4 ms·
> "The problem is that these huge cylinders, which can cost between $500,000 and $1 million each, are custom-made, and researchers say that only a few companies
by microtherion 7y ago
> "The problem is that these huge cylinders, which can cost between $500,000 and $1 million each, are custom-made, and researchers say that only a few companies, like BlueFors in Finland and Oxford Instruments in the UK, are producing high-quality ones."
It's a wonder that manufacturers of audiophile equipment have not yet jumped into this space.
- boothby 7y agoAudiophile equipment is nothing like a multistage cryogenic refrigerator. It's made of pumps, seals, heat exchangers... and when you're using helium 4 as a coolant you really need zero leakage because it's an extremely expensive. And yeah, microwave systems need amplifiers going up, and filters going down. But they need to be extremely efficient -- and also entirely non-magnetic. But unlike audio, these components need to be linear in the gigahertz, not kilohertz. There's some similarity, but huge differences. It's weird that the title focuses on cables. There's a ton of expensive, labor-intensive components that can be bottlenecks.
- microtherion 7y ago> Audiophile equipment is nothing like a multistage cryogenic refrigerator. I was thinking more in big picture terms. Extremely expensive cables that you sell to people who believe their effectiveness depends on observing them...
- stwe_ 7y agoBut here, the effectiveness really depends on using superconducting cables, i.e. there really is a difference if you use superconducting cables or e.g. silver-coated stainless steel.