I am presenting my favorite tweaks to my mature Audio system. The first is two pair of Shakti Hallographs. They are essential to my large 7 driver box speakers. I eliminated all of my sound absorption and deflecting panels when I set up the Hallographs. The sound improved tremendously so that I am not contemplating replacing my speakers (combined with SR black fuse effect).
As to the Shakti stones, they did not work in my audio system. Ben Piazza and Robert have attested to their effectiveness on my equipment. They may work well on other equipment
Secondarily,. Stillpoints are essential under my preamp which is built into a thin metal case with rubber feet. Robert knows how honky it sounded pre Stillpoint Ultra Ss were installed. I have other Stillpoint ultra minis and Ss under my resonating amps and EAR Acute CD player which don't suffer as much as the preamp
Thirdly, within 2 hours SR black fuses in the monoblock amps were my next most important tweak. WOW. It was easy two tell the best direction,.The incorrect direction resulted in a hashier, forward brighter sound. The correct sound is warmer sweeter and deeper . After 12 hours they were fabulous. I sent away for a higher rated fuse due to their blowing on startup at the manufacturer rating
I installed the SR black duplex and tried it with the bus's an fuses in the amps. Terrible at first. Fabulous bass after 30 hours but mids are missing as well as ambiance. At 60 hours about half way to the SR fuses quality of sound at 12 hours My wife told me give it another 60 hours and she will listen (she confirmed the 30 and 60 hour mark sound)
I know I should wait 100 to 200 hours before listening but I wanted to judge the changes. I compare is to the Teslaplex SE I have been using. (I have installed multiple dedicated 20 amp lines for my audio when I built my house)
I've tried other tweaks and some are somewhat helpful and some were not. These are my favorites. I also have a Bryston isolation transformer 20 amp and some custom made distribution boxes
Getting the right tube and wiring I don't consider tweaks.
My my wife is a harsh critic. She has super sensitive hearing (and my hearing is perfect up to 15k). She hears and/or senses the smallest differences or none and let's me know yes or no. I sometimes disagree because I hear an improvement but relegate a loss somewhere else to her not knowing. But she's always right so I switch tweaks back to where it sounds most musical to her. E.G. Magico footers at $1200 a set. They created a black background and pleasing tone compared to my Stillpoints. Both Robert and my wife heard a dull musical sound instead. Totally uninvolving. Horrible pace. I agreed and sent them back immediately as I tried them under every piece of equipment and heard the same result
