I like Soft Touch "Bumpers" by Waxman. These are feet that stick to the underside of your equipment and sound exceptionally good. A package of 12 Bumpers runs about $2 and can be purchased at Walmart. |
If you have dedicated circuts for your system try flipping every other breakers in your house to the off postion. You should hear a big drop in the noise floor and the soundstage will open up. The only problem is you will need to reset every clock in the house when you are done and of course you will need candle light. This is as cheap as it gets.
Pat |
This tweek is not cheap, but it won't cost you anything either, provided you qualify by owning an unused pair of loudspeakers. It comes from some audio manufacturer, I forget who he is, and was published in Stereophile.
The tip is to placed an unused pair of loudspeakers in the corner of your listening room, behind the loudspeakers. I tried this with a pair of Linn Kan II mini monitors placed directly on the carpeting. It seemed to make a small improvement, though nothing major. After listening this way for a few months we had a minor plumbing related flood and I had to move my LP's to where I had my Linn speaker stands stored. In the process I moved the speakers stands into the rear of my listening room where the Linn's were located and place the Linn's on top of the stands.
This produced a nice improvement to image placement in the soundstage and also added weight to the presentation. Really very nice. If anyone is interested I could look up the article and elaborate on why this works. Let me know. |
The Stereophile article I referred to above is found in the December 2000 issue on page 242. It is an article about port stuffing by Jonathan Scull. The originator of the tweak mentioned above is from Victor Tiscareno of AudioPrism.
Mr. Tiscareno states "...The acoustic effect of the woofers in the presure zones will cancel out some of the room-resonance bass-frequency nodes!"
I found this statement interesting because I once purchased a demo Michael Green Designs PZC (Pressure Zone Controller) and recall thinking this tweak sounded similar to the effect of the PZC. The demo PZC had been damaged in shipping and I had been meaning to replace it. Looks like a I can skip that plan.
Mr. Tiscareno also noted this tweak will work for some and not for others. If you have an extra pair of speakers lying around I recommend you give this a try. |
Haoleb, you asked above if elevation effects your sound and the answer is yes. At higher elevation there are less air particles and since sound is produced by the movement of air particles, your amps will be working harder to get your speakers to produce sound at higher elevations. This is more noticible in the lower frequencies since the lower the frequency the more air that needs to be pushed. I have not had any experience with this myself but one of my collegues ran into this problem. Of course when this happened to him it was in Mexico, City which is pretty high up there so the effects may not be as noticeable say around 2k to 5k ft. |
10 Vibrapods of #5 under each Speaker.(200lb speakers) .
The speakers may wobble for a few days but will settle in . It really makes the tonal quality of the bass notes clearer. |
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I can vouch for the Marigo suggestion posted above. I found that the Marigo tuning bands on the bass and midrange driver baskets produces an even greater effect than the dots on the driver cones. I would recommend both. Actually I have these things all over the place. Walls, windows, driver cones, driver baskets, etc. They provide denser images, greater detail, and greater dynamics. |
Clean all of the RCA connections. There are several commercial products for this, I like alcohol (grain) and Q-tips. (disclaimer: I own no interest in Johnson & Johnson) |
Anyone have feedback on Rightway Audio Top Hats (tube dampers)? |
Hi. Yoby. I bought tophats and tried them on the tube on my SLF-1. As this model is a hybrid with 1 tube I can't tell you how a full tube amp or preamp might react but on this pre it increased the depth persception and seemed to snap or lock in the images. Now this is from memory as both pre and top hats are living at a friends place. They are quite heavy for the size of them....but, yes, they do work. Let's see what others have found with them...good listening |
Definitely a dedicated circuit, and separate the amplifier outlet from the pre-amp/cd player one.........talk about an upgrade for free, I just regret not doing it sooner. Tons of base, sharper, smoother highs.......WOW |
If you have allergies or some other condition that causes excessive ear wax, an over the counter solution of carbamide peroxide will help clean the wax out. You'll be surprised at what you couldn't hear before. Buy a kit to get the soft rubber bulb syringe first for flushing the ear with water after the drops have done their work. (Bausch & Lomb made the best bulb syringe, but they may no longer be available). After that buy the Debrox brand which IMO are the best drops. |
For the speakers, if you have them on a flat, hard surface you might be able to copy this great tweak I did using brass lampswitches from a hardware store made by Midwest Fastener Corporation. Thy're only about 80 cents each and work great if you put three under each speaker (point upward) in a triangle formation (two in the rear corners, one centered along the front edge. I'll try and get the actual part number for you, I don't have that right now. I tried a number of other speaker tweaks (other lampswitches, pucks, mitchell tenderfeet, sorbothane dots, etc.) and this one was the best overall...warm bass, but still fast and detailed. |
Haoleb,
I've got the part number on those lampswitches. They are Brass Bracket Knob #8-32F made by Midwest Fastener Corporation (upc is 73828764594-1). hope you can find them. |
Try some DH Squares under the spikes of your speakers. Only $10 each and make a HUGE difference. Tightens up bass and imaging. Hard to believe how much of an improvement they make for a small amount of money. |
For cleaning CD's go to an eyeglass store and ask for their cleaning cloth used on plastic lenses. Runs from $1.00 to $6.00. It is a microfiber material and can be washed and used over and over.
