"Feng Shui" and "Floobie Dust"

An interesting topic. I identified with Redkiwi's comment/question about non-audiophiles trusting their ears. I did not become obsessively interested in high end audio until near age 50, and it took me about 3 years of much reading and careful listening before I was confident in my ability to hear differences between treatments, tweaks, and components. Critical listening (in my opinion) is an acquired skill. Now, while I still like Stereophile and TAS, I don't need their opinions to pick out components or decide if a tweak is worthwhile, in other words I have learned how to listen, and to trust my own hearing and judgement. My 28 year old daughter,on the other hand, loves music and has better hearing than me, but she has not learned critical listening skills as I have. I lovingly refer to her as a "cloud of sound" person. In Robert Harley's book, he carefully differentiates between listening for pleasure and the more difficult critical listening-- sometimes they are hard to keep separate. Recently I tried out an after market power cord on my big McCormack amp (recommended my Steve McCormack). There was a big difference in music quality/character, and I was amazed-- but I didn't like it and sent it back. Not all tweaks work in YOUR system. Elsewhere in this forum, Redkiwi noted that he did not like the effect of Vibapods in his system and I respect that, but my experience with them has been totally positive. SUBJECTIVITY:) I have enjoyed all the above posts. Thanks.

Hi Tsquared; I too have had good results with AC line conditioning. I have a Tice E-4, and the 4 digital outlets are particularly beneficial. A question: Where do you get Optrix spray for CDs, and what improvements have you noticed by using it? This is an area I have not yet investigated. Thanks.

Hi J_K; I don't seem to be able to stop on this topic! Where are the Bedini dual beam Ultra Clarifier (I assume this is for CD cleaning?) and Marigo CD cleaner available from, and what is Cross Bow? Also have any of you guys above had any experience with the "green pen" application on CD edges? Thanks.

The green pen is fun. The audiophile one for $14 is a pain to use, and it flakes off sometimes. A good pen is the Staedtler Lumocolor 314 "B" (not the S or M, tip too small). These are pens for overhead projectors with transparencies, you can find in good art stores. Do the outside and inside edge and the groove. Gives better focus, but y'know...some cd's sound better a little fuzzy...

You can find a good selection of tweeks and the technology explanation by ordering a Music Direct catalog at www.amusicdirect.com... They have the Marigo and Bedini products. The official names are Marigo Orpheus CD Mat, Marigo Boundary Layer Optical Fluid, and Bedini Dual Beam Ultra Clarifier (www.bedini.com has a list of local dealers, also click on "reviews" to see the rave reviews of the Ultra Clarifier). Music Direct is a neat catalog for any audiophile to have as a good source of tweeks, analog parts and media. They typically have been good with order turn-around. J_K