Cable elevators - conventional wisdom wrong?

Unfortunately, our conventional electrical understanding doesn't allow an answer to your question. If you try raising your cables and using different materials, you will hear differences. There are multiple components to these differences. Vibrations, static, EMI, RFI etc. all detract from the realism you hear from your speakers. My best advice is to leave your ears guide you as science, given our present understanding, cannot.

I prefer ceramic isolators, with one on every wire, including those with no contact with anything except at each end. I have, however, experience the benefits of wood on top these isolators under speaker wires. I also know that raw silk pads under these speaker wires at the isolators absolutely killed the sound. Also, with the exception of the Townshend interconnects, I have always rejected ferrite rings anywhere.

Tbg might be on to something...today, after several days of settling in with the Dark Fields, I noticed that some of my favorite recordings were sounding a bit constricted in the midbass and middle C range of the piano etc... Highs were also sounding slightly dry. Hmmm, I will experiment further, but there may be a costly trade off with the risers.

OK, I can say that there is definately a reduction in transparency and low level detail along with a dullness evident in the lack of sustain on instruments. Body and weight of instruments are also decreased. After trying various Shunyata products over the last two years I can safely say that the "House Sound" is a bit dull, lifeless, dry and lacking in weight and energy. Live recordings sound less exciting and piano in particular sounds damped and lacking in overtones and sustain (most notable here). I am returning my Dark Fields asap.

Dave,
It would be interesting if you could compare and report back on the Dark Fields to simple CD cases used cable elevators as outlined here:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?fcabl&1215950921&openflup&23&4#23

Yours in music,
Ted Denney III
Lead Designer, Synergistic Research Inc.

I may do that. Several years ago Jonathan Valin did a review of the ceramic cable elevators and concluded that there was no free lunch. He found that the body and weight of instruments were reduced, thus affecting their apparent palpability and solidity. As a designer, I would be careful as to how much of the "Music" is often discarded in an attempt to address other supposedly more important aspects of the reproduction of sound. Lack of distortion, a lower noise floor, blacker backgrounds, smoother highs and enhanced transparency, to cite a few examples, are worthy goals indeed. The problem arises when the pursuit of ideals overshadows our emotional connection with the music. A presentation that has all of the hallmarks of "Audiophile Sound" but none of the connective tissue that conveys a sense of drama, emotion and realistic scale, is worthless. Live music is clear, dynamic as hell, full of contrast and color. Without these crucial ingredients in good measure, the listener may as well be a robot...or worse, a reviewer!