You’re not alone, same here, everytime I move or change an interconnect , power cord or piece of gear this happens. I need to do some some rearranging but have put it off due to this.
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- Thread starter newmill
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I heard someone explain it that the cables get magnetised in use. As you move them they de-magnetise and then take time to re-energise again. No idea if that reflects reality or not though!
I'm in process of initial play hours on a new Triode Wire Labs "Passion" USB cable. TWL website states in the feature/specs:
- Advanced Two Step Demagnetization: The use of two distinct commercial, audiophile grade demagnetizer machines, which neutralizes magnetic fields around the cable, preventing them from affecting the electrical signal.
Same here and it bother me too. But it will take only few minutes to come back. Not days.
In the beginning of almost music (CD, Flac, SACD) sound coarse and less musical (slightly but noticeable). The SQ improves slowly up to 1 minute and stable after 1 minute. When a music is repeated, no problem. Therefore, all my videos start from the middle of music.
All cables degrade the sound quality. The perfect cable sounds the original music.
There are power cables and signal cables. The power cables (PC) are more effective investment than signal cables. The power cables control more fundamental aspects of the audio sound than signal cables. If signal cable is bad, the sound is just bad. When PCs are bad, the sound is unbearable/unlistenable.
The signal cables have been improved for a long time and their performance are pretty good due to easier quality control.
There aren't many good PCs. Even same model and brand PCs made in a same day sound different each other. So, finding a good PC can be hard.
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I would replace the Lumin Cable and then shift the existing Analog cable to the pre-amp and go from there. If there is still an itch to replace something, then look at replacing the Analog cable in the pre-amp position.
I have a sneaking suspicion there are no magnetizable parts/materials in most cables, so perhaps demagnetizers on cables work like they do on CDs, which also contain little or no magnetizable parts. Moving a demagnetizer (moving magnetic field) over a CD a or cable produces an *electric field* which would in turn neutralize static electric charges on the CD or cable. I‘m currently getting exceptional results with a Walker Audio Talisman clone, I may dub it the SkyWalker. Cheers!
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I am a firm believer in listening as the basis for judging SQ. However, I do question the impact of expectation bias and the reliability of auditory memory.
Generally, I can recall many details of the sound, certainly the overall sound, after an hour, after a day and after a month or longer. And if I return to a friend‘s system after a period of say, 3 months it’s rather simple to hear whether the sound has improved or not and in what ways. Is the soundstage bigger, how present is the sound, does it grab me, bass performance, etc. Otherwise, how can we progress?
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I completely agree with your analysis and that’s why I went the opposite direction from most audiophiles. Portable battery powered CD player with headphones. No more power cords, no more speaker cables the size of anacondas, no more interconnects, no more big honking capacitors OR transformers, no more fuses. And no more room anomalies. This all obviously minimizes distortion and noise in the system. No more pencils, no more books, no more teacher‘s dirty looks.
If thy eye offend thee pluck it out. - Audiophile axiom
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To each his own. Personally don't like the sonic presentation of headphones which don't/can't reproduce even a basic spatial illusion of a live performance (music coming from in front of you because that is where the performers are, instead of from inside of the middle of your head). Can't stand any headphones for more than 30 minutes.
The soundstage on my humble portable CD /headphone system extends way out beyond the usual limitations of the headphones. On well recorded live music the soundstage extends 20 to 30 feet out in front of me. It’s like listening to big electrostatics set up 8 feet in front of me. And why couldn’t headphones give you such a soundstage? - it’s the same signal, you just have to know how to eliminate all the noise and distortion.
Examples, Dead Can Dance’s Serpent and Egg, Within the Realm of the Dying Sun, Also their live CD Toward the Within. Also, the last half of Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, just to name a few I’ve been listening to recently.
