Sean:
"As far as the power cords go, are you saying that they are fed the same signal as what is fed to the speaker cables?"
Yes. There are two separate circuits (and two separate signals)....one for interconnects (lower level), and the other for speaker cabling and power cabling (higher level).
"Out of curiosity, have you ever had any feedback as to how the CC stacks up against the Nordost unit?"
Another dealer, other than Joe Cutrifelli at JC Audio, has compared both. He sold his Nordost. Another customer did the same. This is third party, but they told me that the Cooker was "qualitatively better", and faster. Joe would have to comment further as to his experience.
"I don't know much about that piece other than it supposedly works on a timed circuit and is designed for "complete treatment" within 24 hours, etc..."
The CBID (signal) was primarily designed for their cabling and their dealer network, but I've never heard Nordost make this claim. And I sat in on a presentation at CES a couple of years ago. I think the 24-hour cycle is a safety feature, as Joe says, but one must repeat the cycle to get the cables more fully conditioned.
"Personally, i don't see ANY cable being fully burned in that amount of time but i know for a fact that the results are audible if you stop at that point using a Mobie."
Excepting for cables that have seen a good amount of time in a system, 24 hours isn't enough for a brand new cable. But on cabling that's been in a system for a while, 24 hours (on the Cooker) seems to be "enough". Customers are using their Cooker's for a recommended "recharge" every 3 or 4 months, finding that this overnight-to-24 hour conditioning maintains a high performance level for their system. As you likely know, break-in is a long-term phenomenon, but not a permanent one.
"How long do you recommend burning various cables for on your CC?"
Cooking time is dependent upon the gauge of the conductors, the number of conductors, and the amount of dielectric material. Generally, for brand new cable, the guidelines are 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 days for interconnects....2 to 3 1/2 days for speaker cables....and 3 to 4 days for most power cables (some extremely heavy-gauge designs could take longer). Of course, periodic listening tests are important to determine the optimal conditioning time for different designs, after doing what I call incremental periods of Cooking. There are some exceptions to the above guidelines, such as for the very light-gauge solid-cores and foils. One customer owns Mapleshade Double Helix, and found that only 4 to 6 hours did the trick, after trying to fully condition the cable in his system for a month.
Without intending to be promotional, you can find out more particulars by reading the Cooker FAQ's on my site. I'd be happy to answer any other questions or comments you have.
alan
