Rank the tweaks, geeks!

@oregonpapa

How would you rank the general importance of the following gear (not room or electrical) tweaks.

I was wondering about rankings *besides* room and electrical, but thanks for your contribution. All makes sense.

@ebm Another peek inside an empty closet.

@ebm If you can take a few minutes to write blather, you can take a bit more time to contribute something you know of substance. Then again there's the usual option: take zero time and just skip the thread. Oh, yes -- have a nice day. 

@artemus
Great tweaks — perhaps a sub-topic: best *cheap* tweaks!

@earlflynn "Search bar." Er, good one. I'm not asking to look something up, I'm asking people to report out their experiences. This is a *discussion* forum and I'm starting a *discussion.*

@stuartk and a couple others — some platforms etc. are on my list, too. @antigrunge -- looking into those items, especially on EMI/RFI.

@calvin Thanks! And what a great list and the detail is so helpful. Lots to try, there.

@mc

Yes, impossible. Impossible to rank these. For the simple reason it is impossible even to say what it is this list means.

Happy to hear people phrase things in any verbiage that tickles them, seem appropriate, and approach it in any way that makes it possible. Your list is most helpful. You listed things from least to most expensive. Is this also a list from least to most *impact*? Imagine you were giving someone advice, and they said, "Bro, I can spring for just two tweaks now and then I have to lay off for a while." Your first two items on the list would comprise your reply to them, I'm assuming.

@nonoise — gotcha. Speaker cables are part of the system, not a tweak. Perhaps part of an "upgrade" but not a tweak. Fair correction. Thanks for the rest of your list.

@mglik Fair point, accepted.

Anyone who chooses what to do first has implicitly ranked, unless they’re acting at random.
Anyone who makes a checklist has to choose what to do on it, first.
Let's not quibble. Rankings, taken to an extreme, are quixotic, a waste of time.
But we all agree to do the bigger stuff, first. Nuff said.

@kennyc Which of the tweaks on your list were most important to deal with first?

@duckworp Thanks for your detailed and descriptive list. I recently upgraded my speaker cable. My DAC cord is decent but not great. I need to install dedicated electrical lines before doing much more with power cord trials. My AP Crystal interconnects really advanced the sound for me.

Don't fully understand the stuff about Cisco switch; have been using wifi rather than ethernet cable because I've read that ethernet cables are susceptible in real ways. I don't really understand #10. I have a comcast/xfinity router within a few feet of my streamer. Are you suggesting different kind of cord here or some larger scale change.

Thanks again for your answers. Good to know that writing up a ranked list is a rational think to ask.

Hear hear jpwarren. Oh, and by the way -- just learned that adding a little salt to coffee before brewing helps  neutralize the bitterness (it blocks certain taste buds).

@kennyc 
@djones51 

Thanks. I need to google "managed switch" because...I am ignorant.

At this point, I'm filing away this information about ethernet switches. From my understanding, and given my system's situation, there are too many other more important things to do to improve the sound.

This is *exactly* why a ranked list is valuable to me -- when a new option comes along (e.g. ethernet switch) I can look at my other options and know what else to do first.