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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
sabai OP
2,027 posts
 
There are more implications in the scientific domain, as I have been alluding to:

http://www.iflscience.com/physics/magnetic-fields-can-control-heat-and-sound/

Acoustic phonons have magnetic properties:

https://phys.org/news/2015-03-landmark-magnets.html
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Good one Sabai, temperature and sound. Here's a scientific trick involving temperature and sound anyone can do at home and it's FREE. It doesn't get any cheaper than that!  All you need is plain old tap water. Everyone should be familiar with the relationship of heat and sound, that sound travels faster through warm air than it does through cold air. So you can easily control how sound waves travel through the air in your room by placing bowls of very cold water out in front of the speakers in a row, let's say 3 or 4 bowls depending on how big the room is and how big the bowls are. Thus when you listen to your favorite track you'll notice it's clearer, more open and more realistic. Because the sound waves are bending downwards due to the slowing up of the waves close to the bowls of cold water more sound reaches the listener's ears. Tell your friends.
sabai OP
2,027 posts
 
geoffkait,

If you read my posting and my earlier reference very closely you will note that I am not talking about bowls of water. This kind of digression is not helpful. It merely trivializes matters and diverts attention from the subject at hand. The bottom line is that magnets, if used correctly, do in fact have a positive effect on audio system sound.
sabai OP
2,027 posts
 
Just to remind everyone that the OP is about DIY projects you can do at home that do not cost much but that really improve audio system sound.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Sabai, I really don't understand why you are being so confrontational. I have already told you I have been using magnets to improve sound for almost 20 years. We just happen to disagree on some of the details for better or worse. The reason I posted the bowls of water thing is not really out of line on this particular thread, you know, since the topic is cheap DIY tweaks.
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