Tweaks that work? (yes very subjective topic)

The Japanese distributor of fo.Q just cancelled my order and issued a refund. Drat!

I remember back in the early days of cd. someone came out with a sticky disc size backing that was placed on the label side, seems much like what Geoff is referring to. I have one but don't recall on which disc

Oh, and another freebee..every 6 months or so, turn of the mains power switch(s) to your power and to your dedicated line(s) to maintain clean contact.  This can be part of the periodic cleaning of all electrical contacts...audio hygiene.  :)  Pin

Hrmmm...a good topic to get jettisoned.  Speaker placement general, then, angle fore and aft, side to side...tiny increments...do the work.  Adjust sweet-spot if necessary.  Taking measurements all around helps. 

Resonances:  LARGE (cd shelves, window panes, picture frames, loose fixtures) SMALL (gear cases and their surfaces) ...then SMALLER STILL (under the hood inner work when possible...think tuning dots) ...and yes, harm can be done...experiment, easily reversible. 

Level all gear, especially cdps.  Isolate digital source power, when possible.  Same type surfaces for gear, if possible.  Furutech outlets, spring loaded that won't create the problems over time with overly tight grip, in/out for storms, etc.  Felt around tweeters (to a lesser extent midrange drivers) to address diffraction..self-adhesives can be found at craft stores.  Solder or pressure affix crossover lead wires to drivers...at least check connections. 

When the system reaches levels of exacting refinement, cable lifting, addressing RFI with ERS around the middle section of power cords, improved cabling and connectors, upgrading plugs etc increases the chain of cumulative benefits that allow tweaks to become more easily identifiable towards your goals. 

Most importantly, keep it fun!  Over 50 years, my passion has never waned.  Recent upgrades have freshened my entire collection.  The hobby is personal and only a select few have diy skills.  Don't be discouraged.  There is always something to learn and to try.   If, like me, you can't afford to pursue vinyl, find a friend that does.  We generally are very solitary creatures.  My circle of music lovers are some of the most generous, finest people I've known.  Ok, let's keep our sticks flat on the ice.  (You know who you are.  Smile.)  More Peace, Pin   

The Mind Lamp from Psyleron doesn’t work sonically either. But it can be controlled by ...... thoughts.

http://www.psyleron.com/lamp.html

Ordinarily lava lamps are sonically inert. This one however, when Ted Denney saw its location in my system he realized that with quantum tunneling it had the potential to exponentially magnify the effect of the HFT directly behind it. But it didn't work. I had forgotten the lava lamp had already been modified with a filament of five nine's pure Tony Starkium. Quantum tunneling deactivated the Starkium and now its back to being an uber cool lava lamp. 

I would put the fO.q tape on the tone arm, counterweight and arm base. Behind speakers both on the baskets as well as in the gasket area. Also if you put some around your face shield/helmet interface it helps control the shock waves from close range Iron Man rocket launches.

@millercarbon, does the lava lamp provide any sonic benefits? I ordered some fo.Q tape a few weeks ago. Still waiting for it to arrive from Japan. Then I'll have to figure out where to stick it. Tonearm tube and/or bearing housing? Inside transport cover?

skypunk OP66 posts05-27-2020 2:41pm@tpreaves  you need every penny you can get! Bet you don't have two nickles to rub together.


Of course I do. I told you that I refuse to spend money foolishly!!

Hello
I agree with plugging amp directly in the wall...not usually good to restrict current to the amp. That being said running a couple of independent lines is usually a good thing 
 I have 1 20 amp independent line for 2 channel and 4 lines for my Theater..

Treating a room will probably be the best money ever spent to improve sound.. lots of video’s out there on how to treat rooms.  This might be difficult aesthetically unless you have a dedicated listening room - bass traps are definitely not wife friendly lol

After that maybe experiment with some vibration and or isolation products.  Here I found these most effective on speakers - actually one of those OMG moments for me.  
Peace & Happy listening 

A hot tip on Tube Traps. Placement directly in the corner can sometimes hurt the sound. Best to experiment with position, from directly in the corner to a few inches to a foot or two either direction 🔛. At times standing waves can be very uncooperative. Yes, I know what you’re thinking, “But the directions say put them in the corners.“

I would say a dedicated phono stage is only a must if you establish a budget and listen to dedicated phono stages within that budget vs your existing internal phono stage and hear a noticeable difference.

Don't upgrade willy nilly.  

Also, under no circumstances do you float the ground by using a cheater plug.  That defeats a very important safety feature.  Do not do this!!!!!

