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Tweaks - An Honest Discussion

I know there is a lot of talk about performance tweaks in this forum and the value that can be realized.  I've started this thread because it seems that folks tend towards believing they are either the silver bullet to sonic bliss or conversely simply snake oil.  I believe tweaks are somewhere in between and in most cases, worth about what you pay for (crazy  I know).

I'm open minded to tweaks and have employed many in my system over the years including isolation, fuses, footers, HFTs, cabling, cable risers and attempts at reducing RFI (among others).  While I believe that many of these tweaks incrementally helped me get better performance out of my system I never for a second found any tweak make a transformational difference the way that a significantly upgraded piece of gear brings to the table.  I think many of us have been quite happy with our systems over the years but that doesn't mean implementing a tweak can possibly compete with the benefit of replacing a piece of gear that is well matched to elevate your system. Just because you're happy with your setup doesn't mean a major gear change can't really elevate the experience - surely well beyond any form of tweakery.  

As an example, I've been very happy with a Hana ML cart and how it's performed in my system.  I recently decided to acquire a Lyra Kleos cart - for a $2K increase the change has been transformational in terms of dynamic range and ability to convey detail and imaging.  There has never been a dot I've placed on a wall, carbon platform placed under gear, or RFI shielding device I've ever used that could possibly come close to this equipment upgrade.  Same goes for upgrades to my system over the years in terms of amps, pre's, and speakers.  For anyone to suggest that through tweaks alone you can elevate your system to a level that only gear changes can achieve simply falls flat in my experience.  Some may be shocked to hear that most of the time a $200 tweak truly only gets you about $200 worth of improvement (if any) and not the equivalent of a $5000 gear upgrade. I know there is a certain allure that by simply being smart and applying elbow grease that we can extend the sonic limits of our system well beyond it's design, parts, and capabilities but that's just not true IMO.

What's your experience been?   
128x128three_easy_payments
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
@millercarbon are these the BDR cones you used?
https://www.audioasylumtrader.com/ca/listing/Accessory/Black-Diamond/-quot-stuff-quot/-see-pics/2093...
Worth the asking price?

Yes and that is a deal!
The three Cones alone will set you back $60 at Music Direct. The square Things are early versions of what became Round Things, both the same material but round is slightly better. Anyway doesn’t matter neither one is made any more since DJ died and so get whatever you can.

Basically the square Things are made of an extremely stiff, dense and highly damped carbon fiber/resin composite. They’re threaded 1/4-20 and this set has studs so the Cones screw into the Things. Then what you do is put three Things under the component with the Cones pointing down, and three Things under the Cones.

Same as I have with my turntable, amp and phono stage. https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367 Very effective. Only mine are Round. But if you look close you will see some square just like these. On the very bottom under my amp. BDR is so good it doesn’t come up often. Also those look to be thick. There were two versions, one a little thicker than the other. Thicker is a little better, especially under heavier components. Jump on it.
tuberist's avatar
tuberist
951 posts
 
Tvad......+1. I'll bet MC never found a tweak he wouldn't try. I used to be tweak crazy till I realized I was obsessing and now just have some Herbie's under components and speakers. It's hard not to get caught up in the tweaking syndrome when there are so many manufacturers preaching.
clearthink
1,421 posts
 

three_easy_payments "Apparently one of the great things about being a tweak guru is being able to extract thousands of dollars of better performance from a piece of gear that the designer/manufacturer should have included for mere pennies of incremental cost. That makes the tweak guru orders of magnitude smarter and of more value to the audio community than a gear designer/manufacturer."

Yes they see themselves as bold, brave, defiant, enlightened masters of audio, confidently proclaiming Truths that evade other people of reason, promoting their concepts, theories, and strategies as that chosen by those who are wise, experienced, and expert.  Often they will conceal little things into they're explanations, such as extreme political references, obscure insults that require visiting extremist sites to "decode" special abbreviations, and then there are the posters who invent entire "truths" such as the guy who says audio is based on 'embeddings" the guy who promotes "Tru-Fi" and the one guy who I will not name who always puts a link to his system but if you click on the link it looks like what Americans I believe politely call a "cathouse" so yes there are some odd people hear!
jl35
3,913 posts
 
I've had great results with Mapleshade boards and cones, buy used and easy resale if you don't like...I'm glad they're not part of my original equipment as not all my shelves have the space required...
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Its been a while, but I still recall how it was back when I was as smug in my ignorance as tuberist and tvad. One of the first tweaks I tried that began to change my mind was a phone book under the CDP. Which is a pretty poor tweak and barely audible. But the thing of it is, it shouldn't be audible at all! Not even a little! But it is.

So I tried a whole bunch more things. But here's the thing. Its like, when you are learning to drive a car one of the interesting things you learn is there is an optimal tire pressure. Way too high and the car responds super fast but skitters and slides with little traction. Way too low and the car responds slow but sticks with lots of traction. In between is a very tiny little zone of only one or two psi where both responsiveness and traction are optimized. 

You tell this to the average person they look at you like, well like you guys who can't hear are looking at me right now. Only maybe not as bad since they just can't drive while you can't hear or drive. But whatever. Point is these things do indeed matter, and work, and after a while you don't even need anyone to tell you, you actually know just by looking at the car if its a bit over or under inflated, and by driving it know if it needs a little more or less air. 

So back to tweaks. Some of them work great. Some are crap. My all time overpriced tweak is the Shakti Stone. But that's only because in spite of the smugly ignorant superiority complex guys opinion I have indeed found the tweak I wouldn't try. Its all of them. I only try them after multiple proven good listeners have established enough consistently good results to make me feel reasonably confident in doing so.

Why? How do you guys do it? 
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