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. chipcalzada

    chipcalzada Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Philippines
    T
    Those are cool. I just use wooden blocks with a carved recess for the cable. Had it done by a carpenter.
     
    ayrehead likes this.
  2. MGW

    MGW Less travelling, more listening

    Location:
    Scotland, UK
    Very similar to my experience.
     
  3. MGW

    MGW Less travelling, more listening

    Location:
    Scotland, UK
  4. DaleClark

    DaleClark Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbus, Ohio
    Actually measuring my speaker-listening set up (Triangle method) and changed to very slight toe-in. Magic
     
  5. The Pinhead

    The Pinhead KING OF BOOM AND SIZZLE IN HELL

    My latest tweak were acoustic panels for my room, and a thicker, bigger area rug. THE most audible tweak I've ever made. Way more focused image, and way more detailed and clear overal mid-to-high frequencies.
     
  6. sberger

    sberger Dream Baby Dream

    Picked up a really nice tube preamp to use with my McIntosh MC2105 amp. It's a DIY job(yup, that's on old JVC turntable plinth that it's built into) that utilizes variations of the somewhat obscure 27 tube. Tube rectification, it is really well made, sounds great. The only thing is that I honestly can't tell that much, if any difference, between it, and my McIntosh C24 preamp. For those that don't know, that's Mc's first solid state preamp, and has a lot of sonic similarities to it's tube predecessors. I still use it for it's very enjoyable phono capabilities. So I switch back and forth between it, and the tube pre. Both are great, but the tweak didn't really add much to the overall presentation.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
    chipcalzada likes this.
  7. toddrhodes

    toddrhodes Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Bend, IN
    Not sure how "tweaky" speaker cabling might be, but I embarked on a major journey this holiday week off. VHAudio DIY Cat5 speaker cable recipe.

    Holy. Crap. What a ton of work. I'm 5 hours in and have one side done, and that's with the benefit of tools that make stripping the individual wires super easy. I think I could braid spaghetti in my sleep, now. And I have a whole other side to do, lol.

    Some in progress pics:

    7 Cat5 equal length wires, stripped of jackets and each twisted pair separated and then grouped into 3s. Actually have to discard one twisted pair per side, to end up with 27 pairs per channel. Then you braid. And braid. And braid. Then braid more. Then unbraid a little so you can separate wires into stripes and solids.

    It's not fun. Hope they sound decent, lol. At least the wire was cheap, and I'll have some 350' left for more cat5 runs when we finish the basement.

    [​IMG]

    All 27 pairs braided into sets of three:
    [​IMG]

    Then take sets of three x three braids, and braid those:
    [​IMG]

    Then, take those three and braid them together.

    This is the end result. Tested for continuity to make sure I didn't accidentally get a striped in the solid side, or vice versa.
    [​IMG]

    Terminated with Furutech spades. I might dress and heatshrink them, or I might not. They're quite the eye-catcher, lol.
     
  8. ayrehead

    ayrehead Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mid South
    If this doesn't work you could probably get a job at a hair salon. :)
     
  9. MGW

    MGW Less travelling, more listening

    Location:
    Scotland, UK
    Streuth! The expression 'life's too short' springs to mind. I hope the results are worth the effort.
     
    bever70 likes this.
  10. toddrhodes

    toddrhodes Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Bend, IN
    I really shouldn't be so dramatic, when I say it's "not fun," it's not necessarily tough, but it is time consuming. But somehow, it's very zen :D

    And like @ayrehead mentioned, I'm just broadening my skills in case the job market dries up.

    I think I can braid eyelashes now.
     
    Scratcha and ayrehead like this.
  11. 5-String

    5-String μηδὲν ἄγαν

    Location:
    Sunshine State
    I have my speaker cables off the floor and yes it does make a difference.

    The way it has been explained to me is that it has something to do with the seven waveforms or electrophysiological emanations that are produced by the central acoustic vortex of the cable insulation and actively neutralize the vacuum that comes into manifestation and in this way it affects the active distortion, that is created by sine and delta waves and becomes limited by an outward phenomenal appearance. By lifting the cables off the floor, these waveforms sweep into a secondary activity and become imbued with the capacity to express low and high frequencies and to emerge from subjective acoustic perception into objective listening.
     
