[Mass. Wine Guy]

If any stereo gear publication should be familiar with all the hype and b.s. shoveled at us by the industry, it should be Affordable Audio. So it was even more disappointing to read a review in the November issue of a total snake oil device, Cable Cooker, that claims to burn in audio cables.

I mean, come one! This ranks second in the useless gear department behind a $35 device once sold that, when plugged into a wall outlet, indicated the outlet's polarity.

Nice Rega table writeup, though.

[Affordable$$Audio]

If any stereo gear publication should be familiar with all the hype and b.s. shoveled at us by the industry, it should be Affordable Audio. So it was even more disappointing to read a review in the November issue of a total snake oil device, Cable Cooker, that claims to burn in audio cables.

I mean, come one! This ranks second in the useless gear department behind a $35 device once sold that, when plugged into a wall outlet, indicated the outlet's polarity.

Nice Rega table writeup, though.

The author presented a subjective review with scientific measurements to back up his opinion.  Respectfully, can you present facts or point out errors to support your view?

[alan m. kafton]

Hi, guys......just a note to thank Ray Smith (again) for his exacting and extraordinarily thorough review of my product. Ray also went beyond any other previous review with the detailed testing and measuring he performed, providing a valuable service to any reader.

A tiny nit to pick regarding the listing: the proper product name and spelling is the "Audiodharma Cable Cooker"....(Audiodharma with a 'd'), and the model Ray purchased is the Anniversary Edition. I noticed the 'd' in Audiodharma was missing on the index page of your e-zine.

In any case, thank you for the publication, and I must say I liked the very-easy-to-read format. Even the advertisements were nicely placed and easy-to-read, and not overly crowded like on some other sites. Do you have an e-mail list in order to automatically receive monthly notification of the e-zine? With my busy life, a periodic reminder is a good thing.

alan m. kafton
audio excellence az, inc.

[bmwr75]

Science or no science.....is an $800-1000 cable cooker something the average Affordable$$Audio reader can afford?  This article struck me as "strange" to be included in A$$A also.

I still do appreciate the volunteer work that all the contributors and editor put into published this free ezine.

[Affordable$$Audio]

This article was requested for inclusion because it offers answers thru scientific proof of cable burn-in. Part of the  responsibility of the audio press is to provide answers to debates within the audio community about the value of certain add-on improvements to one's system.  Obviously, few individuals will invest in the CableCooker within the A$$A community, but this does offer insight into why some cable manufacturers offer to burn-in their product and claim improvement from such efforts.

[turkey]

Please, more articles by this Ray Smith. He's always so amusing. 

[palasr]

Despite my initial skepticism and jaded 20+ years as an audio enthusiast, I picked up one of these units used last year and have to admit to being rather impressed with the results.  Interestingly, I noted the least effect of power and speaker cables, and the most on interconnects and tonearm wiring.  Don't knock it til' you try it!

 

[alan m. kafton]

palasr......depending on when your unit was built, there are some upgrades available that could double the performance. And they're reasonable. If you're interested, please contact me directly, of course.

I'm also curious about your experience with power cables and speaker cables....I've found over the years that these heavier gauge cables require *more* Cooking time to get the best performance, not less (even though it sounds counter-intuitive). The conditioning process runs in cycles, like hills and valleys. Unless you performed a few Cooking-and-listening sessions to determine the optimal amount of conditioning, you may have heard your cables at a point where the immediate results were sub-par. I'd enjoy discussing this with you.