[gary]

I have a design for acrylic cable elevators, and I think it's a pretty good one. I've gone so far as having prototypes made, and they look great, but I'm up in the air as to whether or not to go ahead and have some made for sales. There is a picture of one of the prototypes in this gallery.

In theory, there's good reason to have cables surrounded by air, so it makes sense to get them away from something like carpet. In reality, I can't hear a difference with my cables and my system and this is one of the main reasons I haven't bothered going ahead with this. I use them in my system mostly to make it easier to vacuum and because they look good, not because of any sonic improvement, so personally I'm not yet convinced it's a worthwhile product.

Anyway, I'm just looking for feedback as to whether or not other people would be at all interested to help me decide on whether or not to have some made. The acrylic and especially the laser cutting are pretty expensive, if I start selling them I'd hope to get the price down to $20 for a set of four but I might have to go as high as $25.

Thanks in advance for any feedback
-Gary

[JackStraw]

Gary, you are some salesman... after your honest endorsement you don't even leave a choice for NO!!! in the poll.

 

[Hantra]

Those look great Gary!  How many would be in a set?

Thx,

B

[gary]

Gary, you are some salesman... after your honest endorsement you don't even leave a choice for NO!!! in the poll.

 

doh!... there was a third choice, but I forgot to hit 'Add Option' one last time before posting (my first poll, afterall). Anyway, it's fixed now. Feel free to vote in the negative.

Hantra,

Right now the plan would be $20 for a set of four. Basically, regardless of what the final price would end up as they'd still be available in pairs as well.

Also, another option would be colored acrylic instead of clear... smoke gray looks very, very good. Unfortunately, that'd add cost as well.

-Gary

[Hantra]

I prefer the clear man.  It's not overdone.  It's quite nice!

B

[RooX]

count me in!

one thing you could look at is some way to clamp the cable into the lift.  help to cut down on cable vibrations, which i think are almost as/more harmful than the static/bad dilecric of the carpet.

[Hantra]

clamp the cable into the lift. help to cut down on cable vibrations, which i think are almost as/more harmful than the static/bad dilecric of the carpet.

I disagree. . .  Clamping, or applying pressure to a cable can change the cable quite a bit, and can often be worse thant he vibration itself.

Give it a try sometime. .

B

[gary]

count me in!

one thing you could look at is some way to clamp the cable into the lift.  help to cut down on cable vibrations, which i think are almost as/more harmful than the static/bad dilecric of the carpet.

i'm one step ahead of you. if you notice, the eyelet is pretty oversized. i've designed a sorbothane grommet to fit in it and hold the cable firmly, effectively damping cable vibrations. and i agree with your assumption that these vibrations are probably more significant than losses due to em field interactions.

of course, the grommets will cost much more than the elevators themselves (the mold tooling is going to be extremely expensive). maybe what i'll do is start by having a batch of elevators made, and if there's sufficent interest i'll bite the bullet and get the grommets manufactured too.

-Gary

[gary]

clamp the cable into the lift. help to cut down on cable vibrations, which i think are almost as/more harmful than the static/bad dilecric of the carpet.

I disagree. . .  Clamping, or applying pressure to a cable can change the cable quite a bit, and can often be worse thant he vibration itself.

Give it a try sometime. .

B

not really a problem... the grommets would apply very, very little pressure to the cable (regardless of the size of the cable).

-gary

[audiojerry]

Great concept, Gary, and your planned price is far more reasonable than what I've seen in the marketplace. Like you, I have not been able to hear a difference when wire is elevated off the floor, but I like the idea of keeping them elevated for other reasons, and your elevators look good.

How about a similar product for separating interconnects and power cords to keep them from getting bunched too close to each other?

[Sean]

How about a similar product for separating interconnects and power cords to keep them from getting bunched too close to each other?

Try using foam pipe insulation.  This comes in various diameters and can accomodate anything from an interconnect up to a massive power cord.  Due to the porous nature of the foam used, it has a low density / high air content if you are worried about dielectric effects.  This stuff is ultra cheap and can be cut to size very easily.  Sean
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[MaxCast]

Good idea on the foam tubes although it would cover the pretty cables we buy.   Sooooooo many cables back there  

[gary]

Great concept, Gary, and your planned price is far more reasonable than what I've seen in the marketplace. Like you, I have not been able to hear a difference when wire is elevated off the floor, but I like the idea of keeping them elevated for other reasons, and your elevators look good.

How about a similar product for separating interconnects and power cords to keep them from getting bunched too close to each other?

audiojerry-

Thanks, I think this is a great idea and it'd be far more attractive than pipe insulation. If I move forward with it, yours will definitely be free.

-Gary

[Tbadder1]

I'd definitely buy these as they are the only type of device that appears to fit my speaker cables--see below

[Sean]

You don't have to cover the entire cable if you don't want to.  You can simply use small sections as "spacers" where cables hang together or intersect.

Using any type of device that clamps around the cabling and tries to space them out ( like a spark plug wire router ) will place the cables ( especially power cords ) to close together and / or encourage the transfer of mechanical resonances between them.  Sean
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