Talk but not walk?

Pop Quiz for a slow weekend

Which of the following are tunes and which are tweaks?

1. Springs

2. Wood blocks and Mpingo disc

3. Maple board

4. Cryogenics

5. Heat Tempering

6. Isolating the transformer

7. Removing the chassis cover

8. Elevating cables

9. Isolating speakers

10. Crystals

Michael Green,

Regarding your post on Tuneland that jf47t mentioned above.

First, the pictures you are referring to and that I was supposed to follow appear to be posted hours after I had posted my findings. Of course, I did not expect you would have guessed what amplifier I had available and then prepare me in advance. Nice try, but not quite aligned with clock and logic.


Second, if taking the cover off is important, as it seems to be in almost all of your pictures and has been discussed even on this thread ad nauseam, the effect on the sound should exist. Smaller than if everything you recommended was done, but it should be there. It is not there. Loud and clear, it does not exist.

Now if Glupson (the poster) was doing this for real he would post pictures of his whole system so we could "see" him doing instead of just giving this brief "I tried it troll".

It may come as a surprise to you and jf47t, who ridiculed my statement that Internet forums are words and therefore "talking", but I am not aware of any pictures posted on this or any other thread on Audiogon. From what I know, you and I have posted same number of pictures here. Besides, anyone can post a picture of anything and be done with it. It really does not prove much. Assuming that pictures of that NAD C-350 you posted are taken by you, you certainly know that taking the cover off is not a complicated achievement, That is why I did it. In reality, it could have taken me more time to register for any forum than what it took to "disassemble" the amplifier. It was really easy and pictures still would have not shown you what I heard.

Except for having an excuse to call me a "troll", I am not sure why you would doubt I tried to do it. Most of the people here have done a number of things in their lives and lying to an unknown person in a faraway location about taking a few screws off of some old amplifier does not seem like something they would be desperate to do. Remember, for most of us here this is not a promotional vehicle. We have different careers and no biased investment in tuning/tweaking/music reproduction. I would go as far as to claim that almost all of us would wake up with no fear about our future if tuning/tweaking somehow got banned overnight. I hope it will not, but you surely understand the point.

As you mentioned in one of your recent posts on Tuneland, in fact you whined, you found yourself wondering why people were questioning if you did something in your past. They ended up being "trolls" or whatever word(s) you chose at that moment for questioning that. Well, you just questioned if I had done even simpler and much more believable and achievable thing. I will not call you a "troll" but just so you know.

You asked people to walk the walk, whatever that vague statement means, and I did the best anyone with leftover common sense and a few spare minutes could. Given your approach to demeaning people and defending your, so far, irreproducible results, I am afraid that after I did everything like in the pictures you showed, you could say that I am a "troll" because I did not go to Bora Bora as it works the best there.

"More like a very tiny baby step and obviously the hints of trolling to the sarcastic side, but that’s ok."

More like "walking", small step or not, with plain and simple report of the result.


If anyone is still reading this thread, you may notice that I have adopted Michael Green’s way of thinking to some important extent. That is why I recommend that anyone does some of the cheap things from the tuning repertoire. Most of you may have some equivalent of my NAD C-350 laying around. Take the cover off, do not cut the plug (it is ridiculous idea, no matter how well it would sound), and let us know what you heard. Only then you could say you "walked" for the purpose of this thread. And "troll"? Not you anymore. Someone else.

Nice post, glupson, and eerily reminiscent of prof’s posts when he attempts to dismiss claims based on his results which so often are negative. This is kind of the same old story; it’s the same predicament we often find ourselves in with very earnest and determined naysayers and skeptics (similar to brothers Wolf and mapman and Ozzie to some extent who I put in category of determined naysayer who proudly announce getting negative results. And continue to repeat those claims ad infinitum.

Of course, the problem is - as I’ve been saying all along, he’ll-loo! - is there are many reasons why folks sometimes don’t get the results they were hoping for or were expecting. That’s why I have said a test, in and of itself, means little, especially if the results are negative. Even for carefully conceived and executed tests. It’s because there are too many things that can go wrong with any test, many of which are behind the control of the intrepid tester. I say that as having more testing experience than the average bear, including billion dollar electronic systems. Please, no angry emails about Appeal to Authority.

Psychologically, being a self anointed Doubting Thomas probably doesn’t help. Perhaps you could say it’s a self fulfilling prophecy. “How will I be able to face my fellow pseudo skeptics?” It’s like a lot of tunes and tweaks - it’s helpful to evaluate this thing or that thing in a system that has evolved to a point where there is more of a chance of being able to hear it. Many systems are simply too, uh, what’s the word? Oh, yeah, rudimentary.

I return you now to your regularly scheduled program, As the Troll Turns.

Michael Green,

I just noticed that you expressed interest in my whole system that was used for "walking" with NAD C-350 amplifier. I cannot provide pictures, mostly for practical Internet reasons and not for any secrecy. It consisted of...

SONY HAP-Z1ES, playing different kinds of music, including Hindu Love Gods. From Mahler to Kraftwerk and whatever else. Mostly at 16/44/1 AIFF and some DSD 2.8.

Interconnects, probably stock with some old equipment, but possibly also Radio Shack. Definitely nothing expensive.

NAD C-350 amplifier, bought maybe in 2001 or 2002, played a lot before, but not touched in 4 years.


Monster Cable speaker cable, about two meter each. Bought in 1994 for about $30 for a spool that supplied enough for a few people's systems and I still have a lot more. In short, cheap stuff. Finished with some cheap banana plugs, not soldered, from the Internet.

Revel Performa F208 speakers, brown, a few months old.

Screwdriver from the local hardware store, bought for ABS module change.

Salamander 5-shelf audio rack picked from the curbside garbage (furniture equivalent of a vintage Sherwood receiver). Tuned/tweaked with "Banner red" spray paint, different and inconsistent number of layers, some thinning now. Screws as tight as they could be by hand.

Red leather sofa as a sitting position.

Floor is bamboo and has a rug covering a large, maybe 80 percent, surface in between the rack and the sofa.

White piano to the side (keys moving as they always have). It says Steinway on it (mentioning as it seems to be one of the key words with your tuning). It does need tuning, the regular way.

Walls mostly uncovered, parallel, with many corners and openings, including the ceiling.

No ventilation opening of the Oneonta studio kind forcing air in the room.

Windows closed, at the time of "walking" covered with the soft (cloth) side of the blinds.

Picture would have been quicker, but would not tell the story.

Now, if you could answer a few questions, too.

"It’s because there are too many things that can go wrong with any test, many of which are behind the control of the intrepid tester."

Absolutely. 100 %. Beyond doubt.


That is why it is not wise to ask people to "walk". When they start "walking", who is to tell whose results are valid and whose invalid? As far as I am concerned, mine are. And I "walked". And was "trolled" for doing it.