Mrtennis coasters for my glasses.
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redwoodaudio My 6mtly visit to my ENT Professor to vacuum the old wax out of the ears, after it you swear you come out hearing like a bat. Scroll down and watch video, and you'll see what I mean. https://www.insider.com/video-tiny-vacuum-cleans-out-earwax-2017-11 Cheers George |
So I picked up a novum pmr premium resonator on the basis of a recommendation in this thread (and other reviews) and the effect it has in my room is beautiful. Hard to describe, but improves tonality, image density, without any negatives. It's also quite beautiful to look at sculptural. I've since found a second one used and am waiting to receive it. Definitely got me more open minded about "tweaks". Love all the ideas here. |
Hey All, Over the counter...inexpensive...effective for wax "producers" ...better than having "dry ears" btw. https://www.debrox.com/ For the more adventurous: http://marigoaudio.com/the-audiophile-voice/ Controversial, but do some research...I have just completed a full dot application of my Music Reference RM-10 MKII. Here is how I shared results with my audio buds: "25 years ago, my local Tech (Rick), now retired to Florida, was doing deep dive experiments around resonances, macro and micro, including electrical resistances. He possessed the technical and listening skills...plus the extreme patience to become expert in applying the VTS Dots. Yes, you can harm the sound, easily reversible. He referred to it as "opening up the sound," probably the most apt description. So, what's my result? Bloom was the first thing that came to mind. A maturation of the system. Clarity and greater honesty of the timing of events, like live. Less congestion of massed instruments and chorus with an enhanced sense of space and time, enhancing the holographic ability associated with great tube playback. It's not by chance that the esoteric high end is finally paying extreme attention to floating circuit boards, extreme isolation racks, layered and exotic materials for loudspeaker enclosures and feet. Turntable designs are off the charts identifying and addressing plinth, arm, headshell and stylus resonances It is a shame that these lightweight, layered music makers have been largely ignored by our industry. Proof's in the pudding." More Peace, Pin |
duckworp I find it amazing that the exact same products could have such completely opposite results in two different systems, I must admit, I’m stumped. Reagrding the CMS, they absolutely just blew me away. They made such an improvement I just couldn’t believe it. I had the same result (admittedly not as huge but pretty damn close) when I put the Denali v2 in the system. As you know, the Denali v2 doesn’t ship with a power cord. When I opened the box I found this out. My brilliant dealer forgot to mention that little fact to me. I called him up and asked him what the cheapest 20 power cord he had in stock just so I had something to use until I could figure out which really good cord I would get. He sold me a Shunyata Venom cord that retailed for $250.00. The blow away results I’m getting with the Denali v2 is surprisingly with that cord! Talk about bang for the buck. I am going to eventually put one of their Sigma XX cords on the Denali v2, should make a significant improvement over the Venom. Take care. Scot |
@scothurwitz With regard to the isolation feet, which three brands did you try?I tried CMS and did exactly as you did and left them in for 2 weeks as my dealer said they would change over time and, as exactly as you said that they would get worse then better. I heard no change at all over the two weeks. Nothing. I also tried Stillpoints and Ansuz. I thought I heard something slightly better with the Stillpoint 6 under the CDP but with some blind testing there was nothing. Funnily enough the conditioner I tested was the same as yours, Shunyata Denali v2 but as I say it did nothing but a little smoothing, which created a far less enjoyable sound. I do have two Shunyata Alpha EF mains cables in my system on my amp and CDP and they are fantastic, a real game changing mains cable for me. That and Townshend cabling in my system make a massive difference but I don’t count cabling as tweaking. |
duckworp With regard to the isolation feet, which three brands did you try? If you heard no improvement, then it had to be the wrong brands. Like I stated in my last reply to this very thread, there are good feet and bad feet. If you have a Critical Mass System’s dealer or a Wilson dealer in your area, ask the dealer if you can home audition a set from either brand. The Wilson’s would be better for a home audition because the CMS feet need about 7 - 10 days until they sound correct (something to do with physics which is way beyond my comprehension) the improvement from the Wilson feet are instant. Try a set under your CD player or preamp, the improvement should be immediately obvious and significant. The Set of CMS feet I tried freaked me out. The