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 3 responses by ultimatezap

OK. It's been pretty close to exactly four weeks since I applied the magic stuff. I pasted approximately 100 connections. And before you go "no way..." there are 30 connections included in just my two main front speakers. I built them from a GR Research kit, so I know it. Oh and Oregon? My main amp is the 75 SE. How in the world can anyone say anything negative about it? It is superlative. Amazing. Also have the Herbie's Super Black Hole and Big Sliders under the speakers.   Anyway, my system is sounding better than it ever has. It just keeps blooming as the magic stuff cures, and I wanted to wait the four weeks before I wrote anything.

However,  back on February 12th, immediately after I initially pasted and listened, I sent Tim the following : "Hi Tim. I spent several hours applying the secret sauce to approximately 100 connections, and that's not counting, for instance, the four separate connection points in a Speakon connector as more than one. So I have a few. 
I think I'd best describe changes as subtle at this point. Not a huge smack in the face. Which is just fine with me, 'cause I already really like how my system sounds. Greater or lesser degrees of: lower, blacker noise floor, more presence to low frequencies, more depth and width to the sonic image, coming further to the sides of the speakers than before. The highs seem smoother and my missus said she could hear more highs that were buried before (her ears may be a bit better than mine...). It seems as though some vocals are easier to understand. Seems like it took the edge off of some female voices that could occasionally be a tiny bit grating. What the missus (Cindy) and I also agree on is that it in no way diminishes the sound. No dulling, losses, or smearing. So if it only gets better, and it's a linear process, then I say: yayy!"

And Yayyyyyyyy it is boys and girls. The soundstage has continued to solidify and spread at the same time. And the "seems" statements that I sent to Tim definitely "are". 

One thing that no one has mentioned that I have found is that it makes the connections more electrically efficient on top of everything else. What do I mean? Well, my speakers are stupid efficient. 97 dB. Which means I should by running about 6 watts, not the 75 that the AR puts out. So every change is easy to pick out. Which can really suck if I make a bad choice. I've seen the meters on the 75 SE hit 15 watts on stupid loud Tool or Sevendust, but they barely move at normal listening levels, like now, with Tori Amos and her piano. She is solid, and the piano is THERE. Really awesome. But my volume shows 9 o'clock where before I used to listen to the same stuff at 1030 or 1100. Anyone else notice this? I tried attenuators to get further into the volume, but they killed dynamics.

Tim and I sent each other photos of our respective systems. Let me tell you: he is serious about his setup. Very. I'm lucky that I have a lady that allows the speakers well into the living room without complaint. She is awesome as well.

The only connections I didn't paste were the tubes in my AR pre-amp and the 75 SE. I figured I'd be okay with the benefits of the other connections, and opening the nearly $20K in amps to paste the pins scared the hell out of me.

OK, back to the music. Vienna Teng is filling my soul.

Oh, this is the best 300 bucks I've spent on anything. Ever. 
To ronrags:

I'm working up the nerve on the tube pins!

Pretty awesome without.

And Oregon: I try not to think too much about the criticism of others, but it's difficult at times.

AR really took care of me on the amp. I had an HD220 that went kaput and they couldn't fix anymore. They gave me full credit for what I'd paid towards the 75SE. They sure didn't have to,  as it was four or five years old. I'll always have their equipment.

I love this hobby. 
OK. I just went over the eight-week mark.

I figured it was a pretty random amount of time. Eight weeks pretty much exactly and there's another benchmark? And I have to say: yep.

Wow. I'm listening to Tori Amos, Little Earthquakes. I've been listening to this album for more than twenty years. And I just heard stuff that I've never heard before. Buried deep. And I caught a phrase that I'd had to consult the printed lyrics for in the past. My speakers are gone and there's just a performance going on for me. I love Tori. And Janis Ian's "Some People's Lives" right before Tori? Dear Gods, I could barely breathe. 

I'm waiting for news on another site (AudioCircle) about some upgrading that I want to do to my main front speakers, but damn it man, it sounds so good right now that I don't know if I really want to make the effort!

Tim, my man, bully to you, fine Sir! 

Only negative is that I'm getting far less accomplished around the house these days. Eh, I think I'll live.