[eric343]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fiddler The problem is that we can't use the ideal dielectric in cables (i.e. a vacuum) so we have to work with what we've got. All other materials absorb *some* energy from the signal conductors no matter what, some more than others and some in a non-linear fashion relative to frequency, and so on so forth. This is why some types of capacitors sound better than others, and since all cables end up acting as capacitors, the dielectric quality is indeed very important.

This is more or less correct. Quote:

Dielectric biasing used in my latest cables (similar design used by Audioquest in their most expensive interconnects) attempts to work around some of the (audible!) problems associated with dielectric absorption.

What I fail to understand is how biasing a dielectric (essentially, treating it like a capacitor put across the terminals of a 9V battery or whatever you use) will improve the quality of that dielectric.

 

[fiddler]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eric343 This is more or less correct. What I fail to understand is how biasing a dielectric (essentially, treating it like a capacitor put across the terminals of a 9V battery or whatever you use) will improve the quality of that dielectric.

As far the theory goes, this is done to prevent the polarity of the dielectric from changing, i.e. 9V is high enough that the audio signal won't have enough of an influence on the dielectric to make it switch polarity. Audioquest hints at this in their description of their "Dielectric Biasing System" by saying that it works because "24 volts is far above the voltage of an audio signal"-- no further explanation from them however.

For some more detailed reading:

http://www.audience-av.com/on_capaci...c_material.htm
http://db.audioasylum.com/cgi/m.mpl?...cables&n=76675

The article Steve Eddy alludes to is Walt Jung's capacitors article, page 2:
http://home.comcast.net/~wjungieee/w...pacitors_1.pdf

The idea is that any dielectric that can exhibit a residual polarity can be improved by keeping it from crossing over the zero point.