Cryo treated wires?


What difference does it make? Has anyone compared the before and after result?
rainchild
While i can't remember who it was, someone here on Agon posted a comparison between three identical cables. One was "stock" and was simply used like any other cable i.e. it was put into a system and a musical signal passed through it. Another cable was "burned" on a cable burner. I think they used a Mobie, but i can't recall for certain. The third cable was cryogenically frozen.

If memory serves me right, this individual felt that both the burned cable and the cryo'd cable were noticeably superior to the "stock" cable in most every aspect. The differences between cryo'ing and "burning" were relatively negligible according to their post. Once again, i'm working off of memory and this was at least a year or two ago.

My personal experience is that there is a very noticeable difference between "stock" cables and cables that have been "burned" on a good burner. I have never had any cryo'd wires in any of my systems nor done comparisons in other systems, so i can't say much about that. Given the very positive effects that i've had with "burning", having a cable cryo'd might simply be another layer of frosting on top of an already good tasting cake. Sean
>
Ohlala; I'll stand by my original post. Please re-read it if it's not clear to you. I was insulted because you impugned my integrity. As to sources for info on cryo treatment, try the A'Gon, AA and other audio site archives. You should actually try some cryo treated products-- you might like them, and outlets are not that expensive relative to many things in the high end.

I appreciate the other posts by Lak, Hdm, Abex, Sugarbrie, Sean, and Tireguy about their observations on cryo treatment. I find myself in good company. Cheers. Craig
I didn't comment on your integrity, just your reasoning.

You know, I could (should!?) buy something cryo'd, but I still couldn't make any conclusions about how cryo affected what I just bought. I would still know what I know now. And yes, I have read (conflicting) audio reviews of cryo, I know some details of the process, but I don't think its reasonable to tell someone what cryo does based on my summation of those reviews, advertisements and my confounded experience. Nothing personal, I just wanted to point out that problem. I hope now my points are now clear to at least some impressionable readers, but I doubt it matters.

"I find myself in good company."
Nice try.
Ohlala: I think that if you follow my suggestion, for $75 you will definitely be able to draw a conclusion with respect to cryo, at least what it is capable of doing to outlets. Buy a stock Hubbell 5362 (a very good sounding receptacle) which will cost you about $15 and at the same time order a cryoed 5362 from Alan Kafton at Audioexcellence for $60. Put the stock receptacle into your system-ideally with a component plugged directly into it (either amplification or digital) and run it for 3 or 4 weeks so that it is completely run in. Then remove it and replace it with the cryoed receptacle, which ideally you would have installed somewhere else to burn in for the same time period. If you can't hear a difference, you're out $75.
I would bet that you'll probably be buying more cryoed receptacles. Either way, you're going to draw a conclusion.
I did an A/B test with cryo treated cables. My buddy and I both had Audio Quest Anaconda interconnects that we purchased at the same time. They were both well broken in with a couple hundred hours of use when we did the first test. We confirmed that we could hear no difference between his cable or my cable when we inserted them in his system.

I sent my cable to Jena Labs to have it cryo treated and played it for about 15 hours before going back to my friend's house for the test. While I thought I could hear improvements in my system, I was only going by memory, so the only valid test was to take my cable back to his system which we used as the constant.

We both thought the difference in sound quality was significant and easily heard. The Cyro'd cable now sounded considerably different than our non-cryo'd cable. It's musical presentation had more "weight' and seemed more natural sounding. There was also a reduction in brightness. The music sounded more coherent and dynamic. We concluded that with this cable and in this application, there was no downside- everything just sounded better.

Based on this, I later had a FIM outlet cryo treated with similar good results. Prior to cryo treating, it sounded very bright, but afterwards it was much better. I recently re-wired my amp with Jena Labs Ultra Wire (also cryo treated), and while I can't say how much of the improvement was due to the cryo'ing, the net effect was huge- the best money I've ever spent in this hobby. So based on my first A/B test with the identical cables, I'm certain the benefits are real. The other two experiences would seem to bear out the benefits in other applications as well, but were not a rigorous test.

BTW, I was extremely nervous about having a set of interconnects cryo treated, but they were returned in perfect conditon, and remain so 9 months later.