New Tweak --- Its Fantastic


THE NEW TWEAK

Over the good part of this past year I’ve been beta testing a new tweak, the name of which is "Total Contact." Its a hi-bred graphene contact enhancer that is different from all other contact enhancers that have come and gone for one reason or another. I’m not new to these contact enhancers, having had quite a bit of experience with a product developed by the late Brian Kyle and his "Quick Silver" contact enhancer. The "Total Contact" is different ... a LOT different.

"Total Contact" is graphene based and is not a vibration control. It eliminates micro-arching between two contacts. Micro-arching, much like Micro-vibration smears the sound in our stereo systems. Its the type of distortion that we don’t know is there .... until we eliminate it. There is no break-in as we know it. The sound is improved right off the bat, but what you hear is only a smidgen of what’s to come.

I tested three generations of "TC," each of which was an improvement over the previous incarnation. The final mix was cryogenitically treated and made for a more effective, much smoother application. It comes in a large hypodermic needle type plunger containing 1.5 ml of product and includes a instructional DVD and an application brush.

The application should be applied with a very thin coat to all of your electrical connections .... from your cartridge pins to your power cords. I did my entire system, including the ends of my fuses.

Upon initial application, you will notice an improvement in clarity, correctness of tonal balance and a more overall organic sound. But ... that is just scratching the surface of what this magic paste does. As it cures, the improvements become more apparent. Much more!

There are two real break-through events that happen almost to the day with "Total Contact," one at four weeks and another at eight weeks . At four weeks, you’ll get a real jump in clarity and overall improvement. That’s only a taste though of what’s to come at eight weeks. At eight weeks your system’s focus will make a jump in SQ that is so real - its surreal.

After 40 years in the hobby, and a total tweak nut, I have never heard anything that does what this graphene paste does. The see-through clarity at eight weeks becomes simply amazing. The "paste" eventually cures into a kind of polymer plastic and it seems that the sound improves with each listening session. So, its important that you leave your contacts alone for the duration. If you’re the type of person that continually switches wires in and out, you’ll have to re paste until enough time has elapsed to get "the cure."

The only problem I had was with the first batch and that had to do with shorting out a tube pin in the line stage. Use the "TC" very sparingly on tube pins, if at all. I only had problems with the line stage tube pins. The Amp, CD Player and Phono Stage has had no tube pin problems at all.

Tim Mrock, one of our fellow A’goners, is the developer of the product. Its taken Tim 15 years and several patents to get it right. Tim has "pasted" every electrical contact he can find in his audio system, all of the switches in his circuit breaker box, every contact in his car ... and has used it in commercial applications such as hospital circuit breakers, surgical lights ... and other places where efficiency and long life of electrical components are deemed important.

This product is highly recommended to anyone who truly wants to get the most out of his/her audio systems. There’s enough product in each tube to do at least two audio systems as it just takes a very thin coat on each application to be effective. The last tube was enough to do my system twice and then a friend’s system this past weekend.


Frank

PS: There were a couple of other A’goner beta testers of this product as well. Hopefully, they will chime in here with their experiences for comparison. I "pasted" both of Steve Fleschler’s systems a few days ago, perhaps he will comment on his results too. We forgot to paste Steve’s power cords though, so there’s a lot more to be had from Steve’s two fantastic systems.

Frank
128x128oregonpapa
My follow-up to the 6/13/18 post:  "I’ve provided feedback about how much further TC has taken my reviewing system is past posts but I finally took the plunge and treated the insides of my Ayon Audio S-5 Network Player/DAC/Preamp. I painted the R-core transformer center sections, center section of fuses, signal and dc power hook up wires, tops of metal caps, and DAC chips".  I also treated the outside surface of the internal preamp tubes and power supply tubes and the 12 unused rca  noise stopper caps.  All mods using TC were done late on Saturday afternoon.  I have another high end digital component in for review (retail is about $10K more than my S-5) that I had planned to compare to my internally TC treated Ayon Audio S-5.  This past Sunday I  AB both components with my local audiophile friend present.  We started with the new component and played familiar music we know and then swapped in the S-5.  The S-5 being tube based was considerably warmer sounding and definitely more warmed sounding prior to internal TC treatment from recent memory.  I thought maybe I went too far with TC (my thoughts on Sunday ).  I let TC settle in for 3 days without changing anything in my system and listened yesterday to the same music with my friend.  The magic returned and then some.  I totally agree with Grannyring, the improvement TC provides far exceeds internal wire, capacitor and resistor changes or competing tweaks previously reviewed.  The internal TC treatment of my S-5 resulted in a big jump in resolution and transparent and made me forget the inclination to upgrade to a new digital front end that adds DSD.  Adding more TC to my reviewing system hasn't resulted in diminishing returns but to the contrary.  The musicality of my system has improved with each additional application of TC. 
To those that have treated their speaker crossovers, what all exactly did you paste? My speaker crossovers are easily (somewhat) accessible so I plan on doing this sometime soon.
Would it be too redundant if I mentioned solder joints? All solder joints in everything.
@shadorne <It is as simple as “follow the money” - this thread is not by mere enthusiasts. This thread is a highly orchestrated product promotion as anyone can see from the ridiculous claims. This thread is clearly about parting folks from their money. Statements like “TC is better than any equipment upgrade” are just so ridiculous that the whole thing is one awfully long joke. Sadly the joke is a material expense to those who get swept up in all the hoopla.> 

Could not be put better although I can't help wishing there was a better way to separate the debates here on Audiogon between the genuine enthusiasts and all the rest.


I am a mere enthusiast. Look at my posting and review history plus feedback. Easy to see I post on a myriad of different topics and am a long time member. Best way to try the product is to spend $75 with three other people and pass around the paste. Paste a few simple connections. Give it a couple of days and if you like what you hear then go for a full purchase and paste your entire system for even more fantastic results.

In crossovers paste all solder connections and bare point to point wire runs. Yes, cover all those cap and resistor leadouts. Inside speakers paste the leads exiting the voice coil to the tab connectors. Paste the tab connectors and any solder connections. Paste the solder connections at the speaker binding posts. Paste the entire post inside the speaker.

Pasting just one power cord or connection will give you a taste of the SQ improvement. On its own the improvement level is like cap or tube upgrade. However, when you take the time to apply throughout your system, as outlined in many posts, well then the improvement is on the order that makes the skeptics anxious. To get to this level requires a willingness to get inside gear, speakers, outlets etc...Simple to do but does take time.

Enjoy!