Tweaks That Don't Work

IME you're all wrong. Those things worked, just not in my system.

I will share with you my most effective tweak. To define tweak, to me its an improvement that is not part of the signal chain. Well my tweak has enabled me to listen to my system for longer periods of time, with a greater level of comfort. When I listen, I always wear underwear and pants two sizes larger than I wear otherwise. It makes the music 28% more enjoyable.

When someone says something like, "the black is blacker", etc., my first thought is: specifically, how much? I'm not criticizing the words we have to use to describe such things but making things measurable would be a good start. Impossible, I know.

Are you sure that it's 28%, seems on the low side to me. My guess is that your underwear is not 100% cotton. We all know how synthetic fibres in the carpet can misalign the electrons coursing through your cables. Obviously you have synthetic knickers-in-a-twist syndrome. You need natural fibres for a more natural sound. Glad I can be of help around here…

Great stuff so far, very interesting.

In general, I am always skeptical of anything that appears to have no basis in science. Even those which have theoretical physical effects, but which are not easily measurable, I am usually willing to consider. I have heard audible improvements from nearly every change I have made to my system over the years, and most have been for the better. In my experience, changes in power delivery (AC conditioners/filters/re-generators, Power cords, dedicated lines) to all pieces of equipment have been the most noticeable.

One thing that is difficult for me to discern much difference on is bi-wiring my speakers vs. a single wire with the binding post jumpers installed (Martin Logan "Ascent" driven by Krell FPB-200, AQ "Crystal" speaker wire). I haven't done a bunch of experimenting between the two, but I can't say that I heard much, if any, difference when I first made the switch. However, I like the sound of my system with the two runs of cable, so I have left them connected that way.