improvement surprised the hell out of me. You have to be patient, for the first few days, once the are in place, the system will actually sound worse. I was very skeptical but I kept an open mind. After about 6-7 days everything started coming back into focus. After about ten days the improvement was shocking. The soundstage was the first thing I noticed. Then the clarity and the transparency was off the charts. They made such a big improvement, I immediately bought two more sets (and trust me, these things are not cheap) for two other components. I need one more set for under the amplifier and I’ll buy that set as soon as I can afford it. I consider them a must have “tweak”. A friend of mine owns a high end audio store and he had a customer take home a set of the Wilson feet to try. He liked them so much he bought a set for under every piece of gear he has. This guy spent close to $10,000.00 in isolation feet! The other comment you made regarding the power conditioner surprised me. I bought the new Shunyata Denali v2 conditioner and that thing is amazing. Over time it even got better. It made such an instant improvement, it surprised me. I’ve had several conditioners over the years but none of them came close to the Denali v2. That thing is nothing short (no pun intended) of amazing. I will never be without it (unless they come out with a v3). The coolest thing about finding a great power conditioner is, if you buy a better preamp, you get a better preamp, if you buy a better conditioner you get a better everything! The moral of this story is, you have to try different products in your own system until you find one your happy with. There’s a lot of expensive mediocre products out there. Some of them are great, the trick is finding the great ones. Take care. Scot |
Tweaks that worked for me: - Townshend seismic corners under the rack. These ‘float’ the whole rack and made a big difference - cheap Granite slabs under speakers - Isoacoustic Gaia feet under speakers - CAD GC1 and GC3 passive grounding units - a dedicated Hi-Fi ring from main fuse box- closing the curtains (eliminates reflections from the glass) Tweaks that made NO difference to me: - Isolation feet under individual components (and I tried three brands just to be sure) made no difference. Maybe because the whole rack is floated on Townshend seismic corners. - power conditioning, even a top of the range £6k conditioner. It smoothed the sound but did not improve it. |
Hi redwoodaudio I could not agree with bdp24 more. Room treatments are often overlooked due mainly to the wife acceptance factor. Let's face it, most audiophiles don't have the luxury of a dedicated room. If you do, don't underestimate the benefit of room treatment. A word of caution, it's very easy to over do it. When done properly it can make the difference between good sounding system and a great system. Placement of your speakers is absolutely critical. The difference of an 1/8" can also be the difference between good and great sound. As far as tweaks are concerned regarding best bang for the buck, I think a good set of isolation feet can sound amazing (if you get good ones). I bought a set of the Critical Mass System Center Stage feet and couldn't believe the improvement. They are stupid expensive but boy do the work. In my opinion, they are worth every penny. I've tried just about all of them over the years with very different results. Some were good, some were just ok, some made it sound worse. You have to be careful. At first you think everything is better and then you remove them after a few weeks and you realize that it just made things sound different, not necessarily better. I had one set I thought were great and when I removed them and put the cd player back on just the shelf in the rack my tonal color came back. When they were under the cd player the tonality and timbre was gone! Caveat emptor. My advise is avoid coming to a quick conclusion. Take your time and listen carefully and then remove them and listen to the same material. The CMS feet really just blew me away. The new Wilson "Pedestal) feet are also supposed to be fantastic. Hope that helps. Take care. Scot |
Many tweaks depend on what you want to tweak. before you say over all sound and as some one mentioned divorce comes into play or refinancing your home. Simple tweaks that wont break your bank account. For instance TTs, there are many tweaks for TTs, that we can discuss. Speakers, placement comes into play. Place a laser on top of your speakers see where it points at. This may help in re-directing where they should pointing or placed, if the laser hits your sweet spot too low or too high adjust them to near ear level. Next you may want to go after internal wiring or capacitors in your crossovers. a better cap makes a big difference. Believe it or not even expensive speaker companies don't use top quality caps. We've changed out caps and better wire in less expensive speakers and made a really big difference. Speaker wires make a big difference, however