People that used cheater plugs typically had ground loops that they didn't want to fix by determining what exactly caused the ground loop and fixing (or replacing) it.   

I noticed four things that helped substantially.

1).  Power conditioner.  All low level equipment (pre-amp, tuner (yes, I still have a tuner), CD Transport, DAC, Music Server, Phono Stage, Turntable, electronic Crossover) are plugged into the power conditioner and that in turn is plugged into its own dedicated line to the panel.  
2). dedicated lines.  I installed four.  One for each amp and another for the power conditioner.  My noise floor is zero now.  Dead Quiet.  Also, i have virtually eliminated any possible ground loops.
3). Bass traps in the corners behind the speakers really calmed the bass output.  It really did.  I've had people over where I played music without the traps and then with the traps and they all heard a marked improvement with the traps.
4).  large rug on the floor in front of the speakers.  This also mas a marked improvement that eliminated a reflection point.

If you have a raised foundation house, then adding the dedicated lines is really inexpensive.  Even with a concrete floor (non raised foundation) it isn't that expensive.  Relatively speaking.  

enjoy

Wow mapman, somebody is a little grouchy bear today. 😡 Is your butt still sore? You must be one of those slow healers. Feel better. 🤗 And stop stalking me!

@skypunk

@tablejockey has given you sound advice. A dedicated phono preamp is a must IMO. It should never be an after thought. It handles the most delicate signal. 

My favorite tweak lately is called the Mystery Tweak. There is one for CDs and one for cassettes. It involves stiffening them and damping them, thereby reducing distortion. I would very much like to say what the Mystery Tweak involves but then it wouldn’t be a mystery any more, would it?

That’s ok because guess what? Nobody cares. 

Now if you would just keep the useless posts to yourself that would be a great help.

My favorite tweak lately is called the Mystery Tweak. There is one for CDs and one for cassettes. It involves stiffening them and damping them, thereby reducing distortion. I would very much like to say what the Mystery Tweak involves but then it wouldn’t be a mystery any more, would it?

I'm using a tweak that is definitely not snake oil;  High Fidelity MC-0.5 power conditioner modules. They plug into the duplex receptacles, I'm using three modules. They have added more detail with a smoother presentation, lower noise floor, and holographic sonics.
There is now a MC-0.5 Helix Plus available with increased benefits.

Tweaks that worked for me were. 1) dedicated line of 20A on separate phase 2) star wired distribution block. 3) high end receptables and iec connectors Oyaide C004 4) neotech power cables 5) master base under all my equipment 5) audioquest sorbothane pieces (cut to size) under interconnects, low level cabling 6) cable dressing 7) hifi tuning fuses 8) diffusors behind my listening seat 9) JSSG 360 shielding (cable tweak from computer audiophile website) 10) friwo medical smps with ultra low leakage currents for modem and non audiophile equipment 11) linear psu’s for audiophile equipment. 12) hqplayer and fidilizer for htpc 13) star quad geometry for DC cabling. 13) smoke weed 14) play music loud 😁

I have used and have extra tubes of Total contact also known as perfect path and it works on all cables in your system . It’s not cheap but it works great and if someone wants to buy some I have 5 tubes for sale

For me the cheapest tweak was to remove the speaker grills on my Vienna Acoustics Mozart Grand SE’s.  Most speakers sound better with grills removed in my opinion.  Nothing cheaper than free.

Carpet will calm the room down. But since you are against carpet, how about some throw rugs?

I’m a fast healer. I also work for scale. 

Geoffkait, I don't see any holes in you.

Troll shoots fish in barrel. 🐠 

@tpreaves  you need every penny you can get! Bet you don't have two nickles to rub together. 

Sure found out who all the smart asses are that really need to stop day drinking.

It's  not a tweak but if rugs and drapes are out try Dirac, REW or ARC. 

The best cheap tweak is cup your hands behind your ears while listening. 

My best, least expensive tweak is to remove my glasses. Noticeable impact on soundstage width and depth; subtle, nuanced impact on timbre.  

Absolutely best tweak ever: save up all the money you would have spent on a dozen or more tweaky products, some inexpensive, some not, and then use it to upgrade a component in your system, or to pay for room acoustic treatment.

Of the major food groups Spam is the best for damping electronics and elevating speaker cables. Not too soft, not too hard. Made to order for particular audiophiles. Best straight out of the can. Miracle in a can!

The deli sandwich sounds freakin incredible!!!!! I will be right over with a nice Russian River Syrah :-) ya man

Taping a penny on the cartridge will produce a jaw dropping experience. Some will insist on a nickle but I refuse to spend money foolishly!!!!!

