I treat my all inputs and outputs with Gold every few months. It must be the Gold not the red. I can hear improvements on almost all my components. Best 30 or 35 bucks every spent here for tuneup every few months.A bottle last years.
Best $40 I've spent...maybe ever
I'll admit it...I've never cleaned any of my physical connections - AC, IEC, XLR, RCA, DIN, grounds, speaker, etc. Never. Ever.
I *thought* my cartridge was going bad, as the right channel was intermittently noisy / dropping out. After reseating the cartridge clip, all was right again. I cleaned the cartridge pins with a pencil eraser and began wondering if this should be done to all my physical connections.
Cut to me also contemplating other "upgrades" because I felt as if some of the magic was missing. New cartridge? New tonearm? New integrated? New DAC / music server? All of the above?
Rather than dropping somewhere between $2k and $20k into my system, I thought it would be prudent to first invest some time into basic maintenance (and systematically addressing the issue uncovered with my cartridge - across all components). I dropped a whopping $40 into a DeoxIT / DeoxIT GOLD Kit and spend the next 5 hours treating every cable and socket on every single piece of equipment.
Sweet mother of pearl...[Insert the usual audiophile hyperbole]
But here are the 3 things I found most surprising: 1) My turntable is measurably more speed stable, 2) the LED dB meters on my Nakamichi Dragon appear to be more responsive, and 3) I can't explain it, but my LP playback is MUCH more quiet (not only a "blacker background", but pops-n-clicks). I was honestly considering a less-sophisticated stylus profile because I thought all the "transparency" of an Optimized Contour Line Contact stylus was revealing stuff I didn't want revealed.
Which makes me wonder...How much of the performance gains of new equipment is just reseating connections?
Regardless, clean your connections. I'm sure this thread will be flooded with "You should only use Unicorn Tears" or "Wood glue makes the best connection" but I'd suggest progress over perfection, and if you haven't cleaned / treated your connections, it's worth the investment in time.
I *thought* my cartridge was going bad, as the right channel was intermittently noisy / dropping out. After reseating the cartridge clip, all was right again. I cleaned the cartridge pins with a pencil eraser and began wondering if this should be done to all my physical connections.
Cut to me also contemplating other "upgrades" because I felt as if some of the magic was missing. New cartridge? New tonearm? New integrated? New DAC / music server? All of the above?
Rather than dropping somewhere between $2k and $20k into my system, I thought it would be prudent to first invest some time into basic maintenance (and systematically addressing the issue uncovered with my cartridge - across all components). I dropped a whopping $40 into a DeoxIT / DeoxIT GOLD Kit and spend the next 5 hours treating every cable and socket on every single piece of equipment.
Sweet mother of pearl...[Insert the usual audiophile hyperbole]
But here are the 3 things I found most surprising: 1) My turntable is measurably more speed stable, 2) the LED dB meters on my Nakamichi Dragon appear to be more responsive, and 3) I can't explain it, but my LP playback is MUCH more quiet (not only a "blacker background", but pops-n-clicks). I was honestly considering a less-sophisticated stylus profile because I thought all the "transparency" of an Optimized Contour Line Contact stylus was revealing stuff I didn't want revealed.
Which makes me wonder...How much of the performance gains of new equipment is just reseating connections?
Regardless, clean your connections. I'm sure this thread will be flooded with "You should only use Unicorn Tears" or "Wood glue makes the best connection" but I'd suggest progress over perfection, and if you haven't cleaned / treated your connections, it's worth the investment in time.
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I've been using deoxit for several years, and every time I do the entire system (IC's, all rca jacks, all power points, speaker cable ends and binding posts, fuses and fuse holders) the results are easily noticeable. Maybe not to the extent of the OP, but you can see the black coming off on the various paper towel, and Deoxit application tips. |
Crazy, I did the exact same thing a couple days ago using the red and yellow DeoxiT bottles. Took 4 hours. Cleaned my xlr, rca, power cords, hdmi cables, ethernet cables, preamp and power tube pins, linear power supply cables, IECs for power conditioner and components and finally speaker binding posts. Definitely made a different, things are a lot more detailed and free-flowing. Lost a bit of the soundstage though, but still waiting for things to settle back in. My tv is also shockingly more clear and bright. |
Well...I got the itch to spend money again. This time, it was almost for 5 audiophile fuses for my integrated amp, 1 for my CD player, and 1 for my phono pre-amp. Just before I clicked “buy” I decided to pull out my DeoxIT / DeoxIT GOLD Kit, unseat each stock fuse, treat, and re-seat. Since I had to “pop the top” of my integrated to get at the 4 rail fuses, I gave all the connections on the back of my integrated a quick once-over. Wowsa. I got a fair amount of gunk off the female XLR connections. Even if the changes I hear are all psychological, it was well worth the hour spent. May have to give EVERY connection a treatment next weekend. I’m sure $700 of fuses would make a difference, but I guess it will be a bit longer until I find out. DeoxIT to the rescue! |
@kahlenz, Congrats! Your connections were probably already in good shape. I’ve had my core components for 12+ years, and until recently, have never cleaned the connections. My results were a bit more dramatic - I could see the results of my efforts on my Q-tips and paper towels. Its frustrating to to read a post like this, go through the effort, and not have a similar outcome. What you’ve done is put yourself in the position to NOT experience the same degradation as I. I’d rather be you than me. |
I unconnected all my cables, cleaned everything and applied DeoxIT according to the directions, then plugged everything back in. Granted, everything seemed pretty clean to begin with, and none of my connections was over a couple of years old, but I must say I noticed no difference whatsoever. What am I doing wrong? Hana SL/Technics SL 1200GR/Sutherland KC Vibe/Odyssey Candela/Odyssey Khartego/Groneburg Quatro Reference loom/Nordost Blue Heaven speaker cables with bananas, Harbeth P3esr speakers. |
Well Played NRENTER ! BTW I’m envious of your Dragon. God Bless TDK Metal cassettes ! Anyway, if you haven’t done so allready , consider installing Hubbell Medical Grade outlets , or something similar . I had good results switching out my standard outlets . But remember to allow for some break in time . Happy Listening, Mike B. |
@nrenter What cartridge are you using on your Dragon? Do you use the original arm? I also have A Nak Dragon, original apart from an electrical component replacement kit (you can purchase on ebay). I have a Sumiko Blue on it but have used a J Allaerts MC1 on it. I keep the MC1 on my Kuzma which is a better combination. |
You are very right. As we speak, I've got my two channel and my home theater system completely torn down, cables strewn all over the place. I'll clean every connection as the cables are placed back in service. Hell of a project, but it needed to be done, I am going to hopefully reduce the snake's nest I had, and I should notice a good uptick in SQ. Regards, Dan |
