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Feeling Tweaky

I recently tried my first system tweak, purchasing IsoAcoustic Orea isolation footers for my Luxman 507uX Mk2 integrated amp, Marantz Ruby CD/SACD player, and Shunyate Hydra Denali 6000S power conditioner. I liked the improvement in sound quality so much I’ve gone ahead and ordered IsoAcoustic Gaia feet for my VPI Classic 2 turntable and Magico A3 speakers. I never expected a tweak to make such an improvement, not just a change, in sound quality. By the way, my cables are Audioquest Rocket 88 speaker cables, Audioquest Colorado cables from the CD/SACD player, and VPI phono cables. The Shunyata Hydra Denali has a Venom power cable. All the other power cords are what came with each component.

Acoustic room treatments that would affect room decor are unfortunately out of the equation and I’ve already tried my best to design component shelving to be a vibration free as I could. I’ve thought about are redoing the house wiring to create a dedicated circuit, and making an ultrasonic record cleaner.

So my question to you all is, what tweaks have had the most positive impact on your own system, that you could you recommend for the above described system? There seems to be a lot of tweaks out there that range from the sublime to the ridiculous in both performance and price. I’d like to know what tweaks of the many out there have worked best for you so I can make a list and prioritize each in terms of performance and budget. Please share your favorites and I’d appreciate your advice. Thanks,


Mike



skyscraper
sgordon1
462 posts
 
Suggestion, OP: invest a few hours,
on multiple occasions, gleaning some experiential nuggets
from the tens of posters on dozens of threads on the products and
ideas already mentioned to you.

It is easy and attractive to want to be
"spoon fed," and start your own post.
Why not consider a more productive path?
If you are serious about better sound, you have to
be willing to make sacrifices of time and energy.
And probably some dollars, too.

I think these are what can get you further down
the road, sonically.  You may want someone to say to
you, "Do this, buy that."  Why not make the effort
to learn, with your intellect and your ears, so you can truly
experience the satisfaction of being able to say, "Hey,
this is sounding BETTER, and I am creating something special!"

It's a journey and (along the way) can be a very
enjoyable one, too.
Post removed 
skyscraper OP
836 posts
 
Sgordon, I do intend to fully research the suggestions made here. There are simply so many tweaks mentioned on past Audiogon threads, and elsewhere that I am hoping to winnow the field, categorize them, and focus research by drawing on the experience of those who have used some of these products.

It’s a fairly complex subject to investigate, considering the many categories of possible tweaks, the efficacy of various products, cost, and cons hawking expensive junk. This post is only one venue for starting research. Besides its fun to ask what each of you thinks, and it never hurts to ask persons more knowledgeable than you on any subject. The internet, and this site and it’s members, is a blessing in that regard.

So in short your idea is a good one and I’m on it. I’ve spent a considerable amount of time already researching isolation footers alone. And I did purchase a newer product recommended by a site member that I’d not come across while doing that research.

Tvad, thanks for the suggestion on sorbothane. I did use that on the edges of my floating shelves to keep their edges from contacting the component cabinet's vertical side walls. There must be other uses. 

Mike

Post removed 
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Sorbothane. Not a big fan. No offense to anyone who embraces Sorbothane but I believe it blocks energy from getting out of the system. If you’re looking for a viscoelastic material to use as constrained layer damper there are better materials, much better. Best results when mounting components on cones will generally be using extremely hard materials, like very hard cones - but not like carbon fiber ones, which are relatively soft. Brass is another relatively soft material to avoid, and aluminum. And lead. Ugh! Hardness of the material is proportional to the speed energy is released from the system. Besides, Sorbothane has little or no effect in the worst offender - very low frequency vibration coming up from the floor.  As Bob Dylan says at the end of all his records, good luck to everyone.
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