Tweaks you got rid of because they were not effective (enough)?


There are some audiophiles for whom cost is no object; they buy what they wish and every single tweak and gadget which promises to improve the sound. And the industry is all too happy to produce such tweaks -- often made of expensive materials with elaborate engineering explanations. Those who question the value of these tweaks are frequently accused of being "naysayers" who are either too ignorant or insensate to realize that "everything matters."

Of course, money spent one place cannot be spent elsewhere; expenditures on tweaks take the place of other more central factors affecting the sound. In some cases, those tweaks are worth it; you can hear the difference, and that $400 (or whatever) really could not have improved your speakers or sub or amp, etc.

So, the question here is simple: Which tweak have you tried which, after some experience and reflection, you realized was either *not* effective or not the most effective way to improve your system? 
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Showing 2 responses by mijostyn

10+ @cd318. 

I once bought some contact improver oil stuff. Most of my silliness was in buying stupid equipment the apogee of which was a Transcriptors Vestigial tonearm. Then to make matters worse I stuck a Koetsu Rosewood in it. I learned fast about tonearm resonance. The Koetsu would fly out of the groove with every good kick drum beat. Tail between my legs I ran back to my trusty old SME 3009. I had a Transcriptors  Gyrodec. That chased me back to LP12 #2. Then there was the Wyn Strain Gauge Cartridge the worst tracking cartridge I ever owned. Even worse than the Koetsu in the Transcriptors arm! Back then I wqs getting everything at salesman's comp and would usually sell it off without much if any loss. We did not have all that tweaky junk back then and the marketing was not there to support it. Humans need time to perfect their lies. 
cd318, surely you jest. I've heard some amazing looking systems at Hi Fi shows.