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
128x128oregonpapa
regarding speaker cables, for spades, i should paste the whole spade or just the side touching the amp connection? for banana, my ones are hollow, shoukd i paste the inner side as well?
^^^   littlecx ...

Start with all of your fuse ends and holders. Then do the power cord connections and the IC connections, not forgetting the grounds on the female end where the IC's connect to the amp.. Then do the wall plug on your PC. Paste the wall receptacle's outer body and the connecting wires where they screw into the receptacle's body. Turn your power off for this one. You should notice quite an improvement from these changes. There's more .... but that can come later. Please post your results ...

Frank
@grannyring 
Yes, I've been thinking of opening up my ML CLXs transformer boxes to paste the connectors between the boards and the panels.

Definitely continue to be amazed at the sonic improvement of this product.

-docknow
Post removed 
Another update on using TC inside your speakers. Paste the driver tab connectors and internal speaker wire where they are soldered or connected with push-ons on the back of the drivers. Paste the wire leads going from the voice coil to the tabs. Paste the point to point wire leads and solder joints in the crossover.

The impact really takes a couple of days to experience based on my experience. Immediatley after treatment you may not hear improvements and perhaps even reduced musicality. However, after two days all I can say is wow! This is a must do if you are comfortable removing drivers etc.....

Don’t forget the solder connections to the speaker binding posts internally.
Music recommendations ...

Over time, I've been collecting a series of "Jazz For" CD's. They are compilations of jazz and vocal artists. Mostly ballads ... and exceptionally well recorded. Just the ticket for early morning listening with that cup of coffee (hopefully you are home roasting), or while enjoying that adult beverage in the evening with your honey. Here's some examples. Highly recommended:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/DISC-ONLY-CD-Jazz-For-A-Lazy-Day/142780038001?epid=3331429&hash=item213...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Various-Artists-Jazz-for-When-Youre-Alone-CD/191621459697?epid=3314286&...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Jazz-for-Quiet-Times/332654662649?epid=3280255&hash=item4d73c353f9:m:m_...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Jazz-for-a-Rainy-Afternoon-CD-Houston-Person-Charles-Brown-Jimmy-Ponder/392...

There's more ... and the price is right.

Frank
littlecx ...

Congratulations, you’re in for a real treat. You can use a small pointed item like a toothpick to apply the TC in tight areas. The brush supplied with the kit is quite small and it fits in tight spaces as well. Be sure to use a strong light to check if the connections are completely pasted. You don’t want any shiny parts left. :-)

T_Ramey & Tommylion ...

I installed a new modem and cables for my PC the other day. This morning I applied what I had left of TC to all of the connections, the router and modem. Can’t say if the Internet is faster, but the sound quality of my little PC audio system is much improved ... and it was already quite good. Speakers (Audioengine A2+ ) completely disappear now. All around quite enjoyable while the main system awaits the new transformer for the ARC line stage. Delivery of the new transformer is scheduled for tomorrow, then its off to the tech for installation.  

Frank
This week I started crossing the 8 week mark for the last batch of connections I treated. Amazing, not a trace of “canned” sound here!
hi all i discovered this thread by chance and am really interested in the magic this little tube doing and so i placed the order. i stay in cable page mostly and from there i got cerious technologies graphene matrix xlr which is really good. it is a bit tiring to read through 34 pages here but if anyone can tell how to apply to usb? i have ifi micro iusb3.0 and igalvanic. so i have quite few usb ports and cables to do.
@littlecx Thank you for your purchase! tracking number and package out today! Welcome aboard!

@mikeg Thank you! most of all trusting me on the major change and investment in your electrical system. Enjoy all the calls,photos, and texts, keep them coming!

@t_ramey Thank you Sir! I am elated with your praise and enjoyment of
the product. Don't stop pasting pending my announcement, I haven't, and I know what's coming! LOL     
I'm impressed with what TC has done for me. From all the things I've pasted I found tube pins and anything connected to the modem and router to have the biggest impact. I'm slowly changing out connectors on my power cables and when I do I'm applying TC to the wires and contacts to great effect.

I started about a month ago with the speaker and interconnect cables and each week after have applied to something different and would like to open up my dac and amp to fiddle but I'm getting low on supply so i may order more unless Tim's announcement next month steers me in another direction.

Look forward to what you gotta say next month Tim!!
I had a local audiophile friend who is highly discerning when it comes to audio over on Sunday who hadn’t heard my system since applying TC. My friend has had many high end systems over the years and fine audio is his only hobby. He listened to my system and immediately shook his head and said, "You’ve made a lot changes since I was last here. What did you do to your system? You’ve always had a lower noise floor given your highly tweaked system consisting of top of the line Synergistic Research cables and tweaks but your system noise floor is much lower than I have ever heard. I’m hearing details in my favorite recordings that were obscured before and your system is better balanced and less forward sounding". With TC, my system has never sounded better. The soundstage is left to right and front to back is huge with greater image density. I’m at the 8th week mark on my cables and the 2nd week mark on my treated Cutler Hammer panel. I’m also happy to report that I’ve been able to remove some outside the signal path tweaks since treating my system with TC.  Looking forward to the new products coming on board.
@littlecx refrigeration will prolong shelf life, I do have a syringe that is now on its way to the 5 year mark, and the product is still fluid.

