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Most useful tweaks that are sensible and really make a noticeable improvement

So after reading the thread of useless tweaks I'd  be interested the communities opinions of useful tweaks. I may be rehashing a previous thread but times change as do useful tweaks.

I have found that in my case the following were useful, immediate and audible,
In order of priority in my opinion
1 Room treatment
2 Speaker location, ie proper setup
3 Subwoofer location (if used)
4 Subwoofer integration
5 Component isolation
6 Cables, all SC/IC etc, normally I would not mention cables but did have an ear opening epiphany that makes me believe cables are system dependant and I do not mean directionality.

So if anybody has anything to add, please do so as none of us are ever too old to learn.



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williewonka
3,067 posts
 
Not sure if you consider Cone feet part of isolation, but from what I have read they drain vibrations from component cases as well as isolate.

Also, if you are into vinyl and want to get the best from a cartridge that has a plastic case then try this tweak
http://image99.net/blog/files/23c020f75290d3392577113371f4dc94-38.html.

Make sure that adding the brass plate does not exceed the compliance of your arm before you try this
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Everything sounds better cryo’d. Even home freezing is highly effective and permanent. Two days in the freezer and 6 hours in the refrigerator section to thaw slowly. Theoretically 6 hours in the refrigerator prior to the freezer might not be such a bad idea, either. You know, thermodynamic symmetry and everything. Personally I skip both steps in the fridge.  😬 CDs, LPs, cables, CD players, preamps, tonearms, cartridges, power cords, integrated amps, what have you. This is very hush hush but there are others things to freeze at home or to send off to Cryo Lab but they’re beyond the scope of this discussion, they’re more for the advanced tweaker, so to speak.
oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa
4,867 posts
 
Five steps:

1. Room. Get it under control.
2. Control micro vibrations.
3. Control micro arcing.
4. Purify the house power.
5. Sit back an enjoy your new audio system.

Frank
Post removed 
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Some of us are well beyond this now, but it never hurts to repeat the most cost-effective tweak you can buy is a tape measure to perfectly align your speakers exactly equidistant. My beautiful example of this is the time we were struggling to get good imaging in the Talon Audio room at CES. After more than an hour of tweaking I finally said let's forget the room and walls and just measure the damn things. Ten minutes later and even I was shocked how much better it sounded. Yeah! Science!
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