T.H.E. Show 2021

More Marketplace: the CSP, EVP, and CVP Show

Jason Victor Serinus  |  Jun 15, 2021

This report could also be titled "My Visit with Cable Support Plate and A/V Room Service," but that's hardly as eye-catching. And catching your eye is my goal, because there was a lot of import at these two booths.

John H. Bring's Cable Support Plate (CSP) manufactures single, dual, and quad power outlet plates designed to support heavy power cables that tend to pull out of the wall. There's even a long-nose version for outlets that are positioned sideways, with receptor prongs aligned on the vertical. All CSPs are 3D-printed; the largest takes 27 hours to manufacture. Given that one of my outlets is starting to pull out of the wall, partially due to the weight of my power cables, I took notice.

At the urging of fabled Qobuz Evangelist, David Solomon—he whose legendary status dates back several brands and multiple lifetimes—I spent quite some time with Norman D. Varney of A/V RoomService, Ltd. The company name is somewhat lacking in sex appeal, and gives no hint that Varney's background includes designing the electrical system for the scoring stage at LucasFilm's Skywalker Ranch; designing critical listening and viewing environments, AC line conditioners, and video cables for MIT (Music Interface Technologies); and serving as Senior Engineer and Acoustic Design Center Lead at Owens Corning's Science & Technology Center. He has designed over 500 critical listening rooms. I didn't meet his associate, Harry Alter, whose background is equally impressive.

Varney showed me his Equipment Vibration Protectors (EVPs) and Cable Vibration Protectors (CVPs), both shown in the photo, and claimed that the EVPs convert 90% of component and speaker-generated vibration to heat rather than allowing to excite the room. The result, he said, is that sounds start and stop where they should rather than creating extra-musical buzz and resonance in the listening environment. These babies come in three different densities and two different sizes to work properly with various loads, including heavy speakers.

There's a lot more to say about the A/V RoomService's other products, which include Frequency Response Panels (FRPs) and RoomDamp2 constrained-layer damping compound. Check their website for more information.

COMMENTS
thatguy's picture
Submitted by thatguy on June 15, 2021 - 2:49pm

"Given that one of my outlets is starting to pull out of the wall, partially due to the weight of my power cables, I took notice."

These will hold your cord in the outlet but don't appear to do anything to help hold the outlet in the wall.
Time for some sort of free-standing support to put under the plug or a cable hanging from a mount above the support it :)

"All CSPs are 3D-printed; the largest takes 27 hours to manufacture. "

3D printing is great for prototypes but seems a bit crazy for production runs.

Jason Victor Serinus's picture
Submitted by Jason Victor Serinus on June 15, 2021 - 7:57pm

I'm sure that the company would appreciate a donation of the funds required to fabricate costly plastic molds. 3-D printing is the far lower-priced alternative.

thatguy's picture
Submitted by thatguy on June 16, 2021 - 8:00am

I guess it depends on demand. If they are only selling small numbers then it works; and it has the side benefit of keeping a foreign factory from pumping out extras and selling them for less.

Ortofan's picture
Submitted by Ortofan on June 15, 2021 - 8:57pm

... as long as there isn't a huge backlog of customers anxiously awaiting the delivery of their $200 wall outlet cover/cable support plate.

thatguy's picture
Submitted by thatguy on June 16, 2021 - 8:03am

If high end audio has taught me anything it is that there are a lot of people with a lot of extra money.

But if they really want to sell a lot of these they need to have some quotes about it improving the sound of people's systems on their site. And something about it insuring equal pressure throughout the socket which improves the connection... ;)

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