New Tweak --- Its Fantastic


THE NEW TWEAK

Over the good part of this past year I’ve been beta testing a new tweak, the name of which is "Total Contact." Its a hi-bred graphene contact enhancer that is different from all other contact enhancers that have come and gone for one reason or another. I’m not new to these contact enhancers, having had quite a bit of experience with a product developed by the late Brian Kyle and his "Quick Silver" contact enhancer. The "Total Contact" is different ... a LOT different.

"Total Contact" is graphene based and is not a vibration control. It eliminates micro-arching between two contacts. Micro-arching, much like Micro-vibration smears the sound in our stereo systems. Its the type of distortion that we don’t know is there .... until we eliminate it. There is no break-in as we know it. The sound is improved right off the bat, but what you hear is only a smidgen of what’s to come.

I tested three generations of "TC," each of which was an improvement over the previous incarnation. The final mix was cryogenitically treated and made for a more effective, much smoother application. It comes in a large hypodermic needle type plunger containing 1.5 ml of product and includes a instructional DVD and an application brush.

The application should be applied with a very thin coat to all of your electrical connections .... from your cartridge pins to your power cords. I did my entire system, including the ends of my fuses.

Upon initial application, you will notice an improvement in clarity, correctness of tonal balance and a more overall organic sound. But ... that is just scratching the surface of what this magic paste does. As it cures, the improvements become more apparent. Much more!

There are two real break-through events that happen almost to the day with "Total Contact," one at four weeks and another at eight weeks . At four weeks, you’ll get a real jump in clarity and overall improvement. That’s only a taste though of what’s to come at eight weeks. At eight weeks your system’s focus will make a jump in SQ that is so real - its surreal.

After 40 years in the hobby, and a total tweak nut, I have never heard anything that does what this graphene paste does. The see-through clarity at eight weeks becomes simply amazing. The "paste" eventually cures into a kind of polymer plastic and it seems that the sound improves with each listening session. So, its important that you leave your contacts alone for the duration. If you’re the type of person that continually switches wires in and out, you’ll have to re paste until enough time has elapsed to get "the cure."

The only problem I had was with the first batch and that had to do with shorting out a tube pin in the line stage. Use the "TC" very sparingly on tube pins, if at all. I only had problems with the line stage tube pins. The Amp, CD Player and Phono Stage has had no tube pin problems at all.

Tim Mrock, one of our fellow A’goners, is the developer of the product. Its taken Tim 15 years and several patents to get it right. Tim has "pasted" every electrical contact he can find in his audio system, all of the switches in his circuit breaker box, every contact in his car ... and has used it in commercial applications such as hospital circuit breakers, surgical lights ... and other places where efficiency and long life of electrical components are deemed important.

This product is highly recommended to anyone who truly wants to get the most out of his/her audio systems. There’s enough product in each tube to do at least two audio systems as it just takes a very thin coat on each application to be effective. The last tube was enough to do my system twice and then a friend’s system this past weekend.


Frank

PS: There were a couple of other A’goner beta testers of this product as well. Hopefully, they will chime in here with their experiences for comparison. I "pasted" both of Steve Fleschler’s systems a few days ago, perhaps he will comment on his results too. We forgot to paste Steve’s power cords though, so there’s a lot more to be had from Steve’s two fantastic systems.

Frank
128x128oregonpapa

I have treated just my IC's and speaker cables, with Frank's help around one month ago. I have not yet pasted my power cords.

I think all of these tweaks are beneficial to certain degrees. My system was pretty resolving, but now that this tweak has 'burned in', I too must respond with positive comments about a 'lifting of a veil' of digital grunge, more open sound stage, better detail, and more accurate bass. The question now is how dramatic....I wouldn't say I was gobsmacked with improvement like say from a component upgrade, but everything in this hobby matters, and for the price, and the minimum effort involved, it helps me enjoy the music more, and listen to my gear less. It is clearly a definite improvement, more than subtle, but less than big bucks change up in gear. I would say its on par with the improvement I noticed by adding the SR black fuses to my gear...so slowly, and steadily, I am adding to sound quality, and enjoyment.

I will try to paste my PC's soon. I have tried the product, and found it to be a positive improvement. I hope my comments will not result in attacks, as I am trying to be fair and balanced in my review and results.

I'm glad Frank has brought this new product to my attention, I would not have tried it otherwise, and missed an easy tweak with positive effects.

Bob ...

Glad you're enjoying your system. Many more points to treat with TC. Seems like the more the better ... 

You'll have to come over soon to hear my system. Its completely pasted with TC now. Far better sound than the last time you were over.  

Frank
Now that I've reached the 4 week point, after treating my system with TC, I realize I had no clue how good my system really is, or what it is capable of.

Others will share their own experiences, and I am confident they will be similar.

I have no control over what some may believe or say about this, nor do I really care. I can sleep well at night, and look myself in the eye in the mirror, because I know I am telling the dead honest truth about my experience with TC.

just my $.02 on all this back-n-forth, I just ordered a vial and will report back in a few weeks.

I've used Caig De-oxit and QuickSilver contanct enhancer in the past with just very modest minor results, when this thread first surfaced, I was startled to see contact enhancement being recommended due to my experience with the mess of QuickSilver and the marginal results.

One of things that changed my thinking on this was just type into google 'wiki Graphene' and read the science behind this material. There's something electrically unique about this stuff imo.

I have a PS Audio Audio outlet power filter with good VH Audio Power cord. Was reviewing my connections and noticed I'd plugged CD player and Preamp into this PS Audio and the amp into another power strip. Since I'm 99% vinyl nowadays, I unplugged the CD player and plugged my Conrad Johnson MF2250 amp into the PS Audio filter and relegated the cd player to the regular power strip. Very suprised what that little change did to improve imaging and noise floor reduction, so I'm optomistic that the contact graphene will convey more of the same.

Rest of the system is VPI Prime with Audio Technica Art-9, Supratek Chenin preamp, Revel Performa M22 bookshelfs. Hopefully this will scratch my upgrade itch, was eyeing the Paradigm Persona B which would set me back 7K so 300 is a bargin.

I'm drinking the kool aid nellies!

tommylion ...

So now that you know what the four week phenomenon is all about, be prepared for the eight week encore. You’re gonna love it.

richmon ...

Welcome to the TC Paster’s Club. If you’ve read through the entire thread, you know that there is a history between Total Contact and some of the other contact enhancers. TC is different, a LOT different as you will soon find out. At $300 its a total bargain for what it does to enhance an audio system.

Good choice on the cartridge by the way. As you may know, there’s a bunch of us here who use the AT ART-9 ... another bargain if there ever was one. :-) 

I'd love to try out the ART-1000, but its a little too expensive at this point now that I'm retired and not working any longer. Please, would someone buy one so the rest of us can live vicariously through your reviews and listening experiences?

Frank