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

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

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  1. Bazzaah

    Bazzaah Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Amsterdam NL
    My deck is new but I changed TT oil for Origin Live’s oil and that helped.

    New speaker cable added about 30%.

    PSU next.
     
  2. phred

    phred Forum Resident

    Swapped the opamps in my Bada HD 26, EE MiniMax and another (Australian made) DAC - they all benefited. Great tweak for about $10.00 and some time.(The op amps are plug and play)

    My speakers have inbuilt room correction - they emit a signal and you see a graph of the room response - if nothing is changes repeat testing gives very similar graphs.
    I have found that moving speakers less than 5mm (1/4") alters how they react with the room.

    In general
    Raising and lowering the speakers can have a huge effect
    Aim the speakers toe in to intersect just behind your head - may improve the image
     
  3. GyroSE

    GyroSE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    Excellent upgrade. :righton:

    For the one that now is considering to go for this upgrade I highly recommend you instead to look for the much less expensive professional version IsoAcoustics ISO-Puck. Same excellent results but at less than half the price!

    ISO-PUCK Series | IsoAcoustics

    I've put ISO-Puck's under my Michell Orbe SE/IKEA Aptitlig butcher's block combo as well as ISO-Puck mini's directly under my tube gear. Excellent price performance ratio! :agree:

    About a month ago I found a set of 8 used IsoAcoustics Gaia II's for my speakers- this might be one of the best upgrades/tweaks I've ever done as the sound in my room really transformed after adding these. I was expecting a difference but I didn't expect it to be that huge. Highly recommended!
     
    Last edited: Apr 13, 2020
    Linger63 and MGW like this.
  4. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    Don't know if you'd call it a tweak but I've been demoing a gaggle of speaker cables in both systems, all pricy stuff.
    Can't believe how different they sound.
     
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  5. Linger63

    Linger63 Forum Resident

    Location:
    AUSTRALIA
    FWIW..........

    From the IsoAcoustics website..........https://isoacoustics.com/orea-series/

    What is the difference between the ISO-PUCK and the OREA series?

    The ISO-PUCK was originally designed for the pro audio and Musical Instrument (MI) channel, and used with studio monitors, guitar/bass amps, DJ turntables etc. The OREA, on the other hand is designed for home audio. The performance curve for the OREA models are narrower in weight range and will provide a slightly stronger sonic benefit in it’s range than the ISO-PUCKs. The more effective isolation results in more sound clarity and focus.
     
  6. talkingh

    talkingh Vibes Controller

    Location:
    London
    Bought some Onzow Zero dust cleaner this weekend....wow....diddidn't realize how dirty my apheta 2 was...like a blanket lifted off the speakers
     
  7. Claude Benshaul

    Claude Benshaul Forum Resident

    Stabilant 22 contact enhancer. It's a solution designed specifically for enhancing electrical contacts, it's not an abrasive or a contact cleaner and I was introduced to this product many years ago through BYTE magazine. It's excellent for fixing irritating problems involving very low electrical currents. I used it in the past for edge contacts of expansion cards or IC chips legs when I was still building my own computers and it never failed to impress me.

    Careful application (a little goes a really long way) of this solution to plugs and contacts of TT phono plugs, RCA connectors and headshell cables will do wonder.
     
    stax o' wax likes this.
  8. brubacca

    brubacca Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    I rolled in a pair of Psvane 12AU7 and 12AX7 tubes into my Rogue Cronus Magnum Integrated.

    Made the amp very tubey and boring. Went back to the factory tubes and the fun is back.
     
    draden1 likes this.
  9. tom1040

    tom1040 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Coast of Maine
    So I added a Black Ice Foz SS-X to my downstairs system. Still need to play around with it more but I believe that its doing its job. I like it.
     
  10. GyroSE

    GyroSE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    I find it hard to believe that the Orea is twice as good as the ISO-Puck- the construction is based on the same technology on the inside in both cases, the main difference is the outer appearance where the Orea has a more refined look.
     
  11. Slippers-on

    Slippers-on Forum Resident

    Location:
    St.Louis Mo.
    A while ago I add a Wire World Platinum Eclipse 7 phono cables ....all I can say is DAM! DAM! DAM! ......
     
    CMT, yodog and Tim 2 like this.
  12. Blowby

    Blowby Static lp

    Location:
    Colorado
    Wanted to move my counterweight closer to the pivot when playing my heaviest cart. Found one on eBay but was not sure if it was the correct weight.

    Weighed my unit and the difference was 13.5 grams. So I cut a 1 inch piece of solder and weighed it. It was going to take 36” of solder to achieve the desired test weight to prove if the relocation was correct. I mean not too close to the pivot body so I can still lift the arm. Also looking for sound quality improvements.

    [​IMG]

    So far so good. Ordered the heavier weight to replace my prototype :laugh:
     
    33na3rd, bever70 and draden1 like this.
  13. merlperl

    merlperl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Omaha, NE
    Just put four IsoAcoustics orea indigos under my Cary sli-80. It’s only been about forty minutes but I love what I’m hearing! More coherence, greater dynamics. Low level details emerging at all volumes and more drive in the bass. I love these things!!
     
