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As quench said, cryo is just another contiuation of the hardening process. Any time you can convert retained austinite to martensite, you doing a good thing. The average knife user often would not be able to tell the increased performance with simple carbon steels, but when there is a small amount of chormium present, as with 5160 or 52100 the results could almost be called dramatic by comparison to a blade of the same material that has not been cryo-treated. Generally I can achieve about 10-15% increase in cutting ability with 5160, and as much as 20% with 52100 blades that are cryo-treated versus blades of the same material(s) that were not cryo-treated. Pretty significant when you think about it.
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