Propeller Head Plaza Technical and scientific discussion of amps, cables and other topics.

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Some interesting replies.

Posted by May Belt (M) on April 17, 2007 at 02:50:57

Positive Feedback Online sent questionnaires to quite a number of manufacturers and are beginning to publish the replies - see the current edition online.

I have given below some manufacturers specific replies to the specific questions of Cryogenic treatments and Directionality.

On Cryogenic Treatments.

Ecosse :- "We believe it makes a difference."
Zu:- "Zu is on the fence on cryo of audio cable."
Prana :- "I have yet to experience a negative effect from cryogenic treatment."
Audience :- "Cryogenic treatment of many electric components has been found to result in an improvement of audio and video signal."
Audio Magic :- "We cryo treat all our conductors."
DH Labs :- "There does seem to be something in this."

On Directionality.

Ecosse :- "It is quite noticeable."
Zu :- "All cables we have messed with..... exhibit directionality and signal fidelity."
Audience :- "Directionality is an open question. We have found that cables tend to work better if always used in the same direction."
Audio Magic :- "We primarily mark our cables direction."

Out of interest on the subject of directionality, I have copied below extracts from a magazine article, dated 1983, on Directionality in cables. 24 years ago, the author of this article commented that "a less-than-open-mind is nothing to be proud of, even when confronted with statements which appear to contradict everything one has learnt or been told." And
"The dogmatic approach adopted by some engineers and scientists that a phenomenon can't be held to exist until it can be satisfactorily explained, is obviously unsound."

So, with that in mind, the extracts of the article which follows should make interesting reading !!!!

>>> "I had an interesting conversation with a contributor to (???) some months back. "Isn't it about time" I was asked, "that we organised a test to show that this business about cables being directional is a load of rubbish, dreamed up by unscrupulous con men ?"

To fill in some background for those of you who may not read the down-market hi-fi magazines, a number of hi-fi opinion leaders are claiming that any cable - signal or speaker level, it doesn't matter - will cause the sound to be different connected one way round to the other.
How could a phenomenon like directionality in conductors, therefore, have been missed by researchers all this time ? Surely it is too much to believe that it hid if an engineer bearing measuring equipment approached, but it was only too willing to be heard if carrying a music signal ?
My initial reaction, therefore, to this 'new' fact, was to dismiss it as moonshine. However, a less-than-open-mind is nothing to be proud of, even when confronted with statements which appear to contradict everything one has learnt or been told.

The dogmatic approach adopted by some engineers and scientists that a phenomenon can't be held to exist until it can be satisfactorily explained, is obviously unsound.
I certainly thought it worth looking further into the matter but not with the object of 'proving' it to be rubbish (to carry out an experiment with the object of confirming established dogma is akin to intellectual fascism, I believe).

The actual experiments took place inadvertently on my part. I had been visiting ????? in order to listen to the use of a new low-noise transistor. You can imagine my distress at the end of the session, when ????? showed us that the only difference between A and B was the direction of the 1 m length of interconnect between pre-and power amps !!!

If that audible difference really does exist, what on earth can be the reason for it ? To the best of my knowledge, as long as the copper used is of high purity, without lattice defects or impurities, then the blame cannot be laid at the door of the conductor.

But, what about the insulation ? Before you tell me that the current doesn't flow in the insulation, remember that AC signal flow is NOT synonymous with the movement of electrons; rather, it is analogous to a 'shock wave' travelling via the medium of the moving electrons. Heaviside showed at the end of the last century that, dependent on frequency and due to the conductor's self inductance, this 'shock wave' flows to some extent OUTSIDE the conductor.
Maybe Enid Lumley was right after all ! In the meantime, to paraphrase Bob Dylan, something is going on, and we don't know what it is, do we ? " <<<

Regards,
May Belt.

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