[Jam_Master_J]

I'm building a new set of RCAs for my speaker rig and I order my stuff from www.takefiveaudio.com. I was planning on using Cardas Twinlink Cable and Eichmann bullet connectors. For an additional $10 Canadian or so I can get the cables and connectors in a cyro-treated version. I've heard of cyro-treating engine parts but nothing relating to audio. I figure for $10 it's not a big loss to try it but has anyone had any experience with cyro-treated parts? Do they offer any real advantage?

I'll probably get it anyway since even if no difference exists I'll probably convince myself they sound better (in which case the $10 is still worth the "improvement"). But I figured I'd get some impressions from anyone who has tried them.

Thanks,
JMJ

 

[Emon]

Cryo-treating audio components? Comon. Now that's just ridiculous. Yes, resistance is lower at lower temperatures, but once it warms up again you loose the benefits. Sounds like a real gimmick. They probably throw it in a freezer and charge you 10 bucks for it.

 

[nikongod]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emon Cryo-treating audio components? Comon. Now that's just ridiculous. Yes, resistance is lower at lower temperatures, but once it warms up again you loose the benefits. Sounds like a real gimmick. They probably throw it in a freezer and charge you 10 bucks for it.

cryo tereatment is said to micro-align the molecules, and in some cases smooth grain structire of metals.

the effect is said to "last" after the part is un-chilled.

weather it is worthwhile is a whole nother story...

 

[drewd]

Cryo treating is another way of tempering metal. When a metal is properly tempered at very low temperatures, defects and disclocations in the crystal lattice can be "healed", thus increasing the strength of the metal. That's a great thing for materials that face great stress, like high pressure machine parts and the like.

For audio equipment? I guess your ears are your best guide there. But I would suggest that the gains in conductivity in a wire are trivial at best. After all, even plain old copper, without any special treatment, is a pretty darned good conductor. You can manufacture it in an oxygen free environment, you can attempt to produce "single crystal" wire and you can dip it in a vat of liquid helium, but the gain in conductivity is going to be very, very small.

Not only that, but as the wire heats back up to room temperature, impurities in the metal are going to introduce new defects. And if you start handling the wire, the stress will introduce new defects.

As far as opinions go, I think that before considering what has to be a small returns (if any) investment like cryo, you should look at your system and see if there are any big returns improvements that you can make. On the other hand, if you're just after the cachet of having cryogenically treated parts in your system, then go for it!

I've plopped both a teflon insulated silver cable and a PE copper cable in a dewar of liquid helium at my local university. Maybe there's some special process to follow, but I didn't hear a bit of difference between the treated and non-treated cable. And liquid He is very, very cold!

BTW, I did find out that if you freeze a hot dog in liquid nitrogen and then break it on the edge of a table, little shards of hot dog go flying off into the room. And if you don't find them all, after about four days, they stink.

-Drew

 

[RnB180]

Im going to stick all my cables in my freezer next to the hot dogs.

 

[Oski]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RnB180 Im going to stick all my cables in my freezer next to the hot dogs.

LoL...then you'll have a line of cables called the "Blue Heaven" and another one called "When Hell Freezes Over".

 

[bhd812]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RnB180 Im going to stick all my cables in my freezer next to the hot dogs.

or you can get a can of compessed air and turn it upside down and spray your cables that way..


either way The only thing I beleive has any quality of being cryo treated is ice cream...other then that its b/s

 

[RnB180]

I will cryo my cables and thermo radiate heat into the cable as a special treatment. after I take em out of the freezer I will be microwaving them along with the hot dogs. I think the hot dog juices should act as an extra dielectric with beneficial sonic properties.

 

[drewd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RnB180 I will cryo my cables and thermo radiate heat into the cable as a special treatment. after I take em out of the freezer I will be microwaving them along with the hot dogs. I think the hot dog juices should act as an extra dielectric with beneficial sonic properties.

Only if they're kosher dogs!

 

[rellik]

What do you think the pros/cons are of cryo-treating my brain?

ive already got the easy access door installed so removal is a breeze

 

[Emon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RnB180 I will cryo my cables and thermo radiate heat into the cable as a special treatment. after I take em out of the freezer I will be microwaving them along with the hot dogs. I think the hot dog juices should act as an extra dielectric with beneficial sonic properties.

Don't forget to wipe it with an anti-static cloth when you're done.

 

[RnB180]

Ive never tried the static cloth, so I dont know if it would work

and Ive never tried the cryo treatment either, I just thought Id poke fun at it since cryo'd cables are probably just stored in a standard freezer and charged for freezing.

who knows maybe it works?

Id be more prone to believe that a static cloth would work more so then freezing a wire.

Im too lazy to try any of these and actually sit down and force myself to listen for differences. I just dont have the time.

Im pretty open minded and willing to try something that would seem bizarre if not to listen for myself to settle curiosity, but dont really have time for experiments that I would probably consider ineffective.

I just make em and if they sound good and looks pretty(i like pretty), Im happy.

maybe rainbow foil and intelligent metal wafers are worth giving a shot

.

I kid. I kid, no need to bust out the pitchforks.

I do have line I never cross with being open minded,

like some practices online I find disturbing that invlove mysticism and voodoo type practices for audio fidelity such as freezing you photograph and cryo-ing it, I read it from a link someone posted, superstitous stuff like that spook me. Even the rainbow foil seems a bit on the paranormal side of practices,

Scary stuff man...

 

[Dick Danger]

It costs more so it must be better.

 

[Nixie]

I don't know about cables, but apparently they cryo-treated dogs:
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117...-13762,00.html
At first I thought it was a joke, but it checks out, it's the real thing.
Quote:

Pittsburgh's Safar Centre for Resuscitation Research has developed a technique in which subject's veins are drained of blood and filled with an ice-cold salt solution. The animals are considered scientifically dead, as they stop breathing and have no heartbeat or brain activity. But three hours later, their blood is replaced and the zombie dogs are brought back to life with an electric shock. Plans to test the technique on humans should be realised within a year, according to the Safar Centre.

The quick replacement of the blood with a very low oxygen, very cold solution stops metabolism so quickly that oxygen deprivation damage doesn't have time to occur.

 

[1UP]

I've got two cryo interconnects - haven't heard them vs non-cry versions of the same cables but in themselves they share a few characteristics - notably, an "inky black background" and solid, solid bass. So overall I'm positive about cryo-ing cables.

I'm a bit skeptical of the effect of cryo-ing connectors, though.