[IHMEYERS]

***UPDATE ***
 
I bought and received a Cable Cooker this week to burn in all my cables.  I started with the XLRs that run into the V280.  Burning them in made a HUGE difference.  The upper midrange glare is totally gone and the bass is even tighter than it was before.  Tonally it sounds very close to what mastertapes should sound like.
 
I am still not 100% sold on soundstage though.  I wish it was a little wider, the RWA was.  What is here though is very continuous, i.e. sounds like real music rather than left channel and right channel sound.  Though the RWA imaged wide sometimes IMHO it sounded like the two channels were of different heights & widths, maybe like there was a hole in the middle of the image.  The V280 doesn't have any of that.  I am still working on cabling and getting adapters to cook my Audeze cable so I will post again when I have more time into listening if anyone is interested.

 

[Fegefeuer]

cable cooker? 
 

 
really curious how the RWA would sound with the AKG K701 which itself has a huge hole in the middle. Would left and right be behind your head? the first back surround only headphone 

 

 

[headwhacker]

[COLOR=FF0000]***UPDATE ***[/COLOR]

I bought and received a Cable Cooker this week to burn in all my cables.  I started with the XLRs that run into the V280.  Burning them in made a HUGE difference.  The upper midrange glare is totally gone and the bass is even tighter than it was before.  Tonally it sounds very close to what mastertapes should sound like.

I am still not 100% sold on soundstage though.  I wish it was a little wider, the RWA was.  What is here though is very continuous, i.e. sounds like real music rather than left channel and right channel sound.  Though the RWA imaged wide sometimes IMHO it sounded like the two channels were of different heights & widths, maybe like there was a hole in the middle of the image.  The V280 doesn't have any of that.  I am still working on cabling and getting adapters to cook my Audeze cable so I will post again when I have more time into listening if anyone is interested.

Curious how the cable smells out of the oven.

 

[GRUMPYOLDGUY]

  ***UPDATE ***
 
I bought and received a Cable Cooker this week to burn in all my cables.  I started with the XLRs that run into the V280.  Burning them in made a HUGE difference.  The upper midrange glare is totally gone and the bass is even tighter than it was before.  Tonally it sounds very close to what mastertapes should sound like.
 
I am still not 100% sold on soundstage though.  I wish it was a little wider, the RWA was.  What is here though is very continuous, i.e. sounds like real music rather than left channel and right channel sound.  Though the RWA imaged wide sometimes IMHO it sounded like the two channels were of different heights & widths, maybe like there was a hole in the middle of the image.  The V280 doesn't have any of that.  I am still working on cabling and getting adapters to cook my Audeze cable so I will post again when I have more time into listening if anyone is interested.

 

Curious how the cable smells out of the oven.

 
Depends on how you like your cables cooked... Personally, I like my conductors medium rare with a nice sear on the jacket... 

 

[watchnerd]

  ***UPDATE ***
 
I bought and received a Cable Cooker this week to burn in all my cables.  I started with the XLRs that run into the V280.  Burning them in made a HUGE difference.  The upper midrange glare is totally gone and the bass is even tighter than it was before.  Tonally it sounds very close to what mastertapes should sound like.
 
I am still not 100% sold on soundstage though.  I wish it was a little wider, the RWA was.  What is here though is very continuous, i.e. sounds like real music rather than left channel and right channel sound.  Though the RWA imaged wide sometimes IMHO it sounded like the two channels were of different heights & widths, maybe like there was a hole in the middle of the image.  The V280 doesn't have any of that.  I am still working on cabling and getting adapters to cook my Audeze cable so I will post again when I have more time into listening if anyone is interested.

 
And how much does this Cable Cooker cost and what does it do that normal burn-in doesn't do?

 

[GRUMPYOLDGUY]

   
And how much does this Cable Cooker cost and what does it do that normal burn-in doesn't do?

 
What does normal burn-in do that not doing anything doesn't do?

 

[watchnerd]

   
What does normal burn-in do that not doing anything doesn't do?

 
You're asking the wrong person. I use RCA/digital cables from Blue Jeans and XLRs from Monoprice.

 

[IHMEYERS]

   
What does normal burn-in do that not doing anything doesn't do?

 
 
Cable Cooker can be found here:
 
http://www.audioexcellenceaz.com/products/audiodharma-cable-cooker-cable-conditioner/
 
Reviews Here:
 
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0404/audioharma.htm
 
http://positive-feedback.com/Issue47/cablecooker.htm
 
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/anyone-own-an-audiodharma-cable-cooker
 
 
Does it make a difference?  Yes, absolutely.  I have all the various burn-in CDs as well as ones I have made myself.  The Cable Cooker's impact is much more substantive than a burn-in CD.
 