There may be another version which has a wax or cleaning agent in it but I have not found it yet. |
1) Make sure are four spikes on speakers are firmly touching the floor. Any wobbling seems to affect imaging and clarity.
2) try http://www.audiotweaks.com for other ideas. |
Ear wax remover. Tall chair. Equip into closet.
The post above is correct about having clean ears. This is not a joke. There is stuff made by Murine (I think) called EAR that will disolve earwax. My system was sounding harsh and I cleaned my ears and suddenly the transients came back.
Second tweak was accidental. I bought one of those tall bentwood chairs from IKEA. The kind where the cushion comes up significantly above your head. Was rearranging furniture and put it in the "sweet" spot. What a difference! I think maybe the cushions absorb early/late/extra (?) reflections. Whatever, the image was substantially more focused.
I also put my equipment in a little closet at the end of my listening room. In my case the closet is somewhat centered, so it does not add much to the speaker cable run, and it provides great isolation. This is obviously most important with a turntable, but I suppose it helps CD's as well. Downside is you can't look at your cool gear , but you are supposed to have your eyes closed as noted above anyway. |
in all components, replace all coupling electrolytic caps w/ black gate nonpolars (they're @$20 or so each)....monumental improvements. |
No one I've shared this with has taken this seriously.
If you have two pairs of speak cables, one copper and one silver, of similar gauge, give this a try.
On speaker end connect:
1) positive AU to positive HF
2) negative AU to positive LF
3) positive CU to negative HF
4) negative CU to negative LF
On amp end connect:
1) positive and negative AU to positive lead(s)
2) positive and negative CU to negative lead(s)
The theory is the positive current being conduced by AU will give cleaner and more detailed highs while the negative current being conduced by the CU will give stronger and smoother bass with more coherency and cogency than merely splitting CU and AU between LF and HF during bi-wire procedures. |
Is one expected to take this seriously? "Positive" and "negative" currents!!? I suppose alternating current is a third type and direct current a fourth?!
Salut Bob P. |
OK, forgo the "positive" and "negative" and lets just go with "red" and "black" for now. |
2) negative AU to positive LF. I don't get this. How is the wire negative when it's hooked up to a positive (red) binding post? |
Maybe it is because we now have "red" and "black" current?! |
OKOK lets try this again.
Silvercable on speaker end:
Connect cable's red to speaker's HF red.
Connect cable's black to speaker's LF red.
Copper on speaker end:
Connect cable's red to speaker's HF black.
Connect cable's black to speaker's LF black.
On amp end:
Connect Silver cable's black and red to amp's RED.
Connect Copper cable's black and red to amp's BLACK.
I hope this clears things up for the color and polarity challenged. = D |
Its not the colours nor the polarities that confused me, just the nonsense explaination for why this works!
Salut, |
I see where you are confused now. Current is not supposed to be categorized as negative or positive? Then forgo that part and use the rest. |
That is correct, current is neither positive nor negative, but voltage is + or -. Current can go in different directions in the same conductor depending on the difference in potential (voltage) at the ends of the conductor. That is why direct current is called that - the voltage difference from one end of the conductor stays essentially the same and the current flows in the same direction all the time. In Alternating current, the voltage difference changes and alternates between + and - from one end of the conductor to the other, so the current alternates in its direction. Current has no polarity. |
And the current going to the speaker is ac or dc? |
AC, of course. Speakers don't work on DC. Its the alternating of the current in the coils (dynamic speakers) that makes the speaker move back and forth (the principle is different on electostatic spekers, but still depends on the alternating of the voltage). If you attach a battery (9v), which is a source of DC, to the speaker it will move to one position, front or back, depending on its polarity.
Now do you understand why it is nonsense to talk of negative and positive conductors and using different types of materials for these supposedly different conductors?
Salut, |
for people that wear eyeglasses is to take them off! a most noticable improvemnent for free.
next-the hifitommy toysRus turntable isolation tweek. four toysRus arm floaties (for kids arms while in the swimming pool) under the tt or under a mdf platform under the tt, adjusted for levelness. the cartridge will no longer hear the cabinet it sets on. the real benefit is that it is so pretty!
this is so much better than a single ring because it is rock stable. |
Turn off refrigerator! The improvement will melt you away!
(And your ice cream...) |
I think I may have heard of this one long ago, but a gentleman pulled it on me last night and damned if it didn't work! When playing a CD, put the player or transport on pause for a few seconds before you start playing it (or if you want to see if you can hear the effect, do it while it's playing). Don't know why, but focus of the images improved noticably, usually after the first try, sometimes it took two pauses. Go figure! |
Here's a very cheap tweak; it cost me nothing!
After posting a write up of my 2-channel only system on Audiogon, which included pictures of the room, a couple of readers suggested removing the television from between the speakers. It's now in a different room altogether. The result was improved clarity, a touch more air and a major reduction in a sibilance problem I've been chasing interminably.
