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Jena Technologies    Page updated Dec. 14 2007. 
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Cryogenic treatment by Jena Technologies

Our background in cryogenics:

Michael Crock (co-owner of Jena Technologies LLC) was employed at Watkins and Johnson Co. (WJ) in the 1970s, for about ten years. Working in a classified environment, Michael was involved with military- and spacecraft-related microwave electronics, antennas, and waveguide devices. Using state-of-the-art techniques, technologies, and fabrication, he worked on pioneering efforts in communications and anti-communications (ECM3). WJ made deep-space amplifiers, antennas, and other equipment used on many NASA missions. They also developed legendary microwave and electron devices for the military, intelligence community, and NASA. Michael was in the Special Products and Services division of WJ, and worked hands-on as a primary fabrication expert for hundreds of one-of-a-kind microwave antennas and electron devices that operated in extreme environments. Pure liquid nitrogen immersion technologies were used there for special applications, and Michael was a part of that classified work.

Michael was also NASA-certified in hand-solder techniques for use in the fabrication of zero-failure devices for space flight. He also worked on space shuttle antenna systems for five years while at WJ, handling R&D to final production for the S-band, C-band, UHF-voice command, Quads, and Hemis for nine orbiters.

Additionally, Michael worked directly with very forward-thinking, extremely gifted, and intelligent scientists and engineers for a company located in New Mexico during the late 1980s, a company that was directly involved with electron implantation into electro-optic ceramics. The specifics of this project involved materials whose properties and specifications remain classified. This project, involving state-of-the-art physics, optics, and electronics, was ahead of its time then, and still is.

What we do:

All Jena Labs wire products are deep-immersion cryogenically treated as part of the standard production process. This treatment entails a cold chilling process, culminating in the full immersion of the cables in liquid nitrogen, also known as LN2. The boiling point of LN2 is -320.4° Fahrenheit (-195.77° Celsius), or about 400° F below warm room temperature. I took these pictures at both the liquid nitrogen main transfer tanks, where I am transferring LN2 to a portable dewar, and inside our lab, where the immersion takes place after a second transfer to the actual LN2 immersion tanks.

Filling our dewar 1.Other side of filling area
In the liquid state, as we use it, the LN2 is actually much colder than the vapor-to-liquid boiling point of LNē
(-320.4° Fahrenheit.)

Here is something you won’t see very often: Below Right: This is the inside of one of our immersion tanks. Yes, that is liquid nitrogen, and you can even make out some parts in it!
getting chilly A long deep chill begins. Inside LN2 tank
  The non-immersed diagonal object in the picture is a wooden camera support above the very cold LNē.

What happens?

Exposing metallic objects to this extreme cold causes beneficial molecular changes to occur. As metallic objects cool, they shrink. With the extreme cooling and the shrinkage that follows LNē immersion, the crystal boundaries of metallic conductors align more closely with one another and become more conductive and quieter. Mechanical integrity is also improved. This improved molecular condition stays intact through the slow warming process and is stable at room temperature.

Benefits

When conducting an electric signal, treated wire and formed metallic parts will produce less micro-diode-effect noise, less impurity-inclusion field disturbance, and less “slow-field” transverse energy generation. The result is a cable or electrical device that is quieter in noise floor and more revealing of subtle musical nuances.

Difficulties

Working with LNē requires very specialized and expensive equipment, and extreme care. It is very dangerous, as the cold is so severe that it can result in serious injury from accidental exposure to the liquid. The process of chilling and warming takes several days to complete and, if done incorrectly, can result in the fracture and loss of the materials being processed. In every phase of the treatment, extreme care must be taken. We feel strongly enough about the musical merits of the treatment, though, that we gladly make the investment in the equipment, the time, and the safety procedures needed to make the benefits available to our customers.

Beware of others Cryo-Claims 


Several audio writers, equipment modifiers, and so-called technologists have promoted refrigeration of cables and electronic parts by packing in dry ice. This is NOT cryogenic treatment. Dry ice has nothing to do with cryogenics.

There are a few companies that provide a service employing gas-bath refrigeration in a cold furnace cooled by LNē. If it is a circulation process, these types of furnaces can reach down to about -180° to -240° Fahrenheit, generally speaking. With enough extreme and outrageously expensive effort (economically prohibitive for most providers), vapor circulation can get down to about -280° Fahrenheit. It does not matter what others claim: Getting vapor below -260° Fahrenheit is exceptionally hard. Period. But even that won’t provide a sufficient chill for our standards. Scientifically speaking, cryogenics refers ONLY to temperatures at or below the vapor point of nitrogen: -320.4° Fahrenheit. Our process involves temperatures that are substantially colder than this.

Only true liquid nitrogen immersion, as employed by Jena Labs, will fully and permanently enhance the musical behavior of metallic conductors.
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Mikes gloves on large dewar.




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