have no experience with anything cryo'ed, but how did all of you who ordered and installed these find the results to be? |
Swampy, if it were me, I'd install just one of the wall outlets at first, so as to be able to make A/B comparsions between the regular outlet and the audiophile-approved one, before going whole hog and installing all of them. But that's just the sort of guy I am. :-) |
Maxgain: Of course, the true valid comparision would be to A/B two of the identical, brand new outlets, one cryo'ed and the other not, but this is unlikely to occur in many systems. While I don't take your enthusiasm or results lightly, even if I were to install one of these myself and had the same reaction you do, I would still wonder whether what I thought I heard could be due, at least in part, either to the mere fact that the outlet was new and newly installed (presumably any better quality new outlet might possess an advantage over an older - and therefore more oxidized - lesser quality outlet, and the installation process would probably expose freshly-bared wire ends for the in-wall connection), and/or the psychological expectation level inherent in the doing of all the work, combined with the unavoidable time delay involved. Still, I acknowledge that if, in the end, the listener is convinced something sounds better and they've gotten their money's worth, then it doesn't really matter about trying to test the change in some relatively objective way in order to help verify and quantify the difference (unless, that is, you are a listener like me, who is more comfortable psychologically in the long run if I can figure out a way to "prove" things to myself before declaring myself satisfied with what I've done). Nevertheless, I remain interested in knowing whether anybody actually has performed a real-time, side-by-side comparo between two otherwise identical outlets installed at the time, one cryo'ed and one not (or an equivalently rigorous test involving any catagory of cryo'ed part). |
If cryo is really da bomb like you and others feel, I wonder when it will be that the first manufacturer goes to the trouble and expense of cryogenically treating every single internal part and piece of wire in a component that the treatment can be safely applied to? How about voice coils?
I'm not here to rain on anybody's cryo'ing game. As I alluded to above Maxgain, I've no doubt that for the results you perceive yourself to have gotten, this was the best bargain of your audiophile life. One thing that you should know about me, is that I treat enjoying these discussions and enjoying my system as two different things. My system will always be flawed, but hopefully the arguments I put forth here will be less so. All I'm wondering is how can you attribute with surity a large part of the difference you hear to the cryogenic treatment itself? Again, I grant you that the point tends to matter more in theory and on the page than it will in the listening room.
There is however a practical reason I even care about asking: I am definitely a good candidate for improved outlets at the very least, but knowing myself, I will feel silly getting them cryo-dipped (however inexpensively) unless I actually have a prior reason to believe that it will make my system sound better than it would have otherwise. (Hell, I'm not even sure about just the premium replacement outlet thing itself, never mind cryo'ing, but the duplex I'm using now is a 45-year-old 2-pronger with an adaptor stuck in it, so I can certainly justify doing something!) Anyway, I am open to leaps of faith as long as they're based on something reasonable, and thanks for the encouragement. :-) |
Sorry, Maxgain - you misundertake me, though. The debate isn't for 'winning', but maybe that's why you don't get off as much on just the having of it as I do. That's cool. (And I realized your mistake was surely a typo, it just happened to be a particularly unfortunate one, given the pronunciation of my username!) Of course I have the money to spend on an outlet, but that's not the point. What I don't have is the money to spend on every possible tweak or improvement that comes down the line (as I'm sure few of us do) - but even more importantly, I like to direct my energies (and monies) based on my own thinking. I do not have a closed mind toward cryo (like I did toward say, little wooden disks), I'm just a tough nut is all. Thanks for the link, I'll check it out. |
Very sharp deduction about what my Mom used to say (may she rest in peace). Since your right brain is perceptive enough to figure that one out, do me a favor and tilt your gray matter to left for a sec, just enough to realize that cryo'ing could only increase a metal's density if it simultaneously reduced its volume ('cause it sure ain't gonna increase its mass! :-)
(Actually, that very phenomenon is certain to take place *when* the metal is immersed in the cryo-dip, since the relative lack of heat energy causes the metal to contract in volume - the constant mass therefore becoming more dense - but that condition won't persist as it warms back up to room temperature, as you can verify be the fact that your plug still fits into the unshrunken receptacle.)
Regardless though, it's not really *how* cryo'ing may work that I'm harping on (I've always considered myself to be a proponent of not letting arrogance dictate that we demand to 'explain' everything we hear, else declaring important subtleties 'imaginary' if we can't), but rather just to pause long enough to do a self-check that it *is* the cryo'ing making whatever difference we might find in this case.
Remember what I said about my enjoying the debate separately from enjoying the music. In fact, I would say it's you right brain types (and BTW, please know that I don't really buy into the right brain/left brain dichotomy deal either, and hereby reserve my perogative to be both-brained!) who actually have it harder - that is, when it comes to reveling in the forums! Thanks for playing along anyway... |
Not 'not holding your own', Laxbrain, not enjoying it as much! (Spell mine right, I'll spell yours right :-)
Info would be great, answers are great, questions are even better. Direct away, with my thanks. |
Hdm, you make an offer I can't refuse (unless the shipping costs more than the outlet is worth!). Thanks, and I'll email you later so we can take it offline. |
Thanks Drubin and Hdm, this thread needed that. (Lak, don't worry. I think.)
Easy there Maxgain my friend, you win, I surrender. If and when I do try a cryo'ed outlet (or anything cryo'ed, I suppose), and I get the kind of result you are raving about, *and* I can determine that it was the cryo treatment that deserves the credit, I will most assuredly return to this thread and bow before you. (I have to warn you though, I have had new *amps* not make *that* much improvement in my system!) Now, how about a nice steamy cup'o Ovaltine and we kick back and chill?
(Hdm - so you'll be cryo'ing that outlet for me, right? :-) |
Thanks, and don't take it personally Maxgain - I resist everything! Back to you, Swampwalker, over & out. |
