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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
ronrags's avatar
ronrags
280 posts
 


Slaw- Frank was trying to convey his enthusiasm for this product just like the fuse thread he started. Frank is a gentleman but I can’t blame him for being defensive due to the negative comments and criticism he has received endorsing these products. I read every comment on this thread from the beginning and feel Frank response to you and others were justified.

If you found a product you like, wouldn’t you want to endorse it on these forums? How would you feel and respond if you received negative comments from those who never tried it? Why must individuals respond with such negativity with no justification.

Believe it or not Frank was reluctant to try TC as was I and others. But his description of TC encouraged me to try this product in which I'm grateful. I'm so amazed with this product that I sent my unused portion to 2 other audiogoners to try with no charge. We need to encourage and assist each other in this wonderful hobby instead of trying to discourage. 
oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa OP
4,867 posts
 
^^^ Thank you, ronrags. Your support is very much appreciated. Conveying my enthusiasm is exactly what I did.

Yes, for the most part, these are the same guys who tried to crap all over the original Red fuse thread, then the Black fuse thread ... and then the Blue fuse thread.

They seemed to have missed my positive reviews of the ARC Ref 75-SE, the Hebie’s tube dampeners and the Audio Technica ART-9 cartridges. Actually, as i think about it, they attacked Audio Research, the company, over and over in the REF-75-SE review. Same Negative Nellies, give or take a few.

Frank


ultimatezap
26 posts
 
OK. It's been pretty close to exactly four weeks since I applied the magic stuff. I pasted approximately 100 connections. And before you go "no way..." there are 30 connections included in just my two main front speakers. I built them from a GR Research kit, so I know it. Oh and Oregon? My main amp is the 75 SE. How in the world can anyone say anything negative about it? It is superlative. Amazing. Also have the Herbie's Super Black Hole and Big Sliders under the speakers.   Anyway, my system is sounding better than it ever has. It just keeps blooming as the magic stuff cures, and I wanted to wait the four weeks before I wrote anything.

However,  back on February 12th, immediately after I initially pasted and listened, I sent Tim the following : "Hi Tim. I spent several hours applying the secret sauce to approximately 100 connections, and that's not counting, for instance, the four separate connection points in a Speakon connector as more than one. So I have a few. 
I think I'd best describe changes as subtle at this point. Not a huge smack in the face. Which is just fine with me, 'cause I already really like how my system sounds. Greater or lesser degrees of: lower, blacker noise floor, more presence to low frequencies, more depth and width to the sonic image, coming further to the sides of the speakers than before. The highs seem smoother and my missus said she could hear more highs that were buried before (her ears may be a bit better than mine...). It seems as though some vocals are easier to understand. Seems like it took the edge off of some female voices that could occasionally be a tiny bit grating. What the missus (Cindy) and I also agree on is that it in no way diminishes the sound. No dulling, losses, or smearing. So if it only gets better, and it's a linear process, then I say: yayy!"

And Yayyyyyyyy it is boys and girls. The soundstage has continued to solidify and spread at the same time. And the "seems" statements that I sent to Tim definitely "are". 

One thing that no one has mentioned that I have found is that it makes the connections more electrically efficient on top of everything else. What do I mean? Well, my speakers are stupid efficient. 97 dB. Which means I should by running about 6 watts, not the 75 that the AR puts out. So every change is easy to pick out. Which can really suck if I make a bad choice. I've seen the meters on the 75 SE hit 15 watts on stupid loud Tool or Sevendust, but they barely move at normal listening levels, like now, with Tori Amos and her piano. She is solid, and the piano is THERE. Really awesome. But my volume shows 9 o'clock where before I used to listen to the same stuff at 1030 or 1100. Anyone else notice this? I tried attenuators to get further into the volume, but they killed dynamics.

Tim and I sent each other photos of our respective systems. Let me tell you: he is serious about his setup. Very. I'm lucky that I have a lady that allows the speakers well into the living room without complaint. She is awesome as well.

The only connections I didn't paste were the tubes in my AR pre-amp and the 75 SE. I figured I'd be okay with the benefits of the other connections, and opening the nearly $20K in amps to paste the pins scared the hell out of me.

OK, back to the music. Vienna Teng is filling my soul.

Oh, this is the best 300 bucks I've spent on anything. Ever. 
willgolf
933 posts
 
Going on 4 weeks.  I think it is hard if you have high end components to hear major differences.  I have said that about fuses and now TC.  I ordered a custom set of Sonus Faber Amati Tradition speakers about 3 months ago.  The dealer gave me a brand new pair to listen to while my speakers were being built.  I had treated all of my plugs and  RCA cables.  I am not sure I really heard an upgrade in quality.  The borrowed speakers were broken in and sounded great.  My new speakers came in and I hooked up the system.  It sounded lifeless...meaning they were not broken in yet.  I was bummed.  I had not treated the speaker cables yet.  I treated the bare wire and the spade.  As soon as I turned it back on my speakers came to life.  So, despite my reservations, I did hear an improvement and I suspect it will get a lot better once the speakers break in a little.
I have also treated all of the components of my theater room including my Epsom 10500 projector and 75 inch TV.  I can honestly say I have not experienced an improvement in picture quality.  I was hoping to see a change. 
 I have not treated the tubes of my Raven integrated amp.  I did treat the Blue fuse and Power cord.  I just am not comfortable doing the tubes.  
Finally, I called Tom on a Sunday Afternoon and he spent a lot of time with me teaching my how to apply and what I could use it on.  I was impressed that he took the time.  
Was it worth the $300.  Yes.  I just spent 5 figures on a new media server and I know I won't realize the kind of upgrade in performance of my two channel system as I did with TC for $300.
oregonpapa's avatar
oregonpapa OP
4,867 posts
 
ultimatezap ...

Thank you for the excellent review. 

When I received my REF-75-SE, replacing an older REF-75, I really was enthusiastic. After changing out the KT-120's on the REF-75 for a set of KT-150's, I stated that I had never heard such a grain-less amp ... until I took delivery of the SE version.  I was so enthusiastic that the A'gon naysayers were calling me a "shill" for Audio Research. Then, I was "a shill" for Synergistic Research. Then I became "a shill" for Total Contact. All I can say is that there are a lot of shill detectors who visit this site. :-)

 willgolf ...

I pasted the contacts on my 73" Mitsubishi rear projection TV as well, including the male plugs on the "lamp." I experienced improvements that included blacker blacks, a brighter picture and better colors. In order to get these improvements, I had to go into "settings" and re calibrate most of the settings.  Don't know if you've done that or not, but its worth a try.

ultimatezap, willgolf ... and others who have invested in TC: On the 4 week breakthrough ... I'm smiling because I know what comes at eight weeks and I can hardly wait for your reactions to that.

Frank  
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