2. misc-audio
  3. 123271-40

Most Effective Tweaks?

Wondering what generic tweaks people have tried that made the biggest difference?    Also interested in how much the tweaks cost to implement and the magnitude say from minimum of "marginal" to maximum of "transformational".

My top tweaks I can think of so far are

1) isolating speakers from versus coupling to floor when needed  (~$100, transformational)
2) Mu metal shield around low level  phono stepup transformer ($30, transformational noise reduction)
3) power cord upgrade (significant, ~$80)
4) acoustic panels (significant, $90)
5) power conditioner (significant, $100)
5) Physically moving components further apart from each other (NC, marginal)
128x128mapman
tbromgard
814 posts
 
Room acoustic treatments - as good as a component upgrade
infection's avatar
infection
808 posts
 
Origin Live belt - significant.

Townshend Seismic speaker bars - significant. 

Power cable upgrade to Missing Link Reference on mono blocks - excellent. 

Hi-Fi In Touch Cryo silver distribution block - ****ing amazing.

jerroot
104 posts
 
Mass loading my speaker stands with sand resulted in a significant tightening of bass. And it is a close to free as you can get.

Speaking of free, and I know this going to sound trite to some, the single tweak that results in the most significant improvement in my personal experience is to simply close my eyes, or listen when it's dark outside (my listening room has windows). Whether we want it to or not, our brains are always at work processing information trying to make sense of the world around us, and I find that every bit of information being processed by any of the other senses reduces my auditory experience. It is not always easy or possible for me to isolate just my sense of hearing, but when I can it makes for the most engaging sessions.
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