Good to see people tuning! It’s important to remember, no two systems are going to be "Tuned" the same. The Audio Trilogy comes down to 3 simple parts Electrical, Mechanical and Acoustical. The "Method of Tuning" you use is as important as your tuning tools. "Everything affects everything else" is what tweaking your system is all about.
Snake Oil=Not Understanding.
The faster you get past the "snake oil" theory, the sooner you will start learning how to voice your system in. The key to understanding is when you get to the place where you realize your audio signal is a "variable". Once you get to that point, then you can explore just how variable. Lower mass systems are more tunable than high mass. High mass systems are more locked into a fixed sound. Problem with having a fixed sound (one sound) system is all recordings are different. High mass systems typically play less recordings’ recorded codes. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s all a choice. Low mass systems allow for a wider vibratory response.
Two sides
A system that you dampen is going to play one sound, more than a system where you use mechanical transfer and variable tuning. Mechanical transfer works very much like a musical instrument. As you make adjustments to the transfer points you gain control over the signal.
Fields
An audio signal falls into the category of influence of fields. Just as you tune your system mechanically you are also tuning your system’s fundamental forces. Mechanical transfer is a part of this, but so is the electromagnetic field, and the mechanical/acoustical effect. They all work together as well as influence each other.
It’s pretty basic science and as your system becomes more of a tool and less of brand name faceplates, that’s when the hobby can really take off for you.
Michael Green