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Elevated speaker wire/cable

DaveVoorhis said:
That said, there are some who claim that raising cables reduces static pick-up or has other electrical effects, though there seems to be little physics or electronics basis for an audible influence of static (or other floor effects) on a low-impedance (relatively) high voltage and current speaker circuit. There's no evidence for it in other areas of electronics outside of audio, either, but rather than dismiss it entirely it is perhaps an area that needs more research.
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4-2-7 said:
I think I'll use this comment of yours^^^
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Excellent, and I hope you don't mind that I've included the full paragraph that you're quoting from here. My assertion is that raising speaker cables off the floor has no acoustic effect, but I appreciate that others disagree. Controversy that can't be resolved by pure reasoning can only be resolved with rigorous research.
 
DMLBES said:
Does having speaker wire/cable elevated off the floor make a difference?

I was tinkering around with my DIY panels and my room was pretty cluttered so instead of laying my speaker wire on the floor I draped them over my second set of speakers and I noticed a sound change. Was my mind playing tricks on me?

Then I seen a video on youtube were he had his cables on some type of support stands that elevated the cables off of the floor which further intrigued me of my experience.
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You could diy create some out of a material like cardboard for free in order to verify for yourself...
 
DaveVoorhis said:
Excellent, and I hope you don't mind that I've included the full paragraph that you're quoting from here. My assertion is that raising speaker cables off the floor has no acoustic effect, but I appreciate that others disagree. Controversy that can't be resolved by pure reasoning can only be resolved with rigorous research.
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This issue will never be resolved because it cannot be proven to exist. Reasoning is as follows:

1) Some people believe they are able to hear things others are incapable of hearing.

2) Claimed differences are so subtle that they fall below threshold of SOTA measuring instruments and one's ears are more sensitive than said instruments.

3) We don't know what to measure.
 
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the skipper said:
This issue will never be resolved because it cannot be proven to exist. Reasoning is as follows:

1) Some people believe they are able to hear things others are incapable of hearing.

2) Differences are so subtle that they fall below threshold of SOTA measuring instruments and one's ears are more sensitive than said instruments.

3) We don't know what to measure.
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We don't have to measure the phenomena itself, just establish statistically-significant evidence that some group can reliably distinguish elevated cables from non-elevated cables by listening in an appropriately controlled environment.

I appreciate that one such a study -- regardless of outcome -- does not make for a conclusive result. That's fine; skepticism is good, more studies are needed. Conclusions can only be drawn from a body of evidence, not a single experiment.

I also appreciate that some will steadfastly believe what they believe regardless of a preponderance of evidence otherwise (assuming there is such), but that's unavoidable. It's human nature.
 
DMLBES said:
Have any of you tried elevating your speaker wire/cables off the floor to see if it made a difference? If so what is your experience? Did it sound different or remain the same? Those that haven't its easy to do and let me know your results. Thanks.
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I have.
But not for the same purpose.
I run my cables across the ceiling and then they drop down to my speakers.
I used to have a cat who chewed on wires.
 
cpt_paranoia said:
It's not about the danger to you; it's about the danger to your equipment in the event that metal items get dropped across the terminals.
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oh ok :thumbsup:. I have been doing it that way for 30+ years and all is good with no issues. Just pay attention to the task at hand.
:beerchug:
 
As I said before, everything I know about physics tells me that there is no difference in sound if you elevate the speaker wire. However, our knowledge of physics is severely limited. Quantum physics and general relativity have never been resolved. Until that happens we will continue to be profoundly ignorant of our universe. Even if there is no measurable difference in sound quality, if you believe it sounds better, then it sounds better. If elevating the speaker wires makes you feel better about the music, then go with it. I am stuck, still, in modeling my world in what I learned in college about physics. Yet I have seen direct evidence of life after death. My wife and I lived in a seriously haunted house. The kind of house that did not need magnetometers or any fancy equipment to observe our ghost's presence. He was there with us every day and made sure we knew he was there. He had committed suicide in this house. We learned to live with him and in the end develop a great affection for him. This makes absolutely no sense according to the scientific knowledge we have about our universe. That is when I learned how extremely limited was our knowledge of this place. I just accepted his presence and came to realize that I knew almost nothing about our universe. Oh my, I tangented out a long ways on this issue...sorry.....
cabin&spydernewsma.jpg
 
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ironcoder said:
As I said before, everything I know about physics tells me that there is no difference in sound if you elevate the speaker wire. However, our knowledge of physics is severely limited.
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That's true in many areas of physics, but acoustics and electronics (in audio frequencies, at least) are very well understood. To sustain a claim that unknown physics underpins the occasional claims of sound improvement due to elevated speaker wires would require not just evidence of unexplained electrical or acoustic phenomena, but verified evidence of unexplainable electrical or acoustic phenomena.

