Cables dressing or stability

Having a simple install still results in some creative thinking to position equipment and then the cables.

Recently I decided my NACA5 was touching to glass shelf and also the ethernet was sagging and the monstrous power cable the same but helped by Naims wobbly IEC socket.

I was looking into increasingly expensive wonder blocks and supports, but in the end decided to test of with some packing foam.

Ethernet - was well dressed but sagging, but now I have the foam stabilising it but concerned about microphony as now coupled.

Same applies to the A5 and power lead.

I cant say I discern any difference whatsoever, just wondering what else other utilise to overcome cable sag and if there is a touch condition how it is managed.

There’s your answer. For most cables, just let them hang naturally. No issues with sag. Excessively large mains cables seem to cause more problems than they solve.

I’ve tried all sorts of types of spacers and soft-packing and ended-up quickly removing it from use in my system as I can hear it make things worse. It is personal and system-dependent - if you don’t hear any negatives then no need to ask anyone else as it then works for you.

I find the best compromise for me is ‘the best compromise’ - meaning it is hard to get ‘perfect’ cable-dressing and you prioritize to get what you determine the important cables free as you can.

I hear the deleterious effects as poor micro-detail retrieval and timing - and sometimes when really bad it slogs the whole system timing with overblown or ‘removed’ bass effects.

Given the cables enter the Equipment boxes via plugs and find a relatively direct mechanical connection onto the circuit boards inside, defeating any internal-decoupling or mounting rack isolation it seems to correspond with the magnitude of the effect I hear - it can really spoil or even ruin a good high-end system.

I’d personally experiment and find the solution that requires the minimum of bits of padding-spacers as they may not immediately seem to be negative, but over a longer time you may just find you are not for some reason enjoying music in the same way.

It is usually low-level detail of which you were only subliminally aware of but appreciating now being diminished of gone. Most people seem not to immediately hear these effects - I’m one that seems to always hear it and hence not tolerant of it.

You have paid a lot of money for the system and IMO some time getting it to sing by fussing with cables is well worth the effort.

When you have it right generally it is a bigger more open sound with more obvious clear dynamics and easy detail and good 3D acoustic info. It also times and flows obviously so much better - this is the key in knowing you have it right.

DB.

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Thanks @Darkebear very good points, I will leave and then remove as my feeling was they must be detrimental.

Always experiment - until you are content. I know when I’m content and pleased with performance and that is my guide. Sometimes you ‘improve’ something - but it sounds wrong, until you become conscious of what you are not liking. Over time I find I retain all the things I learn I don’t like and immediately hear them when introduced and also recall what generally caused them in the past and it is therefore a lot quicker to tune-up the HiFi.
The good thing is I find things remain tuned-up for a year or more before needing a check-up - or if you move something and caused inadvertently a problem you can generally run it down and fix it.

I usually do just enough to get it singing so I can play music and forget the HiFi and become adsorbed in the music - that is my marker. I know I can do more but you have to say ‘enough’ when you get it pleasing to you or it will become obsessive, so just tweak enough to get it singing and then forget is my advice.

DB.

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