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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? 
128x128hilde45
mahgister's avatar
mahgister
13,130 posts
 
It is not technical progress in amplifier design, or in dac design, or speakers design that are the FIRST reason why a system sound great....( for sure nobody will debate that a better design is a better design)

Top Amplifier of the past, or speakers or dac of the past, are good enough for most of us and can rival some new design in some case....

The reason why a system is good is not an accumulation of disparate "tweaks", it is the systematic implementation of some controls devices in the 3 embeddings.... And for sure, we may call that the 4th or first embedding, a synergetic pairing between themselves of the main electronic parts.... A good speaker with the wrong amplifier is not a good start for sure....

My 3 main electronic components has not been changed here for years, why then  is there  NO comparison at all between them before and after the rightful embeddings?

Because this is the way to go, but most people dont even know what is the potential best S.Q. of their actual system.... Their only road for improvement is first and last an upgrading.... But an upgrading, except if absolutely necessary, must be the last thing to do to reach Hi-Fi....

My best to all....


ebm
9,311 posts
 
Lets bad rap everything because its fun.
everest
14 posts
 
Positive tweaks:
- Gaia speaker mounts on granite slab on carpet
- Constrained layer platform on Nobsound spings for turntable mount
- Onzow stylus sponge
- Lyra SPT
- Mass load speakers

Negative tweaks:
- Pretty much everything mentioned
fleschler
2,017 posts
 
Number 1 tweak for analog since 2011-2, Magic Eraser for cleaning the stylus.  I suspect I have doubled the life of my Benz Ruby3 making sure to use this free tweak for almost a decade.  Better than the Onzow.   Use Disc Doctor stylus cleaner once per month to satisfy that the stylus is really clean to the cantilever.
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