Very curious. Electrostatic fields are a real thing and from a cursory reading I don’t think the insulators and dielectric materials around the cables change what happens within conductors in the presence of that small static field from the batteries.
The question is what impact would that have on signal propagation and consequently sound quality. This all reminds me of tinkerers and inventors from centuries ago just curiously poking at things to see what might happen. It’s delightful and mostly harmless and potentially illuminating.
Having not tried it I would think effect is likely present since the battery location is similar to 3M RF absorber locations i found optimize power cables
Is it 1% gold or more? I’ve only ever seen that much gold used.
Very interested to know more about your interconnects if the gold content exceeds 1%
(You said “gold” before “silver” so that piqued my interest)
The HALO interconnects use 4 nines 24k Gold and 7 nines pure Silver.
There are (2) HOT conductors used. One is a proprietary Gold alloy conductor .The 2nd conductor is 99.99 solid 24K Gold. The return is Gold Alloy conductor featuring a nominal composition percent 50% 99.999 24k Gold and 50% 99.999 Silver.
I read through all the posts on Audiogon and there were quite a few people who said it made a noticeable improvement to their systems. Considering how easy it is to try this tweak, I plan on doing so, and will report back my findings.
I give little to no credence to those who are speculating that this tweak has no merit based on what you think you know, and find the condescending comments rather rude.
Thanks for being someone who will actually try a tweak (regardless of how weird it may seem to someone else) and report back with your findings. I’m always more inclined to try it myself after reading a second person’s opinion of it.
Interesting…
Maybe I’ll have to seek those out. I’d like to construct DIY interconnects with 24k gold conductors but unfortunately such wire isn’t really available. Might be, but really hard to find in bulk length unless buying a shipload.
I am thoroughly confused. This reads like satire: “my IC’s are made of PURE GOLD and SILVER.” Also, the sarcastic bread ties comment by @christophervalle was spot on. Yet some active and long time forum member rush instantly to defend @mark-d against other’s claims that he is in jest. Can we get @mark-d on record if he is seriously suggesting the battery tweak with a certain orientation and voltage level or if this is (hopefully) a satire?
If serious, maybe I should revive my post on upgrading my PS Audio Shipping boxes for better sound and get offended if people accuse me of being a clown.
Tom, the suggestion to place batteries on your interconnects seems sincere, despite it lacking even the vaguest hint of an explanation as to why or how it might do anything. But there’s room for some grace here… nobody is being conned out of any actual money and it seems like a completely harmless amusement to me.
There’s even the tiniest possibility there’s something to be discovered. Like I wrote earlier, there is a static electric field created by the battery (presuming it holds charge) and that’s being aligned with the axis of the conductors so maybe “something” could result from it.
I’m doubtful that polarity of the battery pair matters though other than perhaps both channels being the same way around, since the audio signal is alternating voltage.
My ribbon speaker cables are made with deliberately non-uniform ripple cuts down each edge and random holes punched out of the ribbon itself in a strategy intended to disrupt any tendency for resonances to develop as current flows. Maybe the battery’s electric field creates some non-uniform charge distribution in the interconnect and alters something like an impedance curve… way outside my area of expertise but there is at least “something” to speculate about.
Live and let live, mate. There are actual egregious scams and other complete foolishnesses to rally against. This one ain’t that.
Agreed, try it or don’t and then leave it alone. We all have batteries and bread ties around the house and unlike Synergistic Research “tweaks” won’t cost you anything.
But my interconnects are made of a pure gold and silver alloy.
