Bottomless jeans are out.
Tweaks - An Honest Discussion
I know there is a lot of talk about performance tweaks in this forum and the value that can be realized. I've started this thread because it seems that folks tend towards believing they are either the silver bullet to sonic bliss or conversely simply snake oil. I believe tweaks are somewhere in between and in most cases, worth about what you pay for (crazy I know).
I'm open minded to tweaks and have employed many in my system over the years including isolation, fuses, footers, HFTs, cabling, cable risers and attempts at reducing RFI (among others). While I believe that many of these tweaks incrementally helped me get better performance out of my system I never for a second found any tweak make a transformational difference the way that a significantly upgraded piece of gear brings to the table. I think many of us have been quite happy with our systems over the years but that doesn't mean implementing a tweak can possibly compete with the benefit of replacing a piece of gear that is well matched to elevate your system. Just because you're happy with your setup doesn't mean a major gear change can't really elevate the experience - surely well beyond any form of tweakery.
As an example, I've been very happy with a Hana ML cart and how it's performed in my system. I recently decided to acquire a Lyra Kleos cart - for a $2K increase the change has been transformational in terms of dynamic range and ability to convey detail and imaging. There has never been a dot I've placed on a wall, carbon platform placed under gear, or RFI shielding device I've ever used that could possibly come close to this equipment upgrade. Same goes for upgrades to my system over the years in terms of amps, pre's, and speakers. For anyone to suggest that through tweaks alone you can elevate your system to a level that only gear changes can achieve simply falls flat in my experience. Some may be shocked to hear that most of the time a $200 tweak truly only gets you about $200 worth of improvement (if any) and not the equivalent of a $5000 gear upgrade. I know there is a certain allure that by simply being smart and applying elbow grease that we can extend the sonic limits of our system well beyond it's design, parts, and capabilities but that's just not true IMO.
What's your experience been?
I'm open minded to tweaks and have employed many in my system over the years including isolation, fuses, footers, HFTs, cabling, cable risers and attempts at reducing RFI (among others). While I believe that many of these tweaks incrementally helped me get better performance out of my system I never for a second found any tweak make a transformational difference the way that a significantly upgraded piece of gear brings to the table. I think many of us have been quite happy with our systems over the years but that doesn't mean implementing a tweak can possibly compete with the benefit of replacing a piece of gear that is well matched to elevate your system. Just because you're happy with your setup doesn't mean a major gear change can't really elevate the experience - surely well beyond any form of tweakery.
As an example, I've been very happy with a Hana ML cart and how it's performed in my system. I recently decided to acquire a Lyra Kleos cart - for a $2K increase the change has been transformational in terms of dynamic range and ability to convey detail and imaging. There has never been a dot I've placed on a wall, carbon platform placed under gear, or RFI shielding device I've ever used that could possibly come close to this equipment upgrade. Same goes for upgrades to my system over the years in terms of amps, pre's, and speakers. For anyone to suggest that through tweaks alone you can elevate your system to a level that only gear changes can achieve simply falls flat in my experience. Some may be shocked to hear that most of the time a $200 tweak truly only gets you about $200 worth of improvement (if any) and not the equivalent of a $5000 gear upgrade. I know there is a certain allure that by simply being smart and applying elbow grease that we can extend the sonic limits of our system well beyond it's design, parts, and capabilities but that's just not true IMO.
What's your experience been?
Showing 14 responses by geoffkait
Tweak for the ages. Buy a pack of 12” long Black cable ties at Home Despot. Attach one Black cable tie to the bottom end of all drain spouts on the building. These are the long water spouts that extend from the roof to the ground. If the drain spouts are extra wide use two cable ties joined together. |
danvignau I have a pal who spent at least hundreds on turntable tweaks. His TT and cartridge are crap, IMHO. In fact, the very prominent piano intro at the beginning of Zappa’s Uncle Remus, nearly disappears on his system. No tweak helps. DOH! >>>>It kind of helps if you know what you’re doing. |
I’m not hot dogging you, 🌭I tried the old Peter Belt tweak of aligning all Phillips head and flat head screws on wall outlet plates, light switch plates, door hinges, door knobs, cabinet hinges in the house. The flat head screws should be perpendicular to the Earth and for Phillips head screws like a cross with N-S perpendicular to the Earth. The perfect tweak for a lockdown? What else ya gonna do? |
hifiman5 Of course all systems are different from one another but...the BDR boat sailed a l o n g time ago. Easily my biggest regret tweaking was all the $ I spent on an assortment of BDR #3 and #4 cones and pucks. I didn’t want to give up on them but my ears insisted! I have found other uses for them around the house although some are just residing in the listening room closet taking up precious space. The #3 BDR products make the music slower sounding and thick in the midbass. >>>>>I’ll drink to that! 🍺 Any materials science type like your humble scribe will tell you and any yutz with ears will too, cones that are made of soft materials don’t sound as good as cones made of very hard materials. So, avoid carbon fiber, copper, aluminum, brass as they rank quite low on the Mohs scale of hardness. Go for very hard materials like ceramics, hardened steel and diamonds if you can afford ‘em. You know, like Shun Mook Diamond Resonators. |
cd318 Later others jumped on the bandwagon, the most famous being Peter W Belt who really pushed the tweaking incredulity boat out into the already murky waters on both sides of the Atlantic. He advocated stuff like putting bits of paper under just one foot of your speaker stand, amp or CD player, using silver foil stickers and a whole host of strange suggestions, many of which could be bought from his own company. >>>>Tweaks can be heaven or hell. That’s the way things go sometime. 😩 |
Everything must be tweaked. You know, if you’re interested in high performance. If you’re not interested in high performance that’s OK too. There is room for all kinds in this hobby. 🤗 “When Bob Gilliland made the first flight of the SR-71 on December 22, 1964, engineers were still tweaking 379 items on the aircraft. That didn’t deter Gilliland, who took the airplane to 50,000 feet and Mach 1.5. At a 2010 talk in Ridgecrest, California, Gilliland recounted that he ignored the one error message he saw in the cockpit that day: “Canopy Unsafe.”” https://www.airspacemag.com/flight-today/blackbird-diaries-180953373/ |