Tweaks, money pit or real value?

@steakster 

My golf game was never good. My job required circling the globe a lot. I loved mountaineering, but feeling lazier in my old age. Four of my seven bikes are custom made with a strong slant towards long distance. I started tweaking over forty years ago before I could afford decent equipment. You have clearly found some good equipment and pulled technology (your profession?) into your system. 

@steakster

+1. No question the tweaks take a good sounding system and improve performance, typically that level can be magical. I have never heard a magical system that was not tweaked to get the most out of the basic components… ever $1M one’s. Although to be fair, I have never heard an untweaked million dollar system… who would do that?

I am a cyclist… 4,000 miles per year. 

Personally, I have always hoped tweaks would not work. I love the idea of buying a new better component plunking it down and getting the best sound out of it. I did many changes just to prove “this couldn’t possibly make a difference”. Like my fist digital interconnect… that failed… it was a component level increase in sound quality. I keep hoping, getting lazier, but they keep proving themselves. I had really hoped that the $3,000 SRA isolation platform would prove not worth the money… damn, once again. 

I have been pursuing the high end for fifty years. Tweaks are critical in getting the most out of an audio system… period, no question. I go through a component upgrade, then upgrade / choose interconnects, then power cords, and isolation. Then I enjoy the system for seven years or so. Then, upgrade again.

Each of these steps provide greater performance. Each disproportionally improves the sound quality.

One of the great reviewers from The Absolute Sound once said something to the effect that he had heard good sound systems but never a truly great sound system without all the tweaks… cable elevators, carefully chosen interconnects, power cords, isolation devices. My experience as well. You want great sound you have to put in the effort to achieve it.