    33na3rd and draden1 like this.
  14. Blowby

    Blowby Static lp

    Location:
    Colorado
    Decided to lighten my lightest headshell to make the 9hz goal. Hopefully the resonance of the headshell is not compromised. I can only confirm success by listening and measuring the frequency later today.
    • Chamfered all round holes
    • Removed front wall
    • Filed down rivets excess material
    • Removed 90% of lift end hook
    [​IMG]

    This is to address my frequency:
    • 7.1hZ using a 9.7 gram headshell, wires
    • 8.0hZ using a 6.92 gram headshell, wires
    • 8.2hZ using a 6.72 gram headshell, wires
    • 8.9 ?? using a 6.08 gram headshell, wires

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  15. FalseMetal666

    FalseMetal666 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    Simplify and add lightness.
     
  16. William Bryant

    William Bryant Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nampa, Idaho
    I added a big area rug and adjusted my speakers' toe-in and distance from the wall behind them. On good recordings I now hear less of my living room and more of the room where the music was made.

    [​IMG]
     
    Litejazz53, jonwoody, pscreed and 5 others like this.
  17. IRG

    IRG Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ithaca, NY
    I was going to start my own thread about my recent observations until I found this thread, so I'll just add it here. I have spent $0, but have made some nice tweaks to my humble system. And I give credit to many of the folks here, whom I've learned a lot already. First, was to spread out my speakers just a little wider, and before, I had my subwoofer in a corner, I moved it in close to the center of my equipment, towards the middle, with each speaker flanking it. The bass is better, more controllable, and better integrated now. And while it's only a $200 15" Dayton Audio sub, in a small room it works great because I don't have to turn it way up, and I leave it set for the lowest octave where it doesn't compete with my Dynaudio Excite14's.

    Next free upgrade was to keep my MF integrate amp on all the time, and my MF V90 DAC also on all the time. It does seem to make a significant difference. Warmer, with better clarity and wider soundstage (could be the speaker adjustment too of course).

    Lastly, I have actually turned the volume DOWN, just a bit. Less ear fatigue for sure. I also play electric guitar, and I have this bad tendency to really turn it up - full contact sport kinda thing. Usually not for too long, as I am concerned about hearing loss. But when I listen to my system, I'm turning it down from time to time, just loud enough to enjoy it, but not so loud that the sound becomes shouty, or fatiguing. Knowing I can listen to record or Cd one after another, and not feeling like I need to take a break, is a good thing.
     
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  18. I had a Funk Firm Achromat on my tricked up Technics SL-1210 MkII for ages, and changed it out for some MCRU Pressure Points a year of so ago.
    I found no difference in the sound quality when using either of the 2 supports, so packed the Achromat away with a view to moving on at some point.

    Some point never arrived, and today I dug out the Achromat and placed it on top of the Pressure Points.
    I wish I'd done it earlier - to say that I'm really pleased with the sound coming off my records is a serious understatement :D
     
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  19. thegage

    thegage Forum Currency Nerd

    All of my equipment is on some sort of platform--SRA or Symposium. I decided to try some of the Symposium couplers between my PrimaLuna amplifier and the Symposium platform. It was a definite step back, as it drained all of the upper bass out of the system. Was it more accurate? Perhaps, but it was not to my listening taste.

    JohnK
     
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  20. Mike-48

    Mike-48 A shadow of my former self

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    Moved the speakers into the room by 4 inches. More spaciousness, but a gotcha! -- now the seat is in a bass null. Move the seat back by 6" and initial impression is positive. I'll measure later and see if I've screwed something else up that I haven't noticed yet.
     
    33na3rd likes this.
  21. guyfromscene24

    guyfromscene24 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver

    Ha ha! I just finished this project. It is worth it. Since I bi-wire each speaker I couldn't go the whole 10 yards so I altered to braiding 4 wires, and then braiding 4 groups - so 16 twisted pairs per run (doubled for bi-wiring). Assuming you are using the proper belden teflon insulated cat 5, it is going to sound very nice (especially the highs). My older diy cables were belden lookalikes and I kept the jackets on and that was a mistake.
     
  22. I noticed that when I sat forward the sound from my dual concentric floorstanding speakers improved.
    The speakers tilt backwards slightly (it's barely noticeable).
    I adjusted the height of the rear feet to angle the cabinets forward by a couple of degrees, et voila, everything sounds better, with improved detail and soundstaging.

    With social distancing and lockdown, having to pull myself away from the system is no longer an issue :)
     
    Dorian75, draden1 and plastico like this.
  23. talkingh

    talkingh Vibes Controller

    Location:
    London
    upgraded my tt power supply from a rega tt to the new psu...belt was running slow so have been able to up the speed on the new one and sounds a lot crisper
     
    draden1 and plastico like this.
  24. Does your TT run at the correct speed, and is it pitch stable?
     
  25. plastico

    plastico Forum Resident

    Location:
    ontario canada
    If you are talking about the NEO I have one and it does run at the correct speed and the piano fades to black without any wavering.
    Cheers, Doug
     
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