What duplex outlets have you now? Effective inexpensive upgrade in my system.
Room acoustics are important.
Have you looked into hypoallergenic floor coverings?
Synergistic Research has 30 day trial for their acoustic resonators I find them effective. They have other products as well although I have not heard them in my system.
Entreq grounding boxes. Can occasionally be found here used. I find them highly effective.

Any preference between the ps audio and ifi?

@b_limo ,
 I was using 4 PSA Noise Harvesters in a power strip for my analogue; not much effect in lowering the noise floor.
The iFi AC Purifier is a fantastic little device which cleans up grunge on the mains and lowers the noise floor in a very audible way. More detail and separation of instruments than many power conditioners (and it's only $99).


 

Looking at your list, a few things jump out and then later on when you said your amp is plugged into a Furman

* Plug your amp directly into the wall (you can also get a cheater to float the ground)

* Machina Dynamica New Dark Matter in the CD tray (the best $40 you can spend)

* Core Power Tech makes a Deep Core, which goes between the PLC and the wall outlet


hth

One word-----Shungite------- Do a search on this forum using just that word .
I am not much for tweaks . I believe in a couple ( better fuses , isolation ) but what Shungite can do is really almost unbelievable to me . 

This topic has been covered a zillion times. First off. never listen to anyone who stands to sell you something. Humans are way to dangerous for that. Second off, don't waste your money on all this garbage. The "tweaks" that work are a standard part of setting up a system correctly and I don't mean cable elevators. Save money for a more powerful amp or buy more music. Too much of this stuff is just a bad hoax.

jrpnde
millercarbon must own stock in BDR cones. He mentions them in a lot of his posts.
Waiting for another snide comment???

>>>>>Hire that man!

What’s up @skypunk. If your in dallas, I have a thoroughly tweaked system. Low noise power supplies on my routers, modem, and Ethernet switches, vibration control on my servers and streamers, all power cords upgraded, all fuses, bdr cones, synergistic HFT’s and atmosphere towers, contact enhancers, all of it and still tweaking. I even have homemade emf traps. Your welcome to come listen and check it out. I got my SimAudio gear at audio concepts as well, but just sold most of it and upgraded. Also, come eat lunch at  New York Sub, if you ever want to talk audio, and eat NYC style subs made with local meats and smoked roasted and cured in store! Just ask for me
-Andrew.

@drew_f,  you just plug them into unused outlets on the same circuit as your rig?  Any preference between the ps audio and ifi?

148 posts, no virtual system, no advice for the op?

+1MC
-1 for JR

I didn’t realize the BDR cones are so inexpensive.  Possibly my next tweak!  Thanks MC!

Nice set-up Skypunk!  

millercarbon must own stock in BDR cones. He mentions them in a lot of his posts.
Waiting for another snide comment???

I've got a lot of noise on the line, so PS Audio noise harvesters and ifi noise filters made a perceivable improvement.  

   "the phono stage is in the 390 and it is the 310LP"

internal phonostage? You may be surprised how an outboard unit can be a game changer. Your setup appears solid, but that is where I would look for possible, significant improvements. 

From the audiogeek perspective, that is the compromise-internal phonostage. I would be steering my time and wallet towards a separate box. Try and demo things to see if your ears agree. Ever hear a tube unit thru your system? Could possibly add some "life" you didn't know was missing. Personally, I lean toward all tube setups.

Records and tubes are what create "that sound" I constantly chase after.

Subjective, of course. There are plenty of tube vs SS threads that go nowhere.

If that were my setup-better phonostage which will eventually show off an Apheta cart. Now you're done, until you get the P10.

 Thanks for the answers...
Leg of panel is not same as circuit, but computer on same circuit as analog is something I would attend to including consider a second Furman for any digital component. I would also plug the amp direct into the wall and at a bare minimum get a high clamping Force Hubble outlet. Instead of rug try a ceiling treatment instead or several oversized/ over stuff fabric ottomans you can move into the floor bounce area. But the first thing I would do is get the amp direct to the wall. I have three of the 15 model power conditioners, none of my amps sound better thru them.
your dealer I know thru reputation from both customers and supplier, I think you can trust the table setup :-)
but that is a skill you would want to acquire along w tools to do it.
have fun enjoy the music
jim

We all use cones under components or should be and every room should have the basic room treatments.
After that, you can raise your cables off the floor, and put some dampers on top of each component. There are many cable elevators out there or you can make your own.
What we do for resonance control, we filled up plastic containers measuring 1x2x2” with bb’s and place them on each component. 

@aewarren Carpet never man. Drapes never man.

Also that is a old picture.