Tweaks that convince others you're truly nuts...


The challenge always is to pay attention to what you hear and to trust your ears. Over the years, our listening room has seen the passage of a range of tweaks, and some have stayed because we're convinced they make a positive difference in our system and our room.

The most recent visitor that seems quite likely to stay are the Shakti Hallographs. And I never would have expected this. Two local audio friends had already listened to these sample units in their listening rooms and didn't hear any change whatsoever. But in our room, on complex large scale orchestral music, we heard an immediate and very positive improvement in the soundstage, in image specificity, and in the clarity of the upper mid-range and treble. The soundstage, already good, simply opened up and increased in apparent size, room boundaries became much less noticeable, and a troubling subtle refraction from the exposed brick fireplace and equipment rack behind the speakers disappeared (hurray!). How can something that reminds me so much of cookies dipped in chocolate make this sort of difference? Trust your ears.

(The Shakti Stones, on the other hand, made a quick departure from our system - killed the sound.)

Walker Audio's Reference High Definition Links (HDLs) were an earlier visitor to our room that were not permitted to leave. These delivered a surprising improvement in clarity to a set of speakers we thought sounded pretty doggone clean and resolving (Avalon Eidolons). Another one of those 3% improvements that cumulatively start making major differences overall. Fortunately, we never have to explain these because they fit inconspicuously at the speaker terminals mounted underneath the Eidolons.

Walker Audio's Talisman has become a regular part of my vinyl regimen. It sits to the left of the turntable and draws no attention until the LP playing ritual starts. Seeing me wave this thing over the surface of an LP creates immediate consternation in visitors, if not outright laughter. Yes, it works, we hear the difference, and we now use it with every LP side we play.

Nipper strategically positioned behind and to the left of the OTL amps... No, doesn't make a sonic difference. Just a fond memory of the friend who gave him to us. And after all, it is the friends we make through this hobby of ours who make all the difference.

So what in your room results in incredulity in your visitors?
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128x128rushton

Showing 2 responses by salectric

Here are 4 tweaks that cost nothing and significantly improve the sound of any system, tube and ss, vinyl and digital.

1. Disconnect all unused inputs. E.g. if you're listening to vinyl, unplug your CD interconnect from the preamp as well as any other input connections. I have found that you can disconnect the cable at either end, so if it's more convenient to unplug it at the CD player end, that's ok. By the way, this rule applies regardless of whether the unused input source is powered up or even plugged into the wall. Disconnecting unused inputs results in an important improvement in overall detail and reduction of grain and edge, even if you thought you didn't have any problems in those areas.

2. Unplug all unnecessary power cords that are on the same house circuit breaker as your system. At an absolute minimum, all unused equipment should be turned off, but even better is to unplug the power cords. This not only applies to all unused components, such as your CD player when you're listening to vinyl, but also any other appliances such as lights, TVs, and record cleaning machines. Anything plugged into the wall. Again, this applies whether the appliance or other device is turned on or not. You should experiment to figure out which devices may have an acceptable effect on the sound quality, and which are not acceptable. It's best to start by unplugging everything not in use and, after you are used to the sound, reintroduce items one at a time to see the effect. In my room, I can leave a particular lamp plugged in and it makes no difference I can hear. My Nitty Gritty record cleaner, however, absolutely must be unplugged when I am listening because it has a dramatic effect on the sound (and Yes, I am referring to when it is not turned on). By the way, after-market audiophile power cords can be the worst offendors, even if the power cord is unplugged at the component end.

3. Let your equipment warm up, with signal, for 30-60 minutes before critical listening. Every system sounds better (greater lucidity) after it's fully warmed up, and this means with music playing. The signal level doesn't seem to matter. This is easy to do with CD, but it applies with vinyl too. Even if you don't want to leave your turntable playing a record when you're not present, you should at least have the turntable spinning. This can make a difference.

4. Bypass speaker binding posts whenever possible. Those handy binding posts that let you connect and disconnect your speaker cables easily are a major roadblock sonically. Fortunately, it is often possible to bypass them with little effort. You may find that the internal wires connected to the posts inside your amp (and possibly inside your speakers) have spade lugs that are bolted on to the back end of the binding post. If this is the case, you may be able to disconnect the spades from the inside end of the binding post, extend the wires to the outside of the amp and reconnect them at the outside end of the post. The net result of this is that both the speaker cable spade lug and the amplifier spade lug are touching each other and crimped together by the binding post. The binding post only serves to hold the two together, not to conduct any signal. If you can do this, you will experience such an improvement in musical detail, that you will never go back. Of course, you can accomplish the same thing even if your amp wires are soldered to the inside end of the binding posts but this will require a little soldering work on your part. Years ago, when I was using Classe amps, I tried this and was amazed by the improved clarity. Same thing with Martin Logan CLS speakers when I was using them.

Dave
Audiofeil, the change in sound of the turntable spinning for a while is probably due to the lubricating oil in the bearing warming up. At least, that's my semi-educated guess.

I can't say that this will be true of all turntables, but it's true of my Galibier.

Dave