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Most Effective Tweaks?

Wondering what generic tweaks people have tried that made the biggest difference?    Also interested in how much the tweaks cost to implement and the magnitude say from minimum of "marginal" to maximum of "transformational".

My top tweaks I can think of so far are

1) isolating speakers from versus coupling to floor when needed  (~$100, transformational)
2) Mu metal shield around low level  phono stepup transformer ($30, transformational noise reduction)
3) power cord upgrade (significant, ~$80)
4) acoustic panels (significant, $90)
5) power conditioner (significant, $100)
5) Physically moving components further apart from each other (NC, marginal)
128x128mapman
everest_audio
285 posts
 
A good woman and some wine. If she loves the music like we do, then I find having someone there to share the music while sipping on some great wine works for me. At that point, I'm loving the music and thoroughly enjoying how fantastic my system sounds without thinking about the next upgrade, etc.

On the hardware side of things, a really stellar audiophile outlet on a dedicated 20 amp line can make a huge difference. For relatively little cash outlay, in comparison to major components, it can really shock many people. Even if you already have a dedicated line, but a fairly generic hospital grade outlet, the truly excellent outlets are a big step up.
mapman's avatar
mapman OP
21,835 posts
 
Paper if source is in basement as you suspect then you might be able to place a flat my metal shield between either on ceiling in level below or floor on upper level.   

If if so then you might be able to hear differences in the noise level if affected device can be raised and lowered somewhat while playing.  
dweller's avatar
dweller
3,735 posts
 

I don't mean to step on the OPs intentions but does anyone remember the name of the panels to stick on the sides of large speakers?

Something like "Tek-Sonic" or "Sonic-Tek"?

These were/are from the 90s and are meant to absorb and convert

vibrations into heat. Are they still made?

P.S. How do I get this stinking editor to NOT double skip lines when I hit return? 

tostadosunidos's avatar
tostadosunidos
1,197 posts
 
Jerroot, I've done the same trick using lead shot (got it from a gun store) and then filling the gaps with sand.  Not as cheap--about 40 dollars per stand, about 35 lbs. of shot per stand.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
"
dweller
1,241 posts
02-24-2016 7:01pm
I don’t mean to step on the OPs intentions but does anyone remember the name of the panels to stick on the sides of large speakers?

Something like "Tek-Sonic" or "Sonic-Tek"?

These were/are from the 90s and are meant to absorb and convert

vibrations into heat. Are they still made?

tekna sonic was the company in CA that made those cool looking dampers with black fins for speakers and a larger one for subwoofers. Before that they were Micro Scan. I’m quite familiar with them since Tekna Sonic was an OEM for my iso stands for quite some time. I bought up the last of their stock a long time ago about the time they went belly up. Geez, that’s probably ten years ago.

geoff kait
machina dynamica
no goats no glory



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