Surely, once you people with scientific credentials start indulging simple 'folk intuition' with serious comment and research you can never stop. As an example, the same people who originated the idea of directional cables, also came up with 'burning in'. Are you going to attempt to measure that phenomenon, also?
I'm quite sure that once some yokel has dreamed up an imaginary phenomenon that appeals to his concept of how electrickery works, other people like yourselves can come along and speculate on the reasons why the effect may, indeed, exist. But remember, the person who made the claim also believes that digital cables are directional, and that replacing the 'stock' power cord will transform the sound. He knows it's true because he heard it. It was like night and day.
Are you going to pick and choose which of these phenomena you believe in? I am quite sure that people like yourselves could speculate on scientific reasons why the effects of 'burning in' might be real, and you might even measure something minuscule in a particular cable, but really, you shouldn't.
I'm quite sure that once some yokel has dreamed up an imaginary phenomenon that appeals to his concept of how electrickery works, other people like yourselves can come along and speculate on the reasons why the effect may, indeed, exist. But remember, the person who made the claim also believes that digital cables are directional, and that replacing the 'stock' power cord will transform the sound. He knows it's true because he heard it. It was like night and day.
Are you going to pick and choose which of these phenomena you believe in? I am quite sure that people like yourselves could speculate on scientific reasons why the effects of 'burning in' might be real, and you might even measure something minuscule in a particular cable, but really, you shouldn't.
I re-read the article last night. I have lots of problems with parts of it, not the least of which is the statement about "much better results" than a bridge/instrumentation amplifier. If I was cynical I would just say traditional measurement showed nothing so the haze generating oscillators were needed. Galvanometers, nano-voltmeters, etc. have existed for decades and folks know how to make these measurements. I have no problem believing those oscillators made with 0 PSRR logic chips generate so much IM spew all bets are off. A lab might take two Stanford Research ultra low distortion oscillators and a Fluke nano-voltmeter to do this "your" way. I would use a 24/384 sound card if ~95kHz is really necessary with a computer generated file. At 40kHz and below I have generated muti-tone signals with loop-back distortions < -120dB. So for this test it's really easy, High pass filter the test signal, for arguments sake say 20k and 21k so NO 1k exists in the output. Then low pass the output and amplify like crazy.
It's still not clear to me the exact connections on the DUTs (in your figure 3).
PS - Low TC resistors have low TC leads? There is no low TC copper.
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True science follows two paths, which ideally lead to the same conclusion:CopperTop said:
1. experimental evidence
2. beauty and elegance of theory
Note that fashion and pronouncements of gurus have no role, unlike in the arts, except in a temporary sense which may be helpful or unhelpful.
I am deeply sceptical of claims made about cables, but I don't have a closed mind. I know enough science to be somewhat aware of what I don't know. I know that some science is very counter-intuitive, but this cuts both ways. Blind belief in 'folk intuition' and dogmatic rejection of it are both faith positions.
Low TC resistors sometimes use an alloy that has a lower TC than copper. JBL did patent voice coils with low TC.
Most of the basic measurements can be made with just a good low noise high impedance Instrumentation Amp (I.A.) and a low pass filter. (Of course the I.A. must have sufficient bandwidth).
The basic setup is simple use two oscillators feed them into a resistive divider so that the output level is around 10 to 15 mv AC RMS. Feed that through the D.U.T. compare what goes in with what comes out. I picked the frequencies as they were high enough to allow for easy filtering to get their levels below what I wanted to look at. As I recall it was at least 5 poles. A notch or other sharper filter won't do.
The only really tricky issue is making sure your return (ground) currents are clean.
Of course the connections from the source resistor and into the IA have to made of unobtanium. So place the source resistor right on the connector, and keep the inputs to the I.A. short. I eventually ended up using silver wire.
Keep in mind my original aim was to measure a single conductor path composed of multiple solder joints. The cable tests were an afterthought.
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Burning in is easy to measure. You can measure the distortion about an hour after turn on and then a week later. Some equipment shows nice improvement in performance.
Most of what I have seen is that the moisture content of the components drops due to either heat or other causes and the components behave a bit differently. I place silica gel and silver anti-tarnish paper in my gear. Others just try to seal it well.
There is no magic just simple reasonable explanations.
But that wouldn't be a permanent change then? Just a temporary drop in moisture-related ... what, capacitance or resistance between ground and signal, just at the exposed ends? Caused by resting the cable on top of some warm equipment, not due to the 'burning in' signal at all.
Presumably a brand new cable straight out of the packaging would not need such 'burning in' if already dry (e.g. if it was packed with silica gel).
As the someone above said, what is being measured is important when considering these claims.
Then you can never, ever stop investigating these claims, because as soon as you finish with one (if you ever can), another can be made at zero cost or effort by an imaginative but non-technical individual or as a cynical ploy to sell more gear to gullible/naive/rich/poor-but-hooked people.
The expression I'm looking for is something like 'Occam's Razor', that is, it is much more likely that a claim such as cable directionality has been spawned by an idiot than there being a real phenomenon worth spending your time, money and effort investigating.
Not shure if there is any point to this I can only put forward my opinion based on personal experience.
I have changed cheap and nasti toneharm cables with pure Silver and it does make a difference.
I pefer the Silver to the old cables but this is just my own opinion.
Even if i did not prefer the silver to the old one there is a difference.
The Silver cable I got is not the inflated price Audio kind just 99.999 % Silver with a thin teflon coating
An it can be had from those not Audio supliers at about £10 meter.
As I said I am not interested in the Argument or in selling only in the fact that I can ear a difference.
You don't belive me fine no problem.
Do you belive me fine as well.
Do you want to ear the difference just pop around with your record player as it only takes 5 minutes to rig it up and I got same spare cable to try out
I have changed cheap and nasti toneharm cables with pure Silver and it does make a difference.
I pefer the Silver to the old cables but this is just my own opinion.
Even if i did not prefer the silver to the old one there is a difference.
The Silver cable I got is not the inflated price Audio kind just 99.999 % Silver with a thin teflon coating
An it can be had from those not Audio supliers at about £10 meter.
As I said I am not interested in the Argument or in selling only in the fact that I can ear a difference.
You don't belive me fine no problem.
Do you belive me fine as well.
Do you want to ear the difference just pop around with your record player as it only takes 5 minutes to rig it up and I got same spare cable to try out
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