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New Tweak --- Its Fantastic

THE NEW TWEAK

Over the good part of this past year I’ve been beta testing a new tweak, the name of which is "Total Contact." Its a hi-bred graphene contact enhancer that is different from all other contact enhancers that have come and gone for one reason or another. I’m not new to these contact enhancers, having had quite a bit of experience with a product developed by the late Brian Kyle and his "Quick Silver" contact enhancer. The "Total Contact" is different ... a LOT different.

"Total Contact" is graphene based and is not a vibration control. It eliminates micro-arching between two contacts. Micro-arching, much like Micro-vibration smears the sound in our stereo systems. Its the type of distortion that we don’t know is there .... until we eliminate it. There is no break-in as we know it. The sound is improved right off the bat, but what you hear is only a smidgen of what’s to come.

I tested three generations of "TC," each of which was an improvement over the previous incarnation. The final mix was cryogenitically treated and made for a more effective, much smoother application. It comes in a large hypodermic needle type plunger containing 1.5 ml of product and includes a instructional DVD and an application brush.

The application should be applied with a very thin coat to all of your electrical connections .... from your cartridge pins to your power cords. I did my entire system, including the ends of my fuses.

Upon initial application, you will notice an improvement in clarity, correctness of tonal balance and a more overall organic sound. But ... that is just scratching the surface of what this magic paste does. As it cures, the improvements become more apparent. Much more!

There are two real break-through events that happen almost to the day with "Total Contact," one at four weeks and another at eight weeks . At four weeks, you’ll get a real jump in clarity and overall improvement. That’s only a taste though of what’s to come at eight weeks. At eight weeks your system’s focus will make a jump in SQ that is so real - its surreal.

After 40 years in the hobby, and a total tweak nut, I have never heard anything that does what this graphene paste does. The see-through clarity at eight weeks becomes simply amazing. The "paste" eventually cures into a kind of polymer plastic and it seems that the sound improves with each listening session. So, its important that you leave your contacts alone for the duration. If you’re the type of person that continually switches wires in and out, you’ll have to re paste until enough time has elapsed to get "the cure."

The only problem I had was with the first batch and that had to do with shorting out a tube pin in the line stage. Use the "TC" very sparingly on tube pins, if at all. I only had problems with the line stage tube pins. The Amp, CD Player and Phono Stage has had no tube pin problems at all.

Tim Mrock, one of our fellow A’goners, is the developer of the product. Its taken Tim 15 years and several patents to get it right. Tim has "pasted" every electrical contact he can find in his audio system, all of the switches in his circuit breaker box, every contact in his car ... and has used it in commercial applications such as hospital circuit breakers, surgical lights ... and other places where efficiency and long life of electrical components are deemed important.

This product is highly recommended to anyone who truly wants to get the most out of his/her audio systems. There’s enough product in each tube to do at least two audio systems as it just takes a very thin coat on each application to be effective. The last tube was enough to do my system twice and then a friend’s system this past weekend.


Frank

PS: There were a couple of other A’goner beta testers of this product as well. Hopefully, they will chime in here with their experiences for comparison. I "pasted" both of Steve Fleschler’s systems a few days ago, perhaps he will comment on his results too. We forgot to paste Steve’s power cords though, so there’s a lot more to be had from Steve’s two fantastic systems.

Frank
oregonpapa

Showing 8 responses by dgarretson

dgarretson
2,617 posts
 

I was slow on the upswing, as the memory of removing dried, caked-up Walker SST from the inside of tube sockets had been a kind of audio PTSD. Learning that TC doesn’t age badly like that, together with good advice from Agon member audiotweak, encouraged me to try it. This weekend I began with applications inside DIY power cords at the compression fit between stranded 10awg silver conductors and Furutech FI-48 and FI-50 plugs. These cords have a significant impact on the sound of a modified Pass Labs XP-25 phono stage and a Hynes SR-7 linear power supply with multiple DC rails into a rubidium master clock, a SOtM Ethernet-to-USB converter, SOtM USB regenerator, and a Merlin BBAM line-level bass equalizer.

Out of the chute there is a richer more organic presence region, expanded LF, and sweeter treble with less etch. Images are denser and more embodied. All good things.

I’ve been recording vinyl to DSD on a modified Tascam DA-3000, and am always on the look-out for improvements to this unit. With the help of a desktop magnifier lamp and a pointy, hard cotton make-up applicator, TC was sparingly applied to internal fuses and the many pins of cables and connector blocks inside the Tascam. Most of these distribute AC and DC power to the PCBs. If you’re using TC on power cords, at least take a look at treating any connectors inside electronics from the IEC to the transformer. I wouldn’t attempt this with flat ribbon cables, as TC will smear between their tiny parallel traces.

The improvement in the digital recordings was immediate, with effects similar to the power cords.

Next I’ll try treating low-level signal from cartridge pins to phono stage.

Excellent product!

dgarretson
2,617 posts
 
Yes. I  could have treated the tabs but didn't need to. The 10awg bundle of ten 20awg silver strands is divided at the termination into two twists of five strands each. That "fork" of two wires slips nicely into both sides of the Furutech fitting, so that it clamps evenly on both sides of its screw. With just five strands in a twist, it was possible to work TC fully into each wire bundle without unfurling it.  That's a good thing, as it avoided the potential metal fatigue of untwisting and re-twisting the thin 20awg strands.  
dgarretson
2,617 posts
 

@grannyring 

With good lighting and magnification I find it relatively easy to see into the terminals.  The issue is finding a good applicator for that "wet work."  The supplied brush is too large.  

dgarretson
2,617 posts
 
In the interest of assessing incremental change over the purported long-term break-in period for TC, I've been trying to resist the temptation of smearing it from lips to tail.  Today I added a thin coat to the cartridge pins of a low output Audio Technica ART7 cartridge into a Kuzma 4PT tonearm.  There were immediate improvements, which several hours later mutated into an expanded and clarified soundstage with an inertial payload that, were it not Saturday evening, would be absolutely North Korean if not medieval. No kidding, but waiting for the light of day to confirm.       
dgarretson
2,617 posts
 
@nkonor I see we share ownership in "the good stuff"-- Pass XA-160.8  & Kuzma 4PT.  I dare you to take the top off those monoblocks and paint TC on the pins of the three easily accessible pin block connectors from the input stage and power boards. Then coat your cartridge pins. Then shut up and listen.
dgarretson
2,617 posts
 
@tommylion I’ve recently transitioned from building ICs with soldered on connectors to connectors that utilize compression fittings, such as Bocchino B11L RCA and EIZZ XLR. The results are a meaningful step up from solder, suggesting that connectors with solderless connections may be even more important than choice of wires. Treating the inside of compression joints with TC has been an eye-opener. And with soldering eliminated, it’s easier than ever for a non-DIY oriented audiophile to contemplate a cable build.
dgarretson
2,617 posts
 
Regarding DIY, in addition to treating the inside of Furutech PC plugs, I recently treated the compression fittings of ICs made with Bocchino B11L RCA connectors and EIZZ XLR connectors. I also treated the wiring harnesses inside a SOtM USB-to-Ethernet converter, a SOtM USB regenerator, and the DIN plug between the PCB and Rubidium core in an SRS Perfection 10mHz master clock. It’s all good. Next stop is the ATX power harness inside a QNAP RAID server that hosts Roon. 
dgarretson
2,617 posts
 

@oregonpapa 

I haven't tried it in the wall receptacle yet, but am working in that direction.  Next step will be the receptacles and inside taps and wiring of a power distribution strip and balanced AC transformer. 

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