Is it worth $1k+?  That depends.  How many cables do you have in your system?  How much did you pay for them?
 
If all you have is a single mid-level system with one source, no it probably doesn't make sense to spend $1k on an accessory like this.  But if you have multiple systems (audio, video and a third bedroom system) with high-end electronics ,maybe it does.  I had to think long and hard about doing it.  I was lucky in that I found an upgraded demo that the manufacturer wanted to sell.
 
I think the only thing better than buying one for yourself is having a friend that bought one that will allow you to use it.  Unfortunately I don't know anyone local that has one. 

 

[watchnerd]

   
 
Cable Cooker can be found here:
 
http://www.audioexcellenceaz.com/products/audiodharma-cable-cooker-cable-conditioner/
 
Reviews Here:
 
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0404/audioharma.htm
 
http://positive-feedback.com/Issue47/cablecooker.htm
 
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/anyone-own-an-audiodharma-cable-cooker
 
 
Does it make a difference?  Yes, absolutely.  I have all the various burn-in CDs as well as ones I have made myself.  The Cable Cooker's impact is much more substantive than a burn-in CD.
 
Is it worth $1k+?  That depends.  How many cables do you have in your system?  How much did you pay for them?
 
If all you have is a single mid-level system with one source, no it probably doesn't make sense to spend $1k on an accessory like this.  But if you have multiple systems (audio, video and a third bedroom system) with high-end electronics ,maybe it does.  I had to think long and hard about doing it.  I was lucky in that I found an upgraded demo that the manufacturer wanted to sell.
 
I think the only thing better than buying one for yourself is having a friend that bought one that will allow you to use it.  Unfortunately I don't know anyone local that has one. 

 
Can't I do pretty much the same thing (sweeps, square waves, etc.) with a generic signal generator / oscilloscope?

 

[IHMEYERS]

   
Can't I do pretty much the same thing (sweeps, square waves, etc.) with a generic signal generator / oscilloscope?

 
 
Maybe, maybe not.  I honestly don't know enough to say.
 
I do know that a lot of people with significant investments in an audio system have one and swear by it.  For me it was worth the purchase.
 
 

 

[watchnerd]

   
 
Maybe, maybe not.  I honestly don't know enough to say.
 

 
So you dropped $1000 on it without understanding how it works and if you could do the same thing another way, more cost-effectively?

 

[IHMEYERS]

   
So you dropped $1000 on it without understanding how it works and if you could do the same thing another way, more cost-effectively?

 
 
I understand how it works.  If it could be replicated more cost-effectively I believe it would have and that information would be at least semi-widely available.
 
For me, given the fact that I have multiple systems that I have decent money into it was worth it.
 
Check out the Audiogon forums.  It is a pretty highly regarded product there used by posters that are well respected, some of whom have well into six figures invested in their systems.  That meant more to me than the commercial reviews, which while very good, well you never know how honest the reviewers are about their findings in general.
 
It's like Head-Fi and headphones.  If enough posters I respect give a positive review of a product it's probably pretty good.  When enough complain about one (the flimsy construction of the original HE-1000 comes to mind) there's probably something to legitimately complain about.
 
Finally, if it didn't work for me I could sell it at a loss of of a couple of hundred dollars.  Unfortunately, I have made far costly asset purchase decisions than that in my life.

 

[watchnerd]

From the audiodharma website:
 
"The output signal includes a swept square wave calibrated from 0 DC to over 40KHz (plus harmonics)."
 
So, yeah....you can buy good, modern signal generators for $75 or less on Amazon that do this.
 

 

[davidespinosa]

Knock it off -- if the Cable Cooker makes him happy, then by all means he should buy it.
 
You realize we're on a thread about a $1400 headphone amp.  Are you sure you can tell the difference between a V280 / V200 / RS08 in blind A/B testing?

 

[watchnerd]

  Knock it off -- if the Cable Cooker makes him happy, then by all means he should buy it.
 
You realize we're on a thread about a $1400 headphone amp.  Are you sure you can tell the difference between a V280 / V200 / RS08 in blind A/B testing?

 
I made no comment on happiness.
 
I'm simply pointing out that what it seems to do can be done for far less using standard signal generators.
 
Hopefully that's useful to people who are interested in trying the concept but don't want to dump $1k to find out.  
 
More info gives people more options.