Maestro faceplate - does it make a difference?

Huh?! What? Uh, oh, somebody didn’t get the memo. "The Devil is in the Details." 👹

I respectfully submit that "the details" are what separate real audiophiles from weekend audiophiles, or should I say, gulp, Mid Fi? Some common examples: (1) which direction you insert the fuse, (2) which direction you connect the interconnects, (3) the precise placement of speakers, especially the distance of separation, within an inch, (4) the absolute level of the CD transport, (5) the absolutely correct geometry of the tonearm/cartridge, within 1/10 degree, (6) cleaning, demagnetizing and ionizing CDs prior to play, (7) establishing correct system absolute polarity, cleaning electrical contacts of all audio AND non-audio wall outlets.

cheers, GK

@glennewdick      

+1

If you find something that shouldn't make a difference but does make a difference then it is time to either 

1) check and root out a faulty piece of equipment (lose wire, broken down capacitor, ground loop, faulty software/firmware setting or bug etc - there are tons of things that can go wrong.)
2) check yourself into an institution for those who hear strange things in their head.

Whoa!! Look out! Shadorne’s on the warpath again. 🦃 His splendid anti-audiophile rant reminds me to start a thread sometime on the dodgy subject, How small can something be and still make a noticeable improvement to the sound? Suggested candidates: silver holographic foils from PWB (3/4" by 1/8"), Graphene layer on the Black Fuse (one molecule thick), Mpingo disc, Green pen, Red X Coordinate Pen for writing messages), tiny little acoustic bowls, replacing stock screws in midrange driver with non magnetic screws, the Walker Black Diamond Crystal for high end stereo cartridges, cryogenics (invisible and weightless), teleportation tweak (self promotion alert) (weightless and invisible), thin fishing line for suspending cable or cords, Marigo VTS Dots (1/8" diam) for electron tubes and capacitors, Flying Saucer (small copper foil), one per window.

@geoffkait   

No war path. Just pointing out that audio equipment is designed and built to produce high fidelity audio reliably without all manner of tin foil tweaks. No different from anything else that is designed and built for a specific task. If something extremely minor or insignificant is making an audible difference then the design or construction or setup or proper function of the audio devices should definitely be in question.

I am just saying that if you don't question yourself (reliability of memory/hearing and the tests you conducted) and question whether every piece of your kit is performing up to scratch then you could easily overlook something...

shadorne
@geoffkait

"No war path. Just pointing out that audio equipment is designed and built to produce high fidelity audio reliably without all manner of tin foil tweaks."

>>>>>Not only is that statement not true it’s not even close. Let me give you a few examples of what I’m talking about. One, the induced magnetic field of all large transformers extends out from the transformer obviously so it poisons the audio signal anywhere in proximity. The same is true for all wires that carry current. The induced magnetic field is an issue ignored or overlooked by ALL high end electronics designers.

>>>>>Two, large transformers are bolted directly to the chassis. What could be more ridiculous? Yes, I know the transformers need to be secure for shipping. AND the printed circuit boards are bolted down to the chassis. It’s almost as if the designers are sound asleep. 😴 So what you actually have here - for almost all high end electronics - is a vibration nightmare. 🙀 The same thing applies to CD players, the CD is subjected to all manner of vibration from the CD transport motor and external forces. I don’t even have to bring up seismic vibration. Oh, I just did. In addition, the background scattered laser light in ALL CD players interferes with the pure laser signal back to the photodetector. I know what you’re thinking, the error correction codes take care of that! 😀 Neither the Orignal CD designers or the Redbook committee, whatever nor The designers of the players are even aware of the problem. Hel-loo!

>>>>>I don’t even have to address wire directionality and fuse directionality as those issues are covered elsewhere. Suffice it to say those issues are either unknown or conveniently ignored by most of the high end manufacturers. I can also point out capacitor vibration, susceptibility of electronics to RFI/EMI both from within and without, the susceptibility of electronics, especially the fuse and ribbon cables to magnetic field and RFI/EMI. In short the current state of the art is a mess. They need to start over.