Your most recent system tweak, did it help or hurt the sound?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by draden1, Dec 18, 2019.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    Sorry if I one up you but my speaker cables do not touch ANY surface between amplifier and speaker, not even an insulator. - They "fly" between the terminals because they so short they are under constant tension and just like "high tension wires" they just seem to conduct more power effectively. I do get some occasional high frequency buzzing and zapping but it's worth it.
    I did this inside my amplifier and speakers too- the wires inside the amp were actually touching the chassis! and the wires inside my speaker were making contact with the MDF enclosure and the acoustic polyfill. The crossover is now suspended between wires inside the enclosure too- it was mounted to the floor of the speaker. How would I describe the sound- tight!
     
  2. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    Been playing lots of Bob Marley lately by chance? :)
    Nicely done and glad it sounds rewarding.
     
    Scratcha and toddrhodes like this.
  3. motorstereo

    motorstereo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ct.
    This was my last tweak or so I thought. Now I'm on the lookout for 2 more as they do make a positive difference
    [​IMG]
     
    Echo and Scratcha like this.
  4. MGW

    MGW Less travelling, more listening

    Location:
    Scotland, UK
    At over £800 each they would need to be very good indeed.
     
    Standingstones and bever70 like this.
  5. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    Do they make an upgraded Capacitor?
     
    Claude Benshaul likes this.
  6. motorstereo

    motorstereo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ct.
    One of the areas they work amazing well is reducing emi and my alpha labs emi meter confirms this.

    No but they do sell upgraded connectors and receptacles.
     
    avanti1960 likes this.
  7. skippy

    skippy knew it all, when younger

    Location:
    Hilton Head, SC
    Soldered brass right-angle RCA connectors directly to shortened RG59/U phono cables,
    eliminating adapters to RF connectors. No obvious audible change, but worthwhile clutter reduction.
     
  8. G B Kuipers

    G B Kuipers Forum Resident

    Location:
    Netherlands
    Ha ha, very funny. It does sound a lot like the typical pseudo-scientific nonsense that exotic cable manufacturers use. But they are dead serious, of course.
     
    5-String likes this.
  9. TarnishedEars

    TarnishedEars Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Seattle area
    Wow, that looks like a lot of work! I hope that you find the results to be worth all the effort.
     
    toddrhodes likes this.
  10. draden1

    draden1 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Des Moines, IA
    So what does this do beyond what a power conditioner does? Or is it similar and this is for one component as opposed to the hub design of power conditioners?
     
  11. motorstereo

    motorstereo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ct.
    Here's a good explanation of what it does Furutech Flux 50 Filter Review - AudioAficionado.org
    My intention was to use mine on my pc so it would benefit all my front end. But I have a 20amp plug so that idea was a no go. It's been on my preamp for the past 6 months now and I'm pleased with the results.
     
    draden1 likes this.
  12. toddrhodes

    toddrhodes Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Bend, IN
    I'm not sure a result short of "Holy crap, Tom Morello is physically in my room playing!" would justify the effort, but it was a pretty cool project to organize and see through to the end. An immense amount of work. But happily, I do think I'm hearing some positive benefit from them but I'm giving it time to settle in since I could just be hoping it helps, given the amount of time spent, lol.
     
    LakeMountain and TarnishedEars like this.
  13. TarnishedEars

    TarnishedEars Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Seattle area
    IMO as long as your are happy with the results, then it was probably a worthwhile exercise. And I will agree that those cables do indeed look cool. :righton:
     
    toddrhodes likes this.
  14. OG10

    OG10 Active Member

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    I have finally relented and got myself a Myrtek Brooklyn Bridge. I have been keeping away from adding streaming components.. but I do pay for Tidal via my Vault membership discount.. so hopefully this will help my screening process before buying CDs. Does anyone per-chance use the MM Phono Stage? - I hear it is rather good for MM, wondering if it will be better than my Rega MM Fono MK2. Not sure when it will arrive.. when it does I will give my impression :)
     
  15. draden1

    draden1 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Des Moines, IA
    I’d be curious if you’d hear a larger improvement if you moved it to your amp?
     
  16. toddrhodes

    toddrhodes Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Bend, IN
    Built some VHAudio DIY Fine Silver interconnects tonight, running them in between my phono stage and preamp. No complaints thus far, but also listening to something I've never heard on vinyl before, so at this point, just enjoying the music.

