cd318, surely you jest. I've heard some amazing looking systems at Hi Fi shows.
Tweaks you got rid of because they were not effective (enough)?
There are some audiophiles for whom cost is no object; they buy what they wish and every single tweak and gadget which promises to improve the sound. And the industry is all too happy to produce such tweaks -- often made of expensive materials with elaborate engineering explanations. Those who question the value of these tweaks are frequently accused of being "naysayers" who are either too ignorant or insensate to realize that "everything matters."
Of course, money spent one place cannot be spent elsewhere; expenditures on tweaks take the place of other more central factors affecting the sound. In some cases, those tweaks are worth it; you can hear the difference, and that $400 (or whatever) really could not have improved your speakers or sub or amp, etc.
So, the question here is simple: Which tweak have you tried which, after some experience and reflection, you realized was either *not* effective or not the most effective way to improve your system?
Of course, money spent one place cannot be spent elsewhere; expenditures on tweaks take the place of other more central factors affecting the sound. In some cases, those tweaks are worth it; you can hear the difference, and that $400 (or whatever) really could not have improved your speakers or sub or amp, etc.
So, the question here is simple: Which tweak have you tried which, after some experience and reflection, you realized was either *not* effective or not the most effective way to improve your system?
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Isn’t that just one man’s journey into the unknown leaving behind a metaphysical mindmap for the benefit of not only those that may wish to follow but the author himself? <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.. I don’t know what it was, to tell the truth. I read that book to the point of totally "NOT understanding it". Come to find out no one else could either.. In the audio world, terms get thrown around like they mean something.. They may to some folks. Vibration, Harmonics, SOUND. IS 101 in a good mechanics learning. Mechanics learn that FEELING, Hearing and knowing about sound, is WHY thing stay together, or FLY apart.. Feeling = 60 hz and below Hearing = from 27.5 hz -19+ KHz Knowing = sound above 21Khz This is the reason for my position, most "Tweaks" work for the person doing it. Usually not me. WHY? Because I was the guy that had to go back to the tweak, and fix the real problem, AND pull the tweak out to get back to square one... REALLY.. Example: Two guys buy amps. One buys my cheap Class D. the other buy a top of the line Pass. Nothing left out... My amp requires everything under the sun to make it sound GOOD, PC, internal wire upgrade, fuse swap, Buffer board upgrades, EVEN complete Power Supply swaps. Still that Pass with a cheap PS cable, and some cheap zip cord, and cheap RCAs or even CHEAPER XLRs with good speakers and an OK source, will sound MUCH better.. NO TWEAKS.. Most don’t work because they don’t work.. I’ve found that routing cables, letting things settle, VERY minor speaker movements, and PUTTY pinching, are all the tweaks I usually need.. MOST of the other stuff, enjoy it... it’s fun, at least mahgister and millercarbon aren’t spending a fortune on it.. I know my rooms, I know my equipment.. I know my equipment will work in your rooms. WHY? the way the equipment is set up.. We start at the top and work down, not at the bottom and work our way up.. That was done a long time ago.. In my teens 15-16.. I’m 65 now.. NOT $$$ wise, but what I (ME) work with.. I like Mac.. I like VMPS, I like mine... SO I learned MY stuff... Don’t we all. Back to the Shop, and Time to feed the chickens... I wish you guys could see the new planars from GSR. WOW... olay, amego...BOOM BOOM just around the corner.. I think I’m gonna name them "kenjit" Mini’s and Maxis. :-) Let you guys run with that... What can I say he inspires me.. Mercy. lord love a duck... Regards.. |
Just a remark about my 500 hundred audio system... I never pretend that it will sound on par with a 50,000 dollars one... I say that a 500 hundred dollars one rightly embed may sound so great that you will forget about the urge to buy a better one...Music in 3-d is music in 3-d with + or - details.... I also said give me the 50,000 dollars one and i will do the same creative embedding process with it.... Any system need to be in the conditions for his optimal working S.Q. And these conditions are not only sound electronical design to begin with, but necessary embeddings minimal controls installation... Any system at any price must be put in a controlled mechanical dimension, in a controlled electrical field, and in a controlled acoustical environment... This is what i call an embedding... Tweaks are not an incremental listening set of experiments with appropriate creative adapted and suitable homemade devices... They are ready made costly products sold for profit and generically conceived for all....My embeddings devices are modified idea coming from others or my own ideas adapted for my specific need.... Branded costly products are not for me.... I succeeded my way.... And there is no placebo effect in an incremental process of improvement distributed in 2 years of listenings experiments... With a singular tweak in one listening trying a placebo effect is possible yes.... All my post are posts i would have love to read 7 years ago when Hi-Fi experience was for me inaccessible and costly... I want to give hope enthusiasm and impulse towars creativity to the beginners.... The supposed fact that hi-fi experience is very costly is false and it is a myth.... Any rightly embed system may be Hi-Fi experience at peanuts costs... That is not saying that there is no difference between cheap electronic components or design and great one.... I am nut perhaps but not stupid.... :) |
From most of this discussion I gather that for many here a tweak is something other than source, control, amplification, speakers, and connecting wires. A second component of this discussion relates to ability to hear a difference which becomes the crux of retaining or eliminating the change item. I wear two very expensive hearing aids that almost completely correct my high frequency loss (too many Dead, Primus, etc concerts). Do they count as a tweak or as necessary equipment? I see (hear!) them as necessary. My VPI Scout rests on a Cloud 10 platform. I can hear the difference with the aids, I cannot without them. I have spent no money on special fuses, solutions, silver paste, wall attachments, wiggly wooden rods, dots, marking pens, etc, etc, etc, deciding instead to spend it on vinyl. I'm happy with my choices which seems to be a major point of this hobby for me. I hope that the "tweaks" that others hear as improvement make them as happy as I. |
I worked with a guy that had 50 years of experience, everyone was different, every year. I worked with another guy that had 50 one (1) year experiences, all the same.. Who left, who stayed? A hint, everything is in order.. :-) spencem6 posts That was an interesting post.. that is a "tweak’’ that works for you but probably not for me... I like the approach though, you actually repaired the problem with a proper fix, NOW keep what you have left. Take care of those puppies.. I’m OVERLY blessed, hyper sensitivity, my whole life.. ear plug for 50 years...ALL the time.. Regards |
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