Decreasing performance


For months, my system sounded boring..uninteresting, with a steady deline in its communicating music. After listening to my earphones (which sounded wonderful using a seperate headphone amp), I declared my Ayre amp to be broken. After discussing it with Ayre (who said it didn't sound like an Ayre problem), I then E-mailed Richard Vandersteen to see if he had any suggestions. He actually called me on the phone and we discussed possible problems with my 5A's. I did the various checks as instructed, but it really didn't seem that the drivers et al were the problem. Much to my surprise, Richard contacted John Rutan of Audio Connection in New Jersey (Richard told me that John is a master of setup) who got to me with some things that would help. John was absolutely correct. I unhooked the speakers wires, removed the attachment screws, and found that the threads of these screws were completely blackend. John suggest to wire bruse these, which brought them back to their pristine self. I put the speaker wire back on and the difference was enormous...not a tweak, but a whole different system. John also advised me to play the Ayre break-in disc which brought the system to its excellent sound. I'm writing this with thanks to John Rutan, and to Richard Vandersteen who went out of their way to ensure my high end happiness....and to suggest to those reading this post, that you should clean your systems as well. This decrease in performance is very slow, but insidious, and we might know it even exists until the system is revived to its pristine state. Happy listening.
128x128stringreen
Stringreen -

I used a Dremel with a wire wheel to clean up the blackened screws on my 3A Sigs and the difference is amazing. Thanks for the tip!

Bill
Good reason why those costly new cables always sound better since you just cleaned contact by pulling out old cable and installing new. I can't recall a cable review we're
reviewer mentions cleaning connections.
Perhaps said facetiously, but in any case, I doubt Stringreen can be considered an audio novice and unlikely he wasn't aware the build up of oxidation products adversely affects sound. What's striking is the location of the corrosion and the significant beneficial effect of removing it ("not a tweak but a whole different system."). Makes me hope to discover some hidden oxidation in my own system.
That is excellent customer service, the sort of service Richard Vandersteen is known for.
Question though, if the screw threads were showing corrosion, what about the screw receptacle? Did you clean those? I'm assuming corrosion caused by two dissimilar metals would affect both metals. Couldn't hurt to spray some Caig Deoxit in there.
Whew...for a minute there you were talking about something else...but then that's easily fixable w those little blue pills ;-)
I don't doubt that cleaning corroded terminations will drastically improve the sound.
But we can't overlook the "oil change" effect.
I.E., my car always seems to run better after getting the oil changed (or a car wash).

My system really sounds good when I move it to a new house (or room) and spend an afternoon hooking everything up.
When my meat hits the seat and I have a few cool ones -Audio Paradise!
LOL!

You are a real novice, cleaning contacts periodically for sonic improvement is old hat.
Don't stop there. Clean all of the contact points in your system, including your AC.