this could go either way good or bad. More expensive doesn't necessarily mean better. This depends on how much noise the speaker cable lets in, meaning it works like an antenna. Connect it to a FM radio antenna connection with a tuning meter and move it around, get a high reading on the tuner meter, not a good choice. braided or twisted pairs works better than most. the less noise or interference, the blacker the background. You don't need huge snake size cables either. A simple tweak raise them off the floor. carpet tends to smear the sound. I'll bet your cables are on the floor. if possible away from the wall as well. small pieces foam works well for testing. You'll notice a difference. Try good power cables on each of your components. and route them accordingly. away from your speaker cables and interconnects if possible. Which is next to impossible.. Clean your phono jacs and connections with pro- gold. little goes a long way. spray it on a cotton swab and clean all your connections. These are just that tweaks.. Wont break the bank or your happy home. GT Alien Tweak Audio |
+1 with atmosphere & mrdecible. The majority mentioned should not be considered a tweek in my opinion. A tweekers system will always sound better then a plug & play guys system and once you enter the high end hobby everything matters especially entry level not just the super high end. I agree weed is a good tweek. |
@stvgray That's a great suggestion. May I ask you about it? I assume the electrician used Romex. Where I live the minimum required Romex is 12/3. And that's what all the electricians use routinely if nothing else is specified. Did you use that, or a lower gauge (thicker wire)? Also, how long was your run? Thanks. |
This is really easy. I got a bigger improvement by paying an electrician to run a direct line from the breaker box to my listening room (including installing premium PS Audio outlets) than from any other change I've ever made in 40 years of high-end audio. It cost me $1,200, and the improvement was jaw-dropping. Cleaner, clearer, vast improvement in air and space, tighter bass -- everything you want. The gain was WAY bigger than any other single change I've ever made, and many of those changes cost big multiples of that $1,200. In many homes, the cost would be even less. It required a complicated run in my house. If you own your house, just do it! Steve |
Always buy the best quality recordings and performances. Most musicians have their ups and downs. Using Amazon reviews, I sort newer artists chronologically from first release to last. I read customer ratings, listen to top examples to see if agree, and choose their top rated recording as a first buy. This method rarely disappoints. I’m another DeOxit Gold happy customer. Reapply about every 6 months to all component and speaker connections while securely reseating cables. Mogami Gold studio analog and digital cables are very reasonably priced and won the Best Cable Tweak Award in my music system. |
fuzztone recommends Nano Diamant contact oil and I have pondered on the use of this product. - In fact I have ordered some . As an alternative what about Gallium ? Readily available as a liquid metal thermal paste primarily used for the interface between a CPU and the heatsink in PC's. Gallium's electrical resistivity is considerably higher than carbon in the form of graphite ,silver or copper but it is a hell of a lot better than air. Has any member explored this liquid metal? |
Oh, and Stillpoints under my equipment, especially my pre-amp which is custom made but had a dark, slow and mushy sound on it’s hard rubber cone feet. Townsend seismic sink under my VPI TNT turntable-essential due to VPI’s poor vibration control. My room construction is not a tweak but considered an essential component for music reproduction. It was expensive, non-defeatable and provides both perfect isolation and bass control. |
The
audiodharma Cable Cooker is well worth the cost. Really improves my cables and also gets rid of the break in period for new wires. Perfect when I get back from vacation as well. If you want to see if a new cable is better, just cook it and you know right away. Of course, the real tweak is Super Audio CD. The extra cost for a SACD over a CD is tiny compared to the improvement in sound. |
My tweaks involve a soldering iron and only the amplifier. 1. Replace the Schottky rectifiers in my amplifier's power supply with SiC rectifiers. 2. Replace the Mundorf interstage capacitors with Jupiter copper foil caps. 3. Replace the volume "potentiometer" with a stepped attenuator. 4. Replace the stock output transformers with Lundahl transformers. |
1) Great Cables 2) Stabilant 22A (From Concentrate Stabilant 22) https://smile.amazon.com/Stabilant-5ml-Kit-Makes-30ml/dp/B001E50GQS/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2VZVB6OK4366C&dchild=1&keywords=stabilant+22&qid=1601662310&sprefix=Stabilant%2Caps%2C177&sr=8-2 Brand: D.W. Electrochemical Nothing better 3) Placement of Speakers, etc. 4) Isolation |
