tweak, do they realy bring improvement?

Most tweaks (Cables are not tweaks, since the system will not work without them) are designed to do one thing: reduce vibrations. Without getting into a big discussion about physics, vibrations prevent audio gear from functioning at their highest level.

The more these vibrations can be reduced or (not likely) eliminated, the better the equipment is able to sound. Vibrations come from the ground, and from the air, each of them have a detrimental effect on the sound. The battle for the last twenty, or so, years has been to minimize them. All kinds of items have been used with varying degrees of success. In overly simplistic terms vibrations are absorbed with items like Sorbothane or vibrapods, or dissipated with items like cones, and stands. Some work in certain environments, while others work better in different environments. The buyer needs to know what he is trying to accomplish when buying the different types of products.

Just like, not everyone will need an AC line conditioner, not everyone will need every type of vibration treatment.

Hospitals, observatories, and science labs have been the main source of understanding the effects of vibration. These places require accurate measurements to do their research, and small vibrations will have large effects on micro measurements in science. Again I hope I am not being overly simplistic in my discription, I'm trying to make it as understandable as possible, but everyone here is above average, so it should not be an issue.

Gentleman,

I agree with above cables whether they are IC's or speakers cannot be classified as a tweak. My experience is that a good cable like wine, cheese,cigars, or even cars is going to perform better. However power cords and conditioners may not improve your system(many engineers don't think so). I have first hand experience with vibration control and can attest to the merit of reducing / eliminating if possible vibration. I think we can all learn from the manufactors, many furnish spikes/cones like B&W and Wadia which I own with there equipment. Most companies make there power cords removable which tells me they expect real or imagined that the customer will want/need to upgrade. The fact that spikes, cones, and power cords have survived in a competitive environment indicates that the majority of audiophiles recognizes there usefulness. To me a real tweak is the cd marker(which I've tried), cd edge treatment, or cd mats these seem to help on low end equipment but will not show much improvement on high end gear. Like everyone else (I hope) I rely on third or independant opions on all tweaks that I have tried. My amp and pre have fixed cords so I couldn't upgrade, out of desperation I tried the AC power wraps which is to be used when you can't swap to a real PC and in my opion and the wifes it gave our system a sonic improvement. It appeared to make the system quieter or darker as some say.

To wrap this up I would say that all components of a system are subjective, that's why Audigon is THE place to audition equipment, and some tweaks just mask poorly designed or built equipment. If your system needs a lot of tweaks your listening taste has matured and you may want to move up to higher end gear because you realize that you are not hearing all the music. Once you experience how good recorded music can sound in your own home it's hard to comprimise. Unless of course you are happy with the sound of an alarm clock radio, then this thread wil be irrelavant.

Happy Listening: to tweak or not to tweak the freedom all audiophiles enjoy.
Woodman

I think the level of improvement is proportional to the quality of the room the system is in. If it is an excellent room acoustically then the tweaks are not only apparent but necessary to make the system sound its best. So the answer is yes and sometimes little tweaks can make the biggest difference.

Hi All,

Brainwater – thank you for your kind comments.

Dmttrydr – Some of the most likely prevailing theories suggest that eddy currents and hysteresis distortion are created when vibration is present within an electronic component. Both of these conditions can affect the flow of electrons through a conductor and theoretically alter the signal flowing through the component.

In addition, vibration can affect a component that utilizes a digital optical disc. The laser reading a spinning disc can have a more difficult time focusing on the information spiral if vibration is present. When this occurs, the servo sled must utilize corrective motors which will tax the power supply. If the vibration is severe, some digital information may be unreadable by the laser and interpolation can be brought into effect. Interpolation is when the processor ‘makes up’ the information that should probably be in the unreadable section by comparing what came before the unreadable section and what comes after the unreadable section. It might guess correctly but it also may not. In any case, the power supply will work harder than necessary during this occurrence. Also, digital components are based on master and sub-clocks (oscillating crystals) and extra vibration can interfere with their accuracy. Unwanted vibration can cause timing errors (corrupted ‘settling time’) of the bits which can increase jitter.

Vacuum tubes can become microphonic and turntables exhibiting excess vibration can cause unwanted motion of the stylus within the groove which will add unwanted artifacts to the signal.

Makersmark – I certainly agree that taking an accessory or a tweak that intended to address a particular problem and using it (unwittingly) to compensate for the symptom of a different problem in a system should be strongly avoided. As an example: if a system exhibits the typical symptom of certain types of vibration by having a forward midrange and glare or edginess to the lower treble region, a person should not compensate by adjusting speaker position or adding room treatments. Eliminating the CAUSE of the symptom should be addressed.

Addressing basic acoustic issues in a room is a high priority to allow a system to faithfully reproduce what is in the recording. Making sure the AC feeding the system is free of problems is also a high priority. Of course, addressing the three main sources of vibration is also critical to allow a system to faithfully reproduce what is in the recording. They are:

1) Vibration that is directly-coupled from the loudspeaker, and transfers through the floor and up through the component stand into the feet of the component. A properly designed vibration control support for a speaker will address this issue and eliminate the vibration.

2) Air-borne vibration sent directly from the loudspeaker drivers through the air towards the chassis of the component.

3) Self-generated vibration that is created within the chassis of the component by spinning motors, humming transformers and cooling fans.

The other significant sources of vibration are heating and air conditioning systems, exterior traffic (trucks, subways, trains, airplanes, cars, etc) as well as geological seismic activity.

Nrchy – I also agree with many of your points. I would like to state that a hospital, observatory or laboratory is a fundamentally different environment than a listening room for audio or home theater. In addition, the equipment in the hospital, observatory or lab has different vibration control needs than the equipment in an audio or home theater.

The hospital, observatory or laboratory is a relatively quiet environment. The listening room at home is not - it is being filled with high SPLs of music. The component is being bombarded with large amounts of acoustic energy that is being absorbed into the chassis. In addition, the audio or video component is creating its own unwanted vibration internally (spinning motors, humming transformers, cooling fans, etc.). The laboratory device usually does not. We want to restrict as much acoustic energy and as much internally generated vibration as possible from contaminating the signal flowing through the component.

Walkelin – Your points are well taken and the personal experience of listening to music is, of course, subjective. I would comment, however, that ALL components/systems are in need of properly designed and implemented vibration control. Every component manufactured is subject to at least one of the forms of destructive vibration that I have listed above and will require vibration control to achieve its optimum performance capabilities.

Best Regards,

Barry Kohan