The next best Tweak ???


There have been several postings at AA about a new tweak from the mind of a gent named unclestu that I would like to share with Audiogon members.

I really don’t know why it works or how it works.
This tweak will cost you about $10 bucks but hold on to your hats...

unclestu discovered that the Ground Control (that was designed by Bud Purvine and sold by AudioPrism)design could be improved on.

You will need to make two sets for your speakers.

What unclestu came up with is to take a 6V Lantern Battery, add a 1000uf Electrolytic capacitor across the top springs (+ to + and - to -) connect a wire to the negative side of the battery and then attach the other wire end to the negative post on your speaker.

I have also made a couple that I plug in to my Preamp and Amp. Those were made with RCA’s ground on the wire end and I used 9V batteries utilizing 9V battery clips.

I've got to say, big improvement across the board, Soundstage, bass, mids, treble. But the most dramatic change is in the dynamics.
128x128ozzy
Hi Folks -
Was shopping on Parts Express for some caps. Saw some 10000uF but from the pix, not obvious how to tell poles. Submitted a question that got the following answer. Thought it might be helpful to post. Apparently not all caps are "polarized". From the little reading I did, a cap intended for use in an AC circuit can't be. At any rate hope the below is helpful. (it does confirm some of the info previously posted in this thread)

From Russ at Parts Express -
"If a capacitor is, indeed, polarized, then there are a few different indicators you can look for. If one lead is longer than the other, the longer lead will be positive, the shorter will be negative. You can also look at the end caps, the positive end cap will generally be black plastic, rubber, or some other insular material, while the negative will typically be aluminum. Many are also marked clearly, with plus and minus, or an arrow pointing from positive to negative, or a stripe on the negative side. The capacitor in question here is an electrolytic capacitor, non-polarized."
Ghosthouse , Yes, Electrolytic Caps seem to be all polarized. That is the type of Cap used in this tweak.
I am now using a 10K 50V Electrolytic Cap on my speakers. Parts Express has limited selection. Digi-Key is a good source.
Ozzy - In the last line, it seemed to me Parts Express was saying all electrolytic caps are NOT necessarily polar.

Either way, non-polar or polar and properly connected - does it matter?
The tweak is using only the negative side of the battery because of the electron flow.
But, I really dont know if it matters because all I have used is the polarized caps.
Thanks Ozzy for your help. I have implemented this on my system. I have the 6 volt system on my Legacy Helix speakers and had to make a special rig since the speaker is quad amped. It took a while to figure how to do all thee speaker terminals for each speaker but I got the job done. I also made the rig with the nine volt batteries one for my Perfect Wave DAC and one for Ref 3. The tweaks make a subtle but worthwhile improvement. I believe it lowers the noise floor which lets little subtle details escape from the background. Voices seem silkier and more natural.
Soundstage seems to be wider and deeper. It is funny that one can hear the system improve as the caps charge up. I'll bet there is a break in period as well.
For those who have made the devices for the speaker terminals on your amps, did you use 6 volt or 9 volt? Does one find the same improvements? I wonder is this tweak could be implemented on my server and power conditioners as well? Any ideas?
For the small amount of change and investment in time this tweak pays off handsomely.
A friend with a very high Rez system did the tweak for his speakers with great results similar to what we've found, but it did not work well with his Gryphon preamp or Theta Gen 5 DAC. The tweak shut down the soundstage and the system sounded constricted. So this tweak may not be for everyone.
Again thanks for all the ideas and descriptions of this tweaks virtues.
SGR