@geoffkait No mystery to me. First off he did not received the first version, only Frank did, which was crude, but was good real good. He received the second version, and there was nothing wrong with that, actually good enough, that  about half my system still has it. The sonic signature is the same!

My point is the Beta Tester dropped out for other reasons, had NOTHING to do with my product PERIOD. No hard feelings on my part,
forgiven and forgotten. I have all the emails which paint a much different picture that was portrayed on this thread.

So, I thank you for sending him a little to try, and I am happy that he is impressed, we will see if he is impressed enough to purchase his own kit. If so he will be treated with the same respect and enthusiasm that
I extend to all my customers, which I would like to thank again!

Stay tuned something big is coming in the next month!    

then does the bottle have expiration date? do I need to put it into the fridge after opened?
littlecx ...

If you don't disturb the connections there is no reason to reapply. And actually, it does dry as part of the curing process. That's a good thing. 

Frank
^^^ I've been experimenting.

My TV (73" rear projection Mitsubishi) has taken on a new life ... its amazing. Color saturation, blacks and overall clarity is much improved. Resembles an LCD without the digital cartoonish look that I can't stand.

Huge increase in the PC desktop system too. Just a pair of Audioengine A2+ speakers and then for headphones a pair of Grado RS1's plugged into an Audioengine DAC. 

The main system has been down for a couple of weeks while I wait for a part from ARC. Transformer that feeds the power tube started buzzing, then nothing. New transformer to be delivered this coming Thursday, then off to the tech for installation. Boo. 

TC is an amazing product that we are only scratching the surface with. More to come when Tim gives the word. :-)

Frank
Total Contact works very nicely on Pass Lab amps! Yesterday I took the top off the Pass Lab HP-1 headphone amp and got to work.
I applied the Total Contact to the top of the capacitors, the transistors, the relays and the large 3 watt resistors. I did not treat the very small resistors. The product was easy to apply and it was easy to control how much was applied.

The sound took an immediate change for the better. The music had a better flow, the space between instruments was more precise, details improved and yet there was no unnatural exaggeration of one particular part of the audio spectrum. The music was more involving and also emotionally more engaging.

My headphone listening pleasure has taken a big step up.

David Pritchard

oregonpapa OP
^^^ So ... what's the "bad" news??

>>>>Uh, never mind. 😬
It's all good here, Frank.  Redbook CD is surprising me all over again.  There is no doubt from my listening comparisons that TC will benefit anyone who has connected up a component system via power cords, interconnects and speaker cables.  That would be everyone. 
Bad news. I was subjected to a long barrage of hyperbolic praise and over-excited ranting and raving about how good his sound was and how his TV picture for DVDs was now better than Blu Rays after an acquaintance of mine applied a smidgen of the new product I had sent him to only two power cord plugs, a refrigerator plug and some video connectors. I could hardly get a word in edge-wise. I’m not hot doggin ya. (He was one of the mystery Beta testers for the first version of the product, which was not exactly a big hit. I got quite an earful on that occasion, too, gentle readers.
Try painting the air molecules well pieces and parts that air molecules travels across. Tom
Oh I know geoff, I’ll do one even better. The picture quality from my Apple TV greatly enhanced after I pasted the ethernet cable connectors to the modem and router and it runs off the WiFi from the router.
Wait for it....at least three digital gurus will show up momentarily ranting and raving how you must be delusional and how everybody knows Ethernet cables only transfer 1s and 0s. Wait for it....ten, nine, eight....
I applied TC to my ethernet cable connectors from modem to router to Mac mini and streaming Tidal is just amazing. I started pasting TC about 3 weeks ago to power cable and speaker cable connectors and then every few days or so would apply it to something new. Eventually pasted the pins on all my tubes and iec inlets but after doing the Ethernet connectors I got a big jump in performance. This TC product is truly amazing. Easily the best addition to my system I can remember in quite a while.
@oregonpapa  Frank, looking forward to your report on the application to your modem, etc. Thanks.
Hi Frank: At the risk of sticking my nose where it doesn't belong, in the near term you might want to consider bypassing the wall switch by using wire nuts to make a direct connection in the circuit (at least until SR comes out with a Black switch!). A little perfect contact on the wires wouldn't hurt either, I'd have to imagine....
jafreeman ...

A dedicated line is on the bucket list. I think I’ll have it done when I have an electrician install a new and upgraded circuit breaker panel.

David_ten ...

I haven’t done much with my computer system other than the connections on the Audio-engine speakers, the Dragonfly DAC and the headphone jacks. I think I’ll try the modem sometime this week. Thanks ...