    Adagio, Scratcha, yodog and 3 others like this.
  12. FalseMetal666

    FalseMetal666 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    You trying to start a fight on Christmas, bro?
     
  13. enginedr

    enginedr Its all good

    Location:
    New York City
    I now have 6 well intergraded subs in my room controlled by a DSPeaker anti mode 2.0.
    All I can say is wow . Must be heard to believe .
     
    drgn95 likes this.
  14. toddrhodes

    toddrhodes Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Bend, IN
    New speaker cables are finished. Will check out how they sound in a bit.
    [​IMG]
     
  15. csgreene

    csgreene Forum Resident

    Location:
    Idaho, USA
    :faint:
     
  16. csgreene

    csgreene Forum Resident

    Location:
    Idaho, USA
    Not sure if this would be considered a tweak either but Phil Thien mentioned the now out of production Audio Technica 6012 record brush that comes with a holder for the brush and a small bottle of their proprietary cleaning liquid. The are still available on ebay for $15-17 NOS. I took a flyer as I like Phil's posts and I have to say, it's the best record brush I've used to date, besting my beloved Parastats and just killing the god awful MoFi brush. It has helped make a few unplayable records playable. Perhaps a vac system would do even better but not for $15. I like these well enough that I ordered two more. These are now my go to brush before playing a record. Use their fluid to clean a record, use a water/alcohol mist to dust a record and remove static. The brush is directional like the old Discwasher but more ergonomic to use IMO.

    [​IMG]
     
    avanti1960 likes this.
  17. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    Made a 4" thick birch slab for under my sub, improved bass resolution more than I was expecting.
     
    Scratcha and timind like this.
  18. vo_obgynmd

    vo_obgynmd Forum Resident

    Location:
    Issaquah, WA
    Anyone have any success with this? Shakti Stone - Shakti Innovations
    I used to have one that I placed on top of my amplifier. Seemed to make a difference.
    Thinking about getting another one.
     
    sentinel90125 and timind like this.
  19. Claude Benshaul

    Claude Benshaul Forum Resident

    personally I would go for something bigger that can bless the whole neighborhood. I just hope that I won't have to pray to it or use it as an altar for messy human sacrifices.
     
    timind likes this.
  20. Johnny Wong

    Johnny Wong Ya der hey.

    Location:
    Wauwatosa, WI USA
    I ditched the stock power supply on my Rasberry Pi streamer and upgraded to the iFi iPower. This was a shockingly marked improvement! I’m typically skeptical of these sorts of things, but sound quality has improved.
     
    Scratcha likes this.
  21. Phil12

    Phil12 Radiant Radish

    Wedged in a piece of wood between the two sidewalls to brace the speakers. Used led padding on the inside of the top panel (so, closest to the woofer), and experimented with cloth padding on the sidewalls (settled for partial covering). Made my Mission 700s sound considerably better, more together, less hollow and with less resonance.

    [​IMG]
     
  22. MGW

    MGW Less travelling, more listening

    Location:
    Scotland, UK
    :chill:
     
    Scratcha likes this.
  23. draden1

    draden1 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Des Moines, IA
    I take a day off from this thread and come back to a bunch of interesting posts! Getting the cables off the floor is something people could/should try as it doesn’t have to cost you anything.

    DIY speaker wire with all that braiding...oy, no thanks. Hope it sounds nice, I’m curious to your impressions.

    Keep the ideas coming everybody. Again, I feel tweaks are pretty much anything other than component purchases, minus cables, tubes, and things of that nature.
     
    toddrhodes and MGW like this.
  24. toddrhodes

    toddrhodes Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Bend, IN
    Knowing full well I won't convince anyone of anything (nor do I want to) - I really enjoyed the system last night. Not sure if I was just in a good mood, or happy to have finished my "10,000 braids of insanity" project, or what was going on. But I listened to stuff I've heard very recently and to me it all sounded extremely crisp, clear, and yet smooth top to bottom. Horn sections had a little more bite, and I had to turn the sub down a click. Only change was the cables.

    I'm not at all complaining. It was a long, arduous process, but so far so good!
     
  25. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    This has been the only brush that works for me and I've tried them all. It doesn't just plow debris ahead, it actually removes stuff from the record (with some technique).
    They are still available at LP Gear.
     
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