Tweaks, money pit or real value?

Some of you guys have 20 or more tweaks. You would think that if you added them all together some unsuspecting person would hear your system and get their head knocked off because it would be so good. I’m curious why that never happens and that tweaks don’t add up that way. I think the author is saying he feels that there’s more subtraction going on than addition.

@hiendmmoe "The thing that seems to always follow them is how soon I seem to not recognize the improvement anymore."

Are you saying that the sound has regressed back to where it was prior to the insertion of the tweak? Are you expecting continual incremental improvement even after some reasonable period of tweak break-in? Could it be that what you are experiencing is simply a matter of having become accustomed to the sound post tweak "break-in" and there are no further incremental benefits of said tweak?

+1 spenav

Of course, it’s a contentious issue. My experience over 50 yrs has been that most tweaks are a waste of money, as are cables beyond a good professional grade (e.g., Mogami/Neutrik).

What does pay off the most: Better speakers, acoustic treatments, subs if integrated properly.

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.

True that. Some calls it expectation bias. It’s a real thing. That’s why I always subtract the tweak after a while to confirm that it was really doing something. At the end, one realizes that few tweaks actually work. My experience is that those with no basis in science and those based on quantum physics and nanotechnology rarely translate into palpable improvements, at least in my system. 

But isn’t it fun to chase something once in a while? 

Minor tweaks are just what they are, minor. Over the years I have found that I do better if I just concentrate on a simple system without too many add-ons. YMMV.