Originally posted by wadia-miester
, I for got to take them off the cooker & the had 12 hours more than I would normaly give them, the result, dull/lifeless & closed in stage and very curtailed top end

How do you rectify that !?!
Originally posted by wadia-miester
, I for got to take them off the cooker & the had 12 hours more than I would normaly give them, the result, dull/lifeless & closed in stage and very curtailed top end
Originally posted by Gambit
Yes, thats the stuff. However, just because it's a insulator doesn't mean enegry tranfer can't happen. Hit a block of Teflon with a bolt of lightning and it doesn't bouce off because it's non conducting, it melts the bastard - Energy transfer. Tiny, very quick enegry tranfer is possible, or so I'm lead to believe. Yes, I could be and probably are, well out on this one.
Originally posted by voodoo
Nobody mention 'Skin Effect' !
:duck:
Originally posted by joel
Yes. They suck the reason from unsuspecting mortal brains. Beware of really thick cables, cos that's what they'll make you. Really thick![]()
Originally posted by tones
Remember that a bolt of lightning is about a zillion volts, and it can force anything to become a conductor, often demolishing it on the way - which is why they fit lightning conductors to church spires. At the sort of voltages we're talking about, there'd be no melting, only slight softening at most, and in the case of PTFE, no change in structure whatsoever - the reason for the choice of PTFE is because it's so stable and inert (which is why fluorinated hydrocarbons are making such a mess of the ozone layer). Sorry, Gambit, the energy transfer argument just doesn't wash. And what if there was "tiny, very quick energy transfer"? The electricity will still not conduct through the coating but through the preferential path of the conducting wire.
Originally posted by joel
Yes. They suck the reason from unsuspecting mortal brains. Beware of really thick cables, cos that's what they'll make you. Really thick.
Originally posted by tones
Better put this on the Shunyata (or whatever it's called) thread...
The electrical behavior of the dielectric (insulating material) is much more important in low level cables. Dielectric involvement (the way in which a particular material absorbs and releases energy), has a profound effect on an audio or video signal. Dielectric constant, the most often quoted specification for insulating material, is actually not very helpful in understanding the audible attributes of different materials. The coefficient of absorption value is more relevant, and the dissipation factor and the velocity of propagation are even more useful.
The problem is that any insulating material next to a conductor acts like a capacitor which stores and later releases energy. This is true of circuit board materials, cables, resistors and of course capacitors. The ideal wire is one with no insulation except for air. When a solid material must be applied, it should be electrically invisible, meaning that the less energy it absorbs, the better. The energy which is absorbed should stay absorbed (turned into heat, a high dissipation factor), and the energy which does come back into the metal conductor should have minimal phase shift and not be frequency selective (a high velocity of propagation, independent of frequency). All dielectrics absorb more energy at higher frequencies, but some are more linear in their overall behavior relative to frequency.
The most commonly used insulations are PVC, polyethylene, polypropylene and Teflon. These can be mixed with air (foamed) or applied in ways which maximize the amount of air around the metal strands. Which material is used and how it is applied will dramatically affect the performance of a low-level cable.
Capacitance is more important in low-level than high-level cables for two reasons. If a long, "over the cliff" high capacitance cable is used, many preamplifiers, CD players, tuners, surround processors, etc., will not be able to "drive" the cable. The resulting distortion does not happen within the cable, but is caused by using the cable. There is never a disadvantage to using low capacitance low-level cables.
The other important reason for low capacitance is that high capacitance causes greater field strength between the positive and negative conductors (and the shield). This means more energy is put into the dielectric material. There is always a priority to minimize dielectric involvement, through proper selection of materials and low capacitance design.
Running-In: As with all audio components, audio cables require an adjustment period. This is often mistakenly referred to as "break-in". However, break-in is properly used to describe a mechanical change-engines break-in, loudspeaker and phono cartridge suspensions break-in. A cable's performance takes time to optimize because of the way a dielectric behaves (the way the insulating material absorbs and releases energy), changes in the presence of a charge. Cables will continue to improve in sound or picture quality over a period of several weeks. This is the same reason amplifiers, preamplifiers and CD players also require an adjustment period. The key difference between "adjusting" and "breaking-in" is that things don't "un-break-in", however, electrical components do "un-adjust". Several weeks of disuse will return a cable to nearly its original state.
The run-in time is essentially the same for all cables. However, the apparent need for run-in varies wildly. As with amplifiers and other components, the better the cable, the less distortion it has, and therefore the less there is to cover up the obnoxious distortion caused by being new. Since human perception is more aware of the existence of a distortion than the quantity, the better the cable, the worse in some ways it will sound when new, because the anemic forced two-dimensional effect reulting from being new will not be ameliorated by other gentler distortions. Please be patient when first listening to any superior product
Originally posted by penance
but skin effect is a known electrical phenomena
Originally posted by stebbo
is slightly off topic whilst discusing burn/break in
Originally posted by notaclue
Or will it be only silly things like coating the top of CD players with custard* that everyone will agree has no audible benefit?
* Not that I know of anyone who does claim this.
Originally posted by MartinC
I wonder if custard might act to damp the casework.
Originally posted by cookiemonster
so long as its not lumpy.
Originally posted by cookiemonster
Does it give one pleasure deconstructing the universe, or is it merely an instinctive, unalterable life force? I can't claim to doubt that these things are so nicely packaged, like a wooden ship in a glass bottle, firm, unalterable, and magical..... but really.....do you feel more alive to the sound of music as a consequence of this knowledge?
Originally posted by penance
but skin effect is a known electrical phenomena
Originally posted by Gambit
Found it on the AudioQuest site.