New Tweak --- Its Fantastic


THE NEW TWEAK

Over the good part of this past year I’ve been beta testing a new tweak, the name of which is "Total Contact." Its a hi-bred graphene contact enhancer that is different from all other contact enhancers that have come and gone for one reason or another. I’m not new to these contact enhancers, having had quite a bit of experience with a product developed by the late Brian Kyle and his "Quick Silver" contact enhancer. The "Total Contact" is different ... a LOT different.

"Total Contact" is graphene based and is not a vibration control. It eliminates micro-arching between two contacts. Micro-arching, much like Micro-vibration smears the sound in our stereo systems. Its the type of distortion that we don’t know is there .... until we eliminate it. There is no break-in as we know it. The sound is improved right off the bat, but what you hear is only a smidgen of what’s to come.

I tested three generations of "TC," each of which was an improvement over the previous incarnation. The final mix was cryogenitically treated and made for a more effective, much smoother application. It comes in a large hypodermic needle type plunger containing 1.5 ml of product and includes a instructional DVD and an application brush.

The application should be applied with a very thin coat to all of your electrical connections .... from your cartridge pins to your power cords. I did my entire system, including the ends of my fuses.

Upon initial application, you will notice an improvement in clarity, correctness of tonal balance and a more overall organic sound. But ... that is just scratching the surface of what this magic paste does. As it cures, the improvements become more apparent. Much more!

There are two real break-through events that happen almost to the day with "Total Contact," one at four weeks and another at eight weeks . At four weeks, you’ll get a real jump in clarity and overall improvement. That’s only a taste though of what’s to come at eight weeks. At eight weeks your system’s focus will make a jump in SQ that is so real - its surreal.

After 40 years in the hobby, and a total tweak nut, I have never heard anything that does what this graphene paste does. The see-through clarity at eight weeks becomes simply amazing. The "paste" eventually cures into a kind of polymer plastic and it seems that the sound improves with each listening session. So, its important that you leave your contacts alone for the duration. If you’re the type of person that continually switches wires in and out, you’ll have to re paste until enough time has elapsed to get "the cure."

The only problem I had was with the first batch and that had to do with shorting out a tube pin in the line stage. Use the "TC" very sparingly on tube pins, if at all. I only had problems with the line stage tube pins. The Amp, CD Player and Phono Stage has had no tube pin problems at all.

Tim Mrock, one of our fellow A’goners, is the developer of the product. Its taken Tim 15 years and several patents to get it right. Tim has "pasted" every electrical contact he can find in his audio system, all of the switches in his circuit breaker box, every contact in his car ... and has used it in commercial applications such as hospital circuit breakers, surgical lights ... and other places where efficiency and long life of electrical components are deemed important.

This product is highly recommended to anyone who truly wants to get the most out of his/her audio systems. There’s enough product in each tube to do at least two audio systems as it just takes a very thin coat on each application to be effective. The last tube was enough to do my system twice and then a friend’s system this past weekend.


Frank

PS: There were a couple of other A’goner beta testers of this product as well. Hopefully, they will chime in here with their experiences for comparison. I "pasted" both of Steve Fleschler’s systems a few days ago, perhaps he will comment on his results too. We forgot to paste Steve’s power cords though, so there’s a lot more to be had from Steve’s two fantastic systems.

Frank
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^^^ I’ve had some connections (speaker cable - bi wired) pasted with the original beta testing version of TC for a year now with no obvious degradation in sound. On the contrary, everything seems to continue to improve. Most of the system is pasted with the version of TC that is presently being sold. It was the final version and is much smoother than the original two versions, each of which was smoother and more refined than that which came before.

Yesterday, I decided to take another chance with the tube pins in the line stage. (ARC REF-3). So far, no issues. The original beta testing product was a bit chunky in that you could see little flecks of graphene in the product. I had a problem with that version and the tube pins. I’m hoping that the smoother final product will eliminate any problems with tube pins. Oddly enough, I did the cartridge pins with the original TC and so far, not one problem at all. No problem on tube pins in other equipment either ... only with the line stage.

As stated before, there is a real jump in SQ at 4 weeks and especially at 8 weeks. It may be system dependent, but both Tim, I, and others have have experienced this phenomenon big time, and at 8 weeks the clarity becomes uncanny with realism. We all know what "see through" quality means in this hobby ... but this is "see through" on steroids.

I am really looking forward to the point where you guys get to experience this. Some of you are getting close to the 4 week period. PLEASE, if you experience what we have experienced with TC when you reach this time point ... post your experiences here. Thanks ...

Frank
  I just placed my order for total contact.  Can't wait to try it and I will report back with my results.
To those who have purchased the product: have you tried any blind testing on the product?    Perhaps this could be a test, listen to the same passage of music 10 times.  Have someone apply the substance at SOME point and see if you can identify which time it changed, and what the change was?  Presumably all the following samples would have this change if it exists.  Perhaps applied to the speaker cables?
i am not big on blind testing but I definitely am hearing some “expectation bias” in this thread, imo.  I find most tweaks to be subtle, but since these responses are described as so immediate and obvious, this method of testing should be very informative.
^^^ I haven’t heard any "expectation bias" regarding TC. I have, however, heard a ton of UNexpectation bias though ... all from those who haven’t seen the product, touched the product, heard the product or used the product. :-)

If I heard the same piece of music ten times, then had someone apply TC to my speaker cables, I’m positive I would hear the difference ....and I’m no fried chicken either.

Frank
There was no reason to have a blind since I was able to hear an immediate change to my system which was not so subtle. As I stated in my first impression, the music was cleaner and clearer. The soundstage was bigger and the music extended forward on all music. I found it difficult to ascertain any differences on some tweaks but not with TC. By far, this product made the most impact of any tweak or cable in my system.