“An ordinary man has no means of deliverance.“ - audiophile axiom
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I would use Deoxit GN5S-2N on all my cable ends and inside all the duplex. This includes speaker cables, interconnects, digital cable. All of them. This will greatly reduce oxidation. Wipe it on and off where you can with a Qtip or swab. You do have oxidation. Just spraying it on will suspend the oxidation but itsstill there. You need to wipe it away. True deoxing may take 4 or 5 applications of coat and wipe clean.
I'm suspect of any cable with any filtet built into it. You already have a Puritan.
The general thinking with a cable is 14 to 12 awg for low power and 12 to 10 awg for high power. If you got a basic 12 awg cable you could move it to most any position in your system to understand the character.
As per the break in. When I test something, I install it and let it play a few days to couple weeks. I leave thr original piece as undisturbed as possible. I then start comparing by swapping the device while trying to minimize disruption to its physical structure or position.
Something to consider is heat. Feel a power cord that has been utilized on a space heater. The ends will be hot. The cable more limp. Temperature has a real and measurable affect on electron flow. When you go to compare cables, you have to get them to a place where they are relatively the same temperature. Even the duplex can impact the sound. As in the branch wire is landed on one half of the duplex. A metal jumper carries the power to the other half. That jumper can alter the sound to some degree
I'm suspect of any cable with any filtet built into it. You already have a Puritan.
The general thinking with a cable is 14 to 12 awg for low power and 12 to 10 awg for high power. If you got a basic 12 awg cable you could move it to most any position in your system to understand the character.
As per the break in. When I test something, I install it and let it play a few days to couple weeks. I leave thr original piece as undisturbed as possible. I then start comparing by swapping the device while trying to minimize disruption to its physical structure or position.
Something to consider is heat. Feel a power cord that has been utilized on a space heater. The ends will be hot. The cable more limp. Temperature has a real and measurable affect on electron flow. When you go to compare cables, you have to get them to a place where they are relatively the same temperature. Even the duplex can impact the sound. As in the branch wire is landed on one half of the duplex. A metal jumper carries the power to the other half. That jumper can alter the sound to some degree
I have listened to the world's best headphones, and have heard none that provide the accurate spatial presentation of either a live performance or a good system with speakers. I will never use them except in emergencies.
Rex I have to ask what are your opinions of these Graphene and Nano Treatments that are available for cables? I have used Stabilant 22a contact enhancer and when I worked at Joliet Avionics in Aurora IL we used this product.
I have heard Stabilant is very good and I don't think it will arc. I always caution with the other. Some of those paste are so conductive, just a tiny smear you think you wiped away can cause issue. Its horrendous when it melts off tube pins and gets on the socket and arcs.
We do use conductive paste commercially. If your careful, a little on the end of the wire that goes in a circuit breaker can be fine. I would not use it on cord ends. Its amazing how that stuff can get around.
I like Deoxit as I have used it on 40 plus tubes and never an issue. The propellant is also a detergent. When it evaporates it leaves the oil.
We do use conductive paste commercially. If your careful, a little on the end of the wire that goes in a circuit breaker can be fine. I would not use it on cord ends. Its amazing how that stuff can get around.
I like Deoxit as I have used it on 40 plus tubes and never an issue. The propellant is also a detergent. When it evaporates it leaves the oil.
Sure, your getting technical and if you want to go down that road as an electrical engineer, I will step out of the conversation as your way over my head. You may be right that the electron drift of inches per second may not change. I honestly don't know. Maybe I should have said the impedance might change. What I do know is the NEC reduces the current carrying capacity of a wire based upon the temperature of the wire. The hotter the wire gets, the less ampacity they allow on it.
My greater point is, I believe a cable that is hot and a cable that is cold might be sonically different. If I want to do an analysis, its best to eliminate variables. Get them to the same temperature before comparing.
But you didn’t say the wire was hotter, you said the ends were hotter. Besides drift velocity is about 1 meter/hour in audio cables and power cords. How much slower can they get? You also referred to a power cord in a space heater. I’m not sure you can extrapolate that to audio cables and power cords.
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