In other words, it would first require repeatable, verifiable evidence that elevating speaker wires consistently creates an audible change even when the listeners (and experimenters) don't know whether the wires are elevated or not, and then it would require that there be no known factor in physics to explain it.

I don't think we've reached the first point yet, of having repeatable and verifiable evidence that elevating speaker wires consistently creates an audible change even when the listeners don't know whether the wires are elevated or not.
 
Moderation Note:

This thread has been cleaned up of the typical thread-crapping, derailing, and mocking on this subject. Please honor the OP and the topic he set for this thread. Disparate positions and honest discussion are allowed, but mocking and such like is not.

Rich P
 
I raise my wires off the floor mostly because of the static buildup I get in my room. Can I tell the difference? No, but it looks better and makes me feel better when things are neat and tidy.
I also make sure my interconnects and power cords dont touch one another and cross at 90 degrees if they are close to each other. Its peace of mind knowing I've done everything I can to eliminate any issues.
 
Until folks understand that hearing is a sense that has multiple variations in the population and many can hear much better than you we will not have answers that work for this. Inability to know what to measure, if we can measure that, means we won't have 'evidence' of a difference. Because folks sell risers to make good money from some inexpensive parts keeps the topic available for discussion.

there is no right answer.

you need to try it yourself and if you like the results enjoy, if you can't tell a difference then decide on looks or your desire/ability to say you have cable risers.

Nothing to argue about. Everyone can have their own opinion and it is just that their own opinion, not something others must accept.


Enjoy your speaker wire draped over an extra speaker being subject to the magnetic field from that speaker. If it sounds better woo-hoo, if it sounds worse you can change it back. Nice options to have.
 
DaveVoorhis said:
That's true in many areas of physics, but acoustics and electronics (in audio frequencies, at least) are very well understood. To sustain a claim that unknown physics underpins the occasional claims of sound improvement due to elevated speaker wires would require not just evidence of unexplained electrical or acoustic phenomena, but verified evidence of unexplainable electrical or acoustic phenomena.

In other words, it would first require repeatable, verifiable evidence that elevating speaker wires consistently creates an audible change even when the listeners (and experimenters) don't know whether the wires are elevated or not, and then it would require that there be no known factor in physics to explain it.

I don't think we've reached the first point yet, of having repeatable and verifiable evidence that elevating speaker wires consistently creates an audible change even when the listeners don't know whether the wires are elevated or not.
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I agree with you Dave. However, if you think elevating the speaker wires will improve the sound and it does sound better to you, then that is an improvement. Subjective data like this of course will never stand up to any kind of repeatable scientific inquiry. I remember from the 60s that the music was always better when under the influence of marijuana. Everyone who had tried marijuana at the time knew this. We know that scientifically there was no change to the music's quality of reproduction. But our mind heard a huge increase to the quality of the music. We can't yet measure how this could occur. Yet it did happen. A good example is visual art. What looks to me like a bunch of colours splashed on a canvas and nothing more is something beautiful to someone else. Our beliefs and experience affect what our senses tell us. Again, I can say that I personally would blow off any idea that raising a speaker wire would change the quality of reproduction. Because I believe that, it would not. You know some people even believe they can hear the difference in sound quality by changing the solder connections using another brand of solder. I find this ludicrous, but others believe they can hear the difference. It is a world of very differently minded people. Dave, you and I are really tied to verifiable and repeatable scientific experiments or tests. I tend to scoff at someone's idea that flies in the face of known physical laws. However, I try not to denigrate those individuals who have beliefs that are outside of scientific "facts". You have not done so either. I have spent a few decades of my life doing electronic design. Ignoring physical laws at this job would mean I would be looking for work elsewhere rather quickly. These physical laws almost become a religion for us because we use them every day and earn a living by understanding known physics. Note to Rich OP, I abhor the idea of mocking someone here. When I see it, I am disappointed. Fortunately, there is little of this going on at AudioKarma.
 
Thanks for the replies I just wanted to know others experience to confirm if what I heard was similar to my experience and the explanations behind it.

To Ironcoder, I too have experienced a spiritual phenomenon so I know very well some things cant be explained or proven with science.
 
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