I for experimenting sake elevated my speaker cables off the carpet using two hockey pucks stacked down the length of the cables from amp to speakers and the improvement in sound is much more than subtle. My system has a balance to it which took me a long time to achieve. Very exciting.
I thought I was the only one using hockey pucks! I mainly use the ceramic cable elevators found on MD, but I needed something shorter for my speaker cables due to the stiffness of the cable ends as well as the location of the binding posts on my amps. I also use hockey pucks under the ceramic elevators when I needed a little extra height.
Hurray for those seeking to eke out the last bit of audio excellence from their systems!
I agree with lifting cables, particularly off of carpet. Back in the day when I had a full-on speaker setup in my system, I always lifted speaker cables off of carpet and could always hear an improvement. Never could hear an improvement lifting off of a wood floor, though. Similarly with interconnects – always lifted, always carefully separated so they didn’t touch each other. This is sweating the details for the best sound. Cumulatively makes a big difference.
But my solution to lifting cables was always low-tech, zero cost. Here’s the last setup we had using corrugated cardboard (zero electrical/magnetic energy storage) for the lifters:
(Sorry for the fuzzy image. It’s copped out of the only photo I still have of this system.)
Last time this topic came up someone suggested using “rebar chairs”. They are dirt cheap and come in all kinds of configurations, heights, colors, etc. I ordered a handful from a local contractor supply company who dispatched delivery same day from their warehouse (using their own couriers). The look on the delivery guys face when he didn’t see any construction at the address was very funny. “Is, um, this the right place? Did you really order these? Is this your order?” “yes, thank you, have a good day”.
Also a fan of the artisanal corrugated cable riser approach, although I’ve always eyed the Furutech NCF Signal Boosters
What about lifting power cords? Do they matter?
My, somewhat limited, understanding is that the purpose of elevating signal cables is to prevent any interaction between fields that might mix as between a cable and a carpet.
When it comes to power cables, I am not so sure they are subject to the same potential interactions with a carpeted floor.
That said, power cables and signal cables are said to be potentially subject to the same interactions and cable risers can be used to distance power cables from signal cables.
Hope this helps some…and that others will chime in…
Regards.
Maybe but certainly don’t run them along the same path as the signal cables. That might be very difficult. The general advice is cross them at 90 degree angles and keep them separated as possible. However, I know of no equipment that has a set-up of power and inputs / outputs on 2 adjacent faces so eventually you must run signal and power in parallel to each other to actually plug anything in.
I keep my power cables on the floor to keep them away from the signal (elevated) otherwise I’d be running power a couple inches off the ground and signal a foot off the ground. That’s just too much work for me.
I’ve never noticed any improvement lifting power cords. Keeping them separated and not touching signal carrying cables - yes.
There is an article on the interwebs called bunking cable lifters, they actually measured less capacitance when lifting cables of the floor.
There’s a video somewhere on YouTube where a guy measures a cable’s capacitance then picks up a small amount off the floor and measures again. Different result. He continues raising more off the floor and measuring, always getting a different result.
On Amazon: “ Honey Can Do wooden bed risers” $26.00 in maple or cherry. Inexpensive and they look quite good, too.
How far should the power and signal cables be if you have no option but to run in parallel?
I started experimenting with those same ceramic lifters perhaps a year ago. I am going to get me some hockey pucks next. Thanks. BTW, my floor is slate tile over a concrete slab in South Florida. Before lifting the speaker cables off the floor there was a persistent background noise that sounded like feint rf interference. I suspect the wire mesh in the foundation was acting like an antenna. Anyway, speaker wire off the floor = no more noise.
Lloyd Walker used to tell me “Shoot for a minimum of 8-inches, more if you can.”
When I used sobothane disks inserted under the bottom of ceramic footers to lift power cords, surprisingly they improved the sound.
I chose to believe that’s a myth
Cable brûlée?
not sure if it would be a blessing or a curse to sit in front of one of these members’ amazing systems and actually be able to hear the change that a rubber footing on a ceramic cable lifter might make.
I know it’s nothing I could hear in my system, obviously, and I’m sure it’s the combination of a super-high-quality stereo and much-better-than-average hearing. And training, I would guess.
But I reckon it would drive a person mad knowing they can alter the sound in this way.
And i only ask this question with the utmost respect (as @tedsmith and perhaps others are skilled sound engineers), but is any of this measurable?