I've been using Herbie's tube dampers for several decades on 12AX7, 12AU7, 6SN7 and 6DJ8s. They have no negative effect on the sound and the sound is better with them on. I have also used a pair of tight rubber/silicone rings from Sandy Gross from years back. They made stock cheap EI 12AX7s sound more like NOS Sylvania large D getter 12AX7s in an EAR 864 phono stage (without the rings-yuk).
Most useful tweaks that are sensible and really make a noticeable improvement
So after reading the thread of useless tweaks I'd be interested the communities opinions of useful tweaks. I may be rehashing a previous thread but times change as do useful tweaks.
I have found that in my case the following were useful, immediate and audible,
In order of priority in my opinion
1 Room treatment
2 Speaker location, ie proper setup
3 Subwoofer location (if used)
4 Subwoofer integration
5 Component isolation
6 Cables, all SC/IC etc, normally I would not mention cables but did have an ear opening epiphany that makes me believe cables are system dependant and I do not mean directionality.
So if anybody has anything to add, please do so as none of us are ever too old to learn.
I have found that in my case the following were useful, immediate and audible,
In order of priority in my opinion
1 Room treatment
2 Speaker location, ie proper setup
3 Subwoofer location (if used)
4 Subwoofer integration
5 Component isolation
6 Cables, all SC/IC etc, normally I would not mention cables but did have an ear opening epiphany that makes me believe cables are system dependant and I do not mean directionality.
So if anybody has anything to add, please do so as none of us are ever too old to learn.