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Cable Dessing - What a difference!

Bartman

Bartman

pfm Member
At long last managed to complete a long overdue (18 months n the waiting) disassemble and reassemble of my hifi. I used pipe lagging to bunch and segregate power and signal cables, and I have to say the difference is up there with the Khan and Radikal. And just a fiver for the pipe lagging. On power-up I was a little disappointed, but an hour or so later it's all singing, sounding better than ever. Fantastic. The Kandid can wait!
 
Bunched power leads from the Hydra to PSs and 200, and from PS to Pre/ CD. All others isolated in their own cocoons. I'm amazed by the difference.
 
+1 for pipe lagging - very worthwhile to keep the muscle power lines separate from the faintingly delicate signal cables!

you can also mount the pipe lagging on the rear of shelving, as supports to isolate cables running to /from components
 
A proper set up does make a significant difference. The better the system, the more important it is.

Stock Naim power cables are not shielded, its better to separate them. Try spacing the power cables apart. Naim forum has a lot of information on system set up, its really worth reading them.
 
Dressing my cables is just not possible for me at the moment, my cables look like a spaghetti mess and run over crap power blocks. My naca5 just sits on top of the lot.
Really looking forward to this free little tweak one day. Pics would be great if possible.
 
The pipe lagging doesn't, a.f.a.i.k., contain any shielding materials, so possibly it's the separation which is important here.

Mind you, the very act of unplugging/plugging in of I/Cs and mains leads would have been beneficial (assuming you did, of course ! ;))

Interesting idea, but. although I've got lots of the stuff lying around, I can't see it being a practical solution in my case.
 
Strange that the mixing desks and live concert setups that these hifis are designed to replicate don’t seem to adhere to the same strict arrangements.

You would think that the SQ was irreparably damaged given some of the claims made here.
 
So it made no difference straight away but after an hour it sounded different? Do you think your pipe lagging burnt in, or do you think perhaps the difference you heard was your gear warming up and the suspension on your cart getting up to operating temp?
 
If Bartman can hear a difference, let him be. I also believe I've noticed a slight difference when I've taken the time to make sure my mains cables and signal cables are kept away from each other.
 
Repeated measurements over on Logitech forum confirm noise, to a small degree, can be picked up by single ended (RCA) interconnects ... and that balanced interconnects solve this. Note pro gear uses balanced connections so compare apples with apples.
Darren
 
Mike Reed said:
Mind you, the very act of unplugging/plugging in of I/Cs and mains leads would have been beneficial (assuming you did, of course ! ;))
Click to expand...

My first thought unplugging/plugging is a widely demonstrable effect. I shall not be trying the tidy work out.
 
Unplugging and re-plugging connections in signal and power cleans the connection and can really bring back the sparkle to your system. you don’t notice the gradual degradation of the connections over the months but physically cleaning all connections can have a dramatic effect but all you are doing is restoring your system to how it should sound. I think this is one of the common errors when someone buys a new cable and sticks it in his system and notices an improvement, most of the improvement is a clean connection so its always best to clean your old lead and try that again before you make your mind up if there is an improvement.
I do agree with separating Power and Signal cables and also shielded cables as well
Alan
 
sq225917 said:
So it made no difference straight away but after an hour it sounded different? Do you think your pipe lagging burnt in, or do you think perhaps the difference you heard was your gear warming up and the suspension on your cart getting up to operating temp?
Click to expand...

:D:D:D
 
8618026623_140ee77508_o.jpg


I'm pretty neat with regards to cabling. I spec or make leads the right length where possible (e.g. pre-power links, CD-DAC links etc). The mains is all routed under the table, the signal at the back so there's no overlap. Nothing fancy, just sensible practice IMO - good quality leads positioned logically to minimise noise, hum / interference etc (currently the best of any system I've ever had - I can hear no noise at all despite having high efficiency speakers).
 
According to ancient Naimology, all cabling must not experience any twisting or tension, and all contact with the floor or wall is best avoided.

I found that hooking up the pair of burndys on the NAP300 were tricky to line up between the PSU and the amp itself and any turning or bending of the burndys must be made as far away from the connectors as possible to avoid tension at the connectors.
 
I find that the usual olive oil/balsamic vinegar mix goes particularly well with Kimber Kable, but generally a heavier caesar is best with Nordost. And if you can use the croutons as cable lifters, so much the better.
 
Mike42 said:
Strange that the mixing desks and live concert setups that these hifis are designed to replicate don’t seem to adhere to the same strict arrangements.

You would think that the SQ was irreparably damaged given some of the claims made here.
Click to expand...

They use balanced connections which helps a lot, also attention is paid to cable routing. Certainly with my PA rig anyway I pay explicit attention to cable routing for both sound quality reasons and also risk management.
 
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