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
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.
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  
@ultimatezap

I totally agree with you concerning the increased volume after applying TC. The volume setting on my PL integrated amp is lower than usual plus I had to re-adjust the volume setting on my sub since it became too over powering.

I must also add that I can now listen at a lower volume and still hear the finer detail and dynamics of the music. I now enjoy listening without having to increase the volume.

BTW- I applied TC to the tube pins without any consequences. Just apply to about 1/3 and you should be fine.
To ronrags:

I'm working up the nerve on the tube pins!

Pretty awesome without.

And Oregon: I try not to think too much about the criticism of others, but it's difficult at times.

AR really took care of me on the amp. I had an HD220 that went kaput and they couldn't fix anymore. They gave me full credit for what I'd paid towards the 75SE. They sure didn't have to,  as it was four or five years old. I'll always have their equipment.

I love this hobby. 
Ultimatezap and Oregonpapa,

   Yesterday I applied the TC to only the tube pins in my hybrid modded Bada Purer 3.3 integrated amp and WOW!! I recently purchased an older modded version of my Bada Purer 3.3se. This amp replaced expensive separates so I know that it is an overachiever. When I saw the modded one up for sale I had to try it.  Well to make a long story short after one weeks time I felt the recently acquired one, older modded one, was sweeter but just didn't have the bass or portray the density or weight of the instruments like my present amp and I was disssppointed. After listening one day later after applying the TC to the tube pins, two 6922's, the increase in performance of the amp was startling. Bass is about equally powerful but more refined in comoarison to my old amp but now tonal density and layering of instruments is well beyond my old amp as well as soundstage depth and especially depth. Imaging is also wonderful now. I had good luck putting Quicksilver Gold on the pins of the 12au7 tubes of Bada Purer 3.3se so I new that this could help bridge the bass gap between the two amps. However the extant of the change was pretty shocking! Already psid for itself! Thanks Oregonpapa now I will buy a couple of new SR Blue fuses for my modded amp. This new TC is really easy to apply and has such a nice homogenous consistency to it. I can't wait to apply to some other connections next weekend!