Frank
Has anyone utilized the TC in the connection points for network switches and routers/modems? If so, can you report on your results. Thank you.
Frank, can you get your system on a better circuit than the one with a wall switch?  One dedicated 20 amp would go a lot farther in power supply.  Two would be better if expanding your system in the future. 
I still have plenty of places to paste with TC. I think I'll do the power conditioner next:

Sound Application power conditioner with upgraded receptacles. http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/soundapplication_xe12s.htm

Frank

@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. 

jafreeman & dgarretson ...

Have you guys pasted your receptacles yet? Also the connecting wires and screws at the plug (turn electricity off for this one). Also, try pasting the inside of your wall plate before you reinstall it. 

I have a dual wall switch. One controls the porch light and the other controls the audio system. I pasted the receptacles and the inside of the face plate resulting in a  noticeable improvement ... a further lowering of the noise floor. 

Frank
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. 
Frank---Yes, the whole is now greater than the sum of the parts.  The better connections are creating a more seamless energy pathway throughout all components.  According to claim, the TC solves the problem of oxidation and continues to improve the connection over eight weeks as it hardens.  This is very appealing to anyone who is putting together power cords with clamped connections from the excellent DIY materials now offered and should also appeal to anyone who has put together a component system at all---highly recommended.  
Frank, thanks for starting your threads on all of the sound improvements I and others have been making through being informed of these products right here.  
^^^ jafreeman ...

Percussion is amazing on my system also. On good recordings, the realism is uncanny at times.  

Have you noticed that your system seems "seamless" like your crossovers don't exist now that you've applied the TC?  

By the way ... you haven't heard anything yet. There's that four week ...and especially the eight week breakthroughs yet to come. :-)

Frank
Listening to Lee Ritenour's "World of Brazil" on CD, and the percussion is popping out and hanging in the room with a dimensionality not present before Total Contact. Floor toms, kick bass, congas--all with a crisper attack and a fully extended, sweet dwell.  Every instrument is more fully defined in its own space on a more dramatic soundscape.  
  If you enjoy developing your system with easy tweaks, this contact enhancer is for you.  If you've done the heavy lifting, the big investment, found the right combinations, then Total Contact is a further step to tie all the pieces together in a more seamless whole--more hardwired, if that were possible, and it nearly is in the way it all sounds.     
  A great day--my TC kit arrived Friday noon, only 48 hours since ordered, so I went right to work. I painted each end of six power cords' connections, my one pair of interconnects, four banana plugs to REL subs, speaker cable spade lugs to amps, twenty-four Maggie pins, and nine SR Blue fuses.  I used 0.5 ml of the 1.5 ml supply and placed the syringe in the freezer.  
  First listen is very impressive:  Even more information is emerging from a deeper, quieter center. Instruments are more layered, more dimensional--the whole is more seamless, sweeter, clearer.  
  And all of this will get even better over eight weeks?  Then this stuff has got to be about the best audio bargain I have heard and will continue to hear as a constant upgrade over many weeks.  I highly recommend Total Contact to the most knowledgeable, the most skeptical, the most cynical--to all who are looking for an upgrade without spending for one.   
    
Painted the top of the caps in my CD transport, and the tops of the input/phase splitter transformers on my amp Monday. Things have settled in nicely, and my CD front end is sounding like the really good turntable setups I've heard in the past (without the noise & fuss).
Update on my office system. As reported earlier I had switched out my Office Depot  “special” powers strip with an “Eichman” power strip. Before installing, I applied the TC to the new Crimson powerchord and re applied it to the male ends of each components power chord before re plugging them into the new power strip. Right out of the box it was an incredible improvement. I attributed most of that improvement to the new Eichmen strip and Crimson powerchord.

Now after about four to five weeks of curing. All I can say is that I am blown away by the music’s organic presentation, dynamics, pace, rhythm and timing. Eight weeks should to be incredible. I will report back at that time.

I have been very busy in my business lately but I have been buying and listening to a lot of various types of music late into the night. My listening sessions are long because it is not fatiguing in the least.

jafreeman,

Welcome me to the fun and Enjoy the music.

rc

Finally placed my order for a Total Contact kit.  I am stoked for another jump in performance!  
shadorne ...

I painted the very top of my tin foil hat. My eyesight improved dramatically.

I may be mistaken, but I believe it was you in a much earlier post who claimed that you pasted your sphincter with TC with amazing results. If I remember correctly, I had asked you what you found the benefits of a tighter sphincter to be. To date, you haven’t answered the question. How come???

Frank
I did paste the tops of the various dac chips.....but not the pins.  Yes to the tops of the caps also.  @kdude66 let us know if you attempt the chip pin legs😁
There are a couple of reasons for the tubes and one especially for a tin hat. You will have a change of impact if your soft in the head or a knuckle head where that head is located and what it is attached to and the results will vary and I am only kinda half joking..The real answer will bring out the flame throwers. Tom
What about the glass tops of tubes? Volume control, balance and tone control knobs? And chassis screws? What about the battery contacts in the remote control? Is it recommended they all be TC painted too?

How about toe nails? Anyone try that and if so what was the difference both with and without your tin foil hat?