Another cheapie tweak is to buy a small bubble level and use it on everything. Source components, shelves, speakers, etc. Leveling the CD transport made the most noticeable difference. The sound became more relaxed and had less hash and grain. The change was enough that now everything except the cables have been leveled. I tried to get them straight, but no matter what I did they drooped... |
Fpeel, I understand there's a new product called Hardwire to be marketed by Pfizer. You apply it to your cable(s) one hour before each performance, and it lasts the whole night!
Cheers. |
3 or 4 DH Squares under the TV/monitor produces noticeable improvement in picture quality - a more stable image and better definition. |
RcPrince:
I do regularly the pause or "standby" trick to my DVD player and sound improves, this has to be done with certain frequency ev hour or so. Check the Magnan site for a little more info on this.
Would you like to try a different turn on this ? try shutting down the amp for half a minute and turn it back on again. Did you notice any difference?
Subaruguru
That's a good one
Regards
Luis |
Is there any danger with DIY items? I have been trying to get my room acoustically treated and I have been researching the possibility of making my own stuff. I have a friend of mine that has built acoustic panels and bass traps using fiberglass and they work fairly well; however, I wonder how safe it is to have things made out of fiberglass in a room where people sit and relax and breathe the air in. How safe is it? Does anyone know? |
I just tried some SOLID ROSEWOOD ISOLATION CONES I bought and they are extremely good! Bought my Mid-range back to live! 25-30% improvement with vocal & string and 10-15% improvement to soundstage and accuracy. They are not cheap, but once you tried them, you will be stuck! I bough 10 sets! |
Infinity, how do you measure these 25-30? changes, especially the improvement to accuracy? |
Well it's just a sense of percentage, totally personal... Its a adjective of how much and it does not decrib in EXACT |
So many great tips. Ebarker2 advice is next to nothing in cost but great advice. Dedicated lines are not practical for many but if possible one of the greatest tweaks. Good quality
Outlets, keeping all connections clean, keep PCs and wires off one another. Keep components a reasonable distants from one another. Clean all fuses. Not fooling, in some cases this really works. If you do not have dedicated lines, Subaruguru's idea of turning off the fridge will surprise you. You may try putting small pillows in the corners of your ceiling. Drapes look good and in some cases can be a very effective tweak. Not a cheap tweak, but good racks/isolation devices are IMO as important as your audio gear. And as many have said and can't be said enough is speaker placement. |
Well, I see a lot of different tweaks here, and will try some new ones. I think my favorite substantial one was to add these lead-shot filled "pillows" to the top of my speakers and most components. My system is in the baement on a concrete floor, so I have had no noticeable change with spikes on speakers, or on anything for that matter. I also had no noticeable improvement with innertubes, and the bubble wrap underneath components. But adding this weight to most everything changed my resolution to much finer. It was like clamping the speakers in a vice. Even though the cabinets were very solid, you could feel the speaker cabinets resonate. Now there is no resonance to be felt. The pillows are quite heavy. I initially thought it would cost around $20-$30, but ended up at around $100, because I also had to pay a girl to sew these things up too. But, I feel without them now it would sound "tinny" in comparison.
As a side note I have never been able to discern any difference using the RF blockers. |
Hi guys, I personally don't believe in tweaks. An audio system is inherently musical or it is not and there is no tweak on earth that can correct an flawed system. In my opinion it's better to invest more in higher grade source or amplification than in so called tweaks. Tweaks usually alter the character of but do not necessary improve the reproduced sound. Everytime there is a new tweak I get the urge to try it but mostly I get disappointed. There is only one tweak in which I do believe: powercords. PS I don't consider interconnect and loudspeaker cables as tweaks. They should be of the highest quality to prevent loss of information. |
the above opinion isn't necessarily based upon facts & completely ignores the synergy issue. What works for you won't necessarily work for me & vice versa. It's basically misinformation from the uninformed. Not intended to be a put-down, but as encouragement to newbies that there really is hope, regardless of the above discouragement. |
Infinity_audio were did you get the SOLID ROSEWOOD ISOLATION CONES?? |
Dazzdax, you need to start from scratch again. This doesn't necessarily mean that you should get high and go to rock concerts again, but you *do* need to do some serious live music listening to get your bearings...
My system is nowhere near as expensive as yours. It is based on the infamous Technics DJ turntable and a Chinese made CDP which I use as transport. However, it is highly resolving, holographic, clean and extremely musical. No graininess at all. I listen to a lot of "junkie salsa", so the recordings are far away from perfect. My near field system can successfully play any recording of any musical genre regardles of its recording quality. This would be an impossible feat if it not were for synergy and proper tuning/tweaking of the system.
As a matter of fact, I recently found in the A-gon classifieds someone from Switzerland selling two sets of Goldmund cones($200 used). They're on their way to me...
And to answer the thread, I would say cable cooking is the single most important tweak. |
Hey Y'all,
I've just tried these pads and they have really done a lot to improve the sound of my system. Here's the link:
http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?accstwek&1046887154&class&3&4&
Check them out, for $4 per, they are truly a cheap tweak. I am not affiliated with this gentleman. I am merely a very satisfied customer.......John |
the best tweak... hum.. buy some audiophile CDs for it... |
