More "Snake Oil" ?

[Amanda]

Just had this come in an e-mail:

D'addario Cryo Treated EXL String special offer

BUY ONE GET ONE FREE- Start November with a Bang
The offer runs from 6.30pm on Friday 2nd November and ends on Sunday 4th November at Midnight or when our allocated stock runs out which ever is the sooner.
The offer is on our 3 most popular guitar strings ands applies to

EXL 110-Reg 10/46 gauge
EXL 115-Blues 9/49 gauge
EXL 120-S-Light 9/42 gauge

CRYO Strings offer 3 huge benefits over standard strings
1- Clear more balanced tone
2- Extended string life
3- Great tuning stability

Hmmmm!!!

[kipper]

i got that email as well amanda, snake oil well said. peter

[dave robinson]

i got that email as well amanda, snake oil well said. peter

More like bullshit!

[Didier]

Deep freezing produces detectable improvements in performance mostly when metals are involved.
One thing that determines what kind of crystals you end up with is how much and how fast you cool the metal after you heat or melt it (quenching a sword is a good example). As the metal sheds heat, its crystal structure changes, then ultimately stabilizes, usually well before you reach room temperature. But if you keep cooling the metal to exceptionally low temperatures, like -300 degrees Fahrenheit, you can force the crystals to change shape again, sometimes to advantage.
Stringed instruments did show some difference. My assistant Una contacted Chen Jer-Ming, a graduate researcher in music acoustics at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, who studied the effects of cryogenic treatment on steel guitar strings. He found cooling the strings to -300 F for 30 hours produced subtle but unmistakable changes in their crystal structure. Afterward the strings showed slightly increased strength, 15 percent less stretching over time, and 35 percent greater stiffness, meaning they might be louder, break less, and require less frequent tuning. The drawback, according to Chen: they produced a tinnier tone. In other words, you wound up with strings that lasted longer but sounded … well, different, and I'm sure some would say worse.
Source

Didier

[RUSSET]

Yes, I had that one too, from the famous valve supplier. Ten sets for £33 isn't too bad, but you have to add on VAT & shipping charge too. I guess you could get a cheaper deal at Strings Direct. As for the Cryo thing, I bought some EL64 Cryos a couple of years ago. Certainly didn't make my amp sound fabulous, so I would say it's marketing hogwash.

Tony.

[Twang46]

The "Cryo" treatment does work for valves & as Didier has reported does have an effect with strings & indeed other metals also.

The problem most people have with "cryo" valves is that they seem to expect very noticeable sonic benefits in their guitar amps which cannot happen.
There are some audio "improvements" to be heard but the main benefit is in longer life mainly due to the better connections inside the valves as the stresses imposed by the welding of joints is "relaxed" (my word).
Worth the extra money in guitar amp applications ? ........possibly, but certainly need to be tried before dismissing them as "mumbo jumbo"
Worth the extra money in "hi-fi" applications ? ........ certainly

I've used a couple so far ( ecc83 ) & I did get a noticeable effect (to my ears)

Dick.