    [​IMG]
     
    avanti1960 likes this.
  17. motorstereo

    motorstereo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ct.
    Yes so would I. Problem is I run monoblocks so it's twice the price and I just missed out on a fair deal for a pair of them. Sadly the inexpensive tweaks like wrapping a tone arm with teflon plumbing tape and such are long gone.
     
    toddrhodes likes this.
  18. seastman

    seastman Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Which of their products are you using? My raspberry has been in need of a power supply ever since I added an SPDIF pi-hat which draws more power than my receiver’s USB port can supply
     
    Johnny Wong likes this.
  19. vo_obgynmd

    vo_obgynmd Forum Resident

    Location:
    Issaquah, WA
    When I used the Audioquest USB Data & Power Noise Filter (Jitterbug), I noticed a lower noise floor and a darker background. I can't scientifically verify the improvement though. Sounds good.
     
  20. Johnny Wong

    Johnny Wong Ya der hey.

    Location:
    Wauwatosa, WI USA
    iFi - iPower Outboard Supply | Shop Music Direct

    5VDC
     
  21. Old Zorki II

    Old Zorki II Storm Watcher

    Location:
    near Tampa, FL
    I do not know if you can consider Sugarcube SC-1 mini a "tweak", but if you do - nothing else improved listening experience then that thingy )). Best tweek ever.
     
    DigMyGroove likes this.
  22. Larry I

    Larry I Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington, D.C.
    Every single tweak or change that I could actually hear a change in the sound did so in a way that is a bit of a matter of compromise--if the sound became more detailed, that meant less forgiving of errors in recording, tighter, punchier bass means less upper bass warmth, etc. I find it a bit suspicious when people report everything improved when adding tweaks. Some people report adding a dozen different little tweaks, all to the good: really?
     
  23. draden1

    draden1 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Des Moines, IA
    I know what you mean, I recently added Orea feet to all my components after my initial post in this thread was so positive with them under my turntable and DAC. I’ve only listened a few hours like this but now certain records I had at 5 stars may be down to 4. Dr. John - In The Right Place is an example where a few times my head perked up at some added brightness where I’m not used to having it.

    But alternately they moved a 4 star into a 5 as Norah Jones’ vocals on the recent AP reissue of Come Away With Me were the smoothest and most enjoyable I’ve heard. Her voice always had a smidge too much “sss” in my system but that was lessened/gone now. Van Morrison had an eerie in the room vibe on Street Choir.

    So to your comment about compromise, I agree with it. More listening is needed to get a full handle on everything but these are my initial thoughts.
     
  24. Jim0830

    Jim0830 Forum Resident

    At less the $20.00 my tweak was the least expensive tweak I have made and had the biggest effect on my system. A year ago I got a Parasound HINT 6 to use as my front L&R and sub-woofer amplifier for my Anthem MRX 720 AV receiver. I found I had also added a noticeable 60HZ AC hum through certain sources. Parasound support could not not solve. The dealer for the Anthem and Parasound identified the source but could not solve. It was my CATV line from X-Finity. Disconnected no hum. Connect it and hum through several sources. X-Finity came of 3 times and they nearly eliminated the hum on several sources. I still got it through the home theater bypass mode.

    Fast forward 1 year and they were doing a system upgrade in my area including a new modem and new splitters. Problem returned. @#$!

    I saw some referral to this Isolation Transformer / Ground Loop Isolator sold on Amazon among ate sites. I got good reviews but $15.00 plus $5.00 for a 6" section of COAX seemed too good to be true. I bit the bullet but expected nothing to happen and I would be more upset about this issue the ever. Let me tell you it worked like a charm. No noise in my listening room, nor any noise in headphones. it seemed too good to be true. One last thing to check and I was happy that I observed no degradation to the4K or HDTV signals. Definitely the best $20.00 I ever spent.

    Here is the Link:

    Isolation Transformer / Ground Loop Isolator
     
    draden1 likes this.
  25. Old Zorki II

    Old Zorki II Storm Watcher

    Location:
    near Tampa, FL
    Have similar device. Because me DirecTV dish has separate grounding due to regulations - ground loop was not avoidable. Separate dish power sipply and isolation Transformer - problem solved!
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine