But why does keeping a burndy off the floor make a difference, why should the sound deteriorate because the cable touches the floor, this is what I don’t understand
1 Like
I wonder why myself, and why is it ok for cables to touch foam that supposedly keeps them separated, or from touching the floor?
Vibration can affect cables because the vibration can travel along the cable all be it losing intensity the farther it travels. This is sometimes known as microphony. Continuous vibrations can pass along the cable and reach the amp where it can influence low level signals leading to degradation of sound quality.
Sometimes foam is used to lift a cable off the floor as vibrations from the floor can be mitigated to some extent by being absorbed by the foam.
I personally do not take much notice of this perhaps because my equipment is in a separate room to the speakers and therefore in a less ‘vibrant’ situation. When cable dressing I try to ensure to keep mains away from signals as much as possible and if they must come close, ensuring that they cross at right angles. Apart from that I am not too fussy at all.
2 Likes
Likely all 3. Any possible effect will depend particularly on signal levels involved, construction of cables, and alternating (electro)magnetic fields (in respect of the latter, orientation is sognificant, hence advice to have power and signal cables crossing at right angles not parallel). Also possibly of significance could be the susceptibility of different electronic kit to interference by any characteristics of connected cables or non-audio-frequency signals superimposed on carried by connected cables (which is not necessarily related in any way to the sound quality said kit). In some systems with some cable there might be audible differences between how any one cable lies relative to other system components/cables and relative to the myriad of environmental (room) factors. With other systems, and/or other environments, there might not.
As for microphony, it is hard to understand how that can be an issue with speaker cables - and in most rooms I would expect less vibration of the cable if resting on the floor, especially if careted, or even more so under carpet than if suspended in free air.
FWIW I pay attention to minimising low level cable and component proximity to high level including mains cabling, but that is it.
3 Likes
I had asked Luxman about this directly because all their cables are made by Melco and all have an unterminated drain that sits between the main conductors whether it is their affordable one or their eye watering $500/m one. I got a response from one of their engineers who claimed that an unterminated drain was sufficient to suppress low power RF interference from wifi and cellular networks. As Melco are one of the largest electrical engineering and manufacturing conglomerates on earth, I am not really in a position to refute this. OTOH, it was not a factor in the buying decision either - it was simply the right matched cable for the system it was used in.
Hi yes Melco Holdings - which owns Buffalo Technology - is a pure holding company - that owns many subsidiaries such as Melco Audio, I didn’t know that until your post prompted me to look them up. However their technology endeavours seem to focus primarily under Buffalo technology and they appear to mainly focus now on computer peripherals, memory and storage as well broadband equipment. I have used Buffalo smart card readers, NAS and memory before as they are quite affordable compared to some of the other more specialist vendors out there. (Though my Buffalo NAS did have power supply failure that took all the data with it!!).
However in Japan there is another MELCO - The Mitsubishi Electric Corporation - and that sounds the MELCO more likely to be manufacturing cables, rather than Buffalo Technology of Melco Holdings. Now Mitsubishi is a massive global electronics, computer engineering, manufacturing and heavy industries/ship building company.
I wonder which one wholesale manufacturers the cable?
I also see that Luxman itself was acquired by IAG (International Audio Group) in 2009; who have similarly acquired many hifi brands such as Quad Electronics, Mission, Castle Acoustics etc
But I am sure team at Luxman/IAG have the reasons - there is likely some sort of capacitive coupling going between the two conductors - and perhaps it acts as some sort of HF decoupling element - that kind of acts as a sort of high frequency termination stage or some such. I guess the key thing to some extent is whether there is a patent associated with the design - or whether it has been tuned based on subjective findings.
But the key thing is that it works in your system.
In this context Melco is what we refer to as Mitsubishi Electric Corporation.
To avoid confusion, the audio products here are not branded as Melco but Delna. But they are all part of the giant Melco group of companies anyway.
perfect - that makes sense. It was fun looking into it 
Well there are many angles… but I think you might be referring to cable dressing and cable separation - well having distance between cables reduces cross talk and common mode interference coupling. In other words the current and voltage in one cable is less likely to induce into another cable.
If you do need to closely cross cables, then crossing them so they are perpendicular with each other reduces the chance of coupling.
Some cables are more sensitive to it than others… so a bundle of mains leads you would typically separate from small signal cables, VHF antenna cables, and ethernet cables for example.
I wouldn’t say any of this is critical however - but its more about optimising by reducing potential added noise and/or distortion.
Now as far as damping isolation - well that depends on cable types, constructs and connected electronics. Some cables, fibre cables are renown for this, are microphonic. That is vibration through sound or moving floorboards affects the parameters of the cable. So in some setups reducing this vibration in cables can be beneficial - but as I say this will vary on circumstance.
Finally connectors are a weak link in cables - as they are typically pressure contacts, vibration here can add very low level noise into the signal. So decoupling the cable can be advantageous. I personally do think this is an important consideration for top performance.
2 Likes
1 Like
Before buying even more plastic, maybe try some scrunched up newspaper or something else to get the cables off the floor? If you hear a difference, and it’s worth making things look a bit silly, then it may be worth buying the real thing.
5 Likes
thats a good shout, i just hope nobody sees me doing it!lol
i wouldnt just buy them, wondered if anyone had
I’ve had them for a short while but sold them. Only works on carpet since they are too unstable for hard floors. They are also rather big and IMO ugly so I wood look elsewhere and to start with just elevate the cables with some cheap stuff you have at home to verify if you find an improvement or not.
1 Like
thats answered my question!
Came in the pack as supporting packaging bits with my replacement windscreen wiper blades, so superb value! Help keep my speaker cables off the floor - less dust traps and easier cleaning and to separate them physically where they run in parallel close to other cables, especially power.
Surely, it all must sound better this way too!
5 Likes
Why not just use a piece of 2"x2" wood with a string on as cable support.
It does not cost anything
Or hang from ceiling with something like fishing line (invisible) or any hanger of choice, could be run in whatever route desired, dropping down to the amp at one end and speakers at other. If cable is same colour as ceiling and run close to edge then would be less noticeable than raised off the floor on stands unless latter is behind furniture.
4 Likes
I sometimes wonder to myself if this isn’t another good reason to go for a super integrated.
2 Likes
Have struck my mind more than once too…
I love your sarcasm mate!haha