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A Big DIY Bang for Your Buck?

I believe in getting the biggest bang out of my audio buck that I can. I don't know about you but my audio budget is actually limited. I find it interesting when I hear about folks spending a zillion on the best magnetic cables and then someone comes along with some new cable technology like new liquid-infused cables that equal or best the magnetic cables at a fraction of the price. Some makers of magnetic and other cables may want you to believe that a patent pending means there must be something there that ordinary Joe Audio could never make himself. My experience leads me to say -- don't believe it.

I have been using neodymium magnets for years in my cables and around my system to improve SQ -- at a fraction of the cost that makers of magnet-containing products charge. OK, mine may not be at the very top of the performance chain when compared to those expensive products, but who cares? I have managed to get stunning returns for a pittance. It would have cost thousands, or tens of thousands, to obtain similar results from various makers.

The same applies to audio makers with a patent pending (or an actual patent) who market little aluminum audio resonators the size of pimples. I make my own resonator pimples for about a buck apiece -- with stunning results. I saved over $4,000 making 70 of my own. Maybe they are not at the very top of the performance chain compared to those expensive products, but who cares? I am very happy with results that are far beyond what I expected when I started out.

I am having a lot of fun doing DIY projects at home that reap wonderful results at a small fraction of the cost charged by audio makers for their similar products. Have others had similar experiences making their own audio products at home? Can you share your DIY experiences with us?
sabai
herman
2,267 posts
 
The guy saying the paint color on magnets makes a difference is the same guy who told us several years ago that one of his little clocks affects the sound of a live symphony orchestra and the picture on a television even if the battery in the clock is dead. You decide who is worth listening to. That's the last I'll have to say about this individual. So lets drop all the snarky comments and silliness (paint colors on magnets make a difference) and talk some science. 

If you focus on what is really happening in a cable or any path that a signal follows then it makes sense that magnets will affect that signal. Talking about electron flow is fundamentally the wrong way to describe what is happening. The water flowing in a hose analogy is fundamentally flawed. The correct way to look at it is that energy is being transferred from the source to the load (like amp to speaker) in the form of an electromagnetic wave.  Any movement of electrons is a result of the energy transfer, not the other way around. This is proven by the fact that electromagnetic waves do not need electrons in wires to travel as evidenced by the ones that travel from a radio tower to your receiver's antenna.

Since the moving energy has a magnetic component, and magnets interact with each other, it makes sense that introducing magnets will affect this transfer. It seems to me that the end result can only be that the signal is changed (distorted). I suppose that change could be perceived as an improvement.  

For this discussion to really be useful we need some results as Parabolic states. Like where the magnets were placed and how it affected the sound.
sabai OP
2,027 posts
 
mains,

I agree that the inconsistency between recordings means we sometimes have to move things around to optimize the sound. But I prefer moving my chair to moving my speakers.

parabolic,

I make some of my own power cords and insert cylindrical neodymium magnets inside the connectors. I also use magnets on various components and devices, and on the breaker box. Since each system is different no one can tell you exactly where to place magnets (and how many) to optimize the sound in your system. You will inevitably need to do a lot of experimenting to find this out. This is really a process of trial and error.

herman,

Very well said. Regarding the placement of magnets, I have given some suggestions in my comments to parabolic, above. How do magnets affect the sound? They make the sound clearer and improve sound stage continuity. The sound is not distorted by installing magnets. On the contrary. They help clear up the lack of clarity in the sound that one may not be aware of until the magnets are installed. Of course, this is in my system. So YMMV.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 

herman
The guy saying the paint color on magnets makes a difference is the same guy who told us several years ago that one of his little clocks affects the sound of a live symphony orchestra and the picture on a television even if the battery in the clock is dead. You decide who is worth listening to. That’s the last I’ll have to say about this individual. So lets drop all the snarky comments and silliness (paint colors on magnets make a difference) and talk some science.

I said this subject would open up a big of worms. Well, folks here come the worms. Just like I said. What’s funny is his plaintif call to drop the snarky comments. Pure gold!
herman
2,267 posts
 
Sabai, I don’t question that you hear an improvement. What is undeniable is that if the magnets do change things, that change is a distortion of the original. By definition a change in any signal is a distortion of that signal. Distortion doesn’t necessarily mean it is worse, only that it is different. However, I get your point as distortion is usually used to annotate a negative result. If what you are doing to change the signal sounds to you like it is clearer then that is a good distortion.
sabai OP
2,027 posts
 
herman,

I understand. I prefer to call it change rather than distortion. From where I sit, having worked on this for many years with my system, distortion arrives as part of the signal due to "dirty AC". Magnets help clean up the signal. This is the change I am referring to.
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