Jim Mauro
September 1st 03, 05:00 PM
This is a spinoff of the toslink thread, and $1200 speaker cable
thread, that had me thinking about my 2 current rants in high-end
audio; AC Power Cables (and plugs), and cable elevators for speaker
cables.
Cable elevators? Here's cut from a WEB retailer that sells a set of
8 for $159:
"By elevating the cables off of your floor, you eliminate static
build- up and lower cable capacitance. The net effect is a lower
noise floor and increased dynamics as well as removing haze from
the midrange opening up the top octaves for better extension and
expanding the overall depth and width of the soundstage."
That all sounds peachy, but knowing what I know about capacitance
and static charges, I'm at a loss to understand why this should work
at all, or improve sound quality. I'm taking about the typical
listening room/family room/rec room - not someone that decided to
install an expensive sound system in a room directly above large
power generators or somesuch...
On the AC Power cable front, sure, clean AC power is important,
especially for the preamp level equipment. But many of the reviews
I've read install the cable in the power amp, which strikes me as
odd because all high-end amps invest a lot of circuitry and electronics
in re-generating the AC before feeding the power supply. Why on earth
would a Levinson, Krell, Halcro, etc, amp benefit from a better
AC cord when the AC is getting cleaned, purified and perfected inside
the amp before it's used to drive the DC supply?
Random thoughts on the Sunday night...
/jim
thread, that had me thinking about my 2 current rants in high-end
audio; AC Power Cables (and plugs), and cable elevators for speaker
cables.
Cable elevators? Here's cut from a WEB retailer that sells a set of
8 for $159:
"By elevating the cables off of your floor, you eliminate static
build- up and lower cable capacitance. The net effect is a lower
noise floor and increased dynamics as well as removing haze from
the midrange opening up the top octaves for better extension and
expanding the overall depth and width of the soundstage."
That all sounds peachy, but knowing what I know about capacitance
and static charges, I'm at a loss to understand why this should work
at all, or improve sound quality. I'm taking about the typical
listening room/family room/rec room - not someone that decided to
install an expensive sound system in a room directly above large
power generators or somesuch...
On the AC Power cable front, sure, clean AC power is important,
especially for the preamp level equipment. But many of the reviews
I've read install the cable in the power amp, which strikes me as
odd because all high-end amps invest a lot of circuitry and electronics
in re-generating the AC before feeding the power supply. Why on earth
would a Levinson, Krell, Halcro, etc, amp benefit from a better
AC cord when the AC is getting cleaned, purified and perfected inside
the amp before it's used to drive the DC supply?
Random thoughts on the Sunday night...
/jim