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My list of tweaks and the verdict

As metro NY has been pretty much shut down for the past 11 months and counting, I get so bored sometimes that I find experimenting by buying tweaky audio products to be a helpful reprieve and keeps me from spiraling into the abyss.
So this is what I have purchased in the past 6 months and my quick verdict on sonic impact — what I hear or perceive to hear using my brain and ears in my 2 channel all analog all tube setup:

Not in any particular order and using baseball terms:

1. Walker Audio Talisman. Strikeout. A big swing and miss. The silliest purchase for sure.

2. Copper ankle socks. Home run. No more shocks when I touch my tonearm. Just wow. Least expensive tweak to date that works.

3. Symposium Segue amp shelves. Strikeout. Heard no difference in noise floor, bass, etc. But looks really nice.

4. Symposium Segue ISO Stealth turntable shelf with Rollerblocks Series 2. Home run. Out of the park. Really hear and SEE a significant improvement in everything - clarity, bass, soundstage. Took the performance of 2 very different turntables up a lot. “See” because my needle would jump sometimes and now you can actually see the rollerblocks doing their job swaying back and forth with no impact on the music like a building a Japan. Disclaimer: Room suffers from significant footfall.

5. Townshend Seismic Isolation Platform under my Harbeth 40.2 Ton Trager stands. Home Run. Further improvement due probably to serious footfall in my room. My most expensive tweak but worth it to me.

6. Stein Music Carbon Edition Perfect Interface. Another big swing and miss. Strikeout. Zero diff perceived vs no mat or stock mat. Most expensive swing and miss.

7. Yellow bird Hexmat. A solid double. First time I’ve heard a mat make a noticeable improvement. Probably cause this mat is a record isolator/decoupler and again reduces impact from vibrations.

8. Stillpoint Ultra LPI ver2. A solid double. This one is so easy to A/B and hear a noticeable improvement on some songs vs using no record weight or even the stock record weight. Basically things got quieter enabling me to turn up the volume which increased the perceived dynamics. Plus it looks really cool.

9. Symposium rollerblock jr. Under my phonostage or preamp. Strikeout. I don’t hear any impact on the noise floor but theoretically it’s there.

10. Isoacoustics Gaia tried under preamp, phonostage, amp. Strikeout. Didn’t hear anything noticeably different but again theoretically it’s doing something.

11. Assorted tube rolling. NOS, new new etc. Not sure if this is a tweak but I didn’t really hear any discernible difference to my memory. But it was fun to learn and do it.

Well there you have it! Anyone have similar experiences?


aj523
audioguy85's avatar
audioguy85
2,018 posts
 
You forgot the tinfoil hat, cuts down on both RFI and EMF...i don’t always listen to my stereo, but when I do, I wear my tinfoil hat. I saved money and made it myself. Don’t knock it unless you’ve tried it! 😉

Oh, almost forgot, my wife had some extra yarn lying around, so I used it to raise my speaker cables off the floor. You see, I tied one end to speaker cables and attached other end to thumb tacks in the ceiling! I actually think it looks nice, except you need to be mindful they are there, or you will inadvertently strangle yourself in a dimly lit room!

Wait, one last one...I place a large pitcher of water on coffee table in front of my listening position. I swear by this, as I do believe it is somehow absorbing the standing waves in that area of My room.
dwhess's avatar
dwhess
72 posts
 
1) Iso Acoustics Orea insulators under my receiver seemed to help the sound considerably. 
2) Iso Acoustic Gaia III under my speakers didn't seem to change the sound from the previous spikes.
3) Audioquest Type 5 speaker cables didn't seem to do much.
4) Voodoo power cord didn't seem to do much. 
 ***Although, all tweaks together did give me better sound overall and I'm still in the break-in period on the cables and power cord. 
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
Aj, a properly designed turntable with a proper suspension will TOTALLY ignore foot falls. You can hit a SOTA with a hammer and it won't care. Jumping jacks? No problem. SME's and Basis turntables will also ignore foot falls but you can not hit them with a hammer. Check out the Sota Cosmos Vacuum. It has vacuum clamping, a magnetic thrust bearing, a top motor management system and a hinged dust cover that will not alter sound when down. All this for 1/3rd the price of an SME 30/2.
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
@dwhess, I hate to be a stick in the mud but power cords and cables do not break-in. Mechanical devices do and perhaps tubes. Many manufacturers support the break-in myth because going against audiophile lore costs them business. The myth is an illusion caused by our central nervous system's ability to accommodate to various stimuli.
A good example is your cologne. When you put it on the smell initially is quite strong but after a while you do not smell it at all. Did it wear off? Not at all. You walk into the office and your secretary holds her nose. You simply accommodated to the smell. I remember walking into the coroner's "office" in Miami while he was doing a post on a decomposing body. The stench was overwhelming. I almost lost it before getting a mask laced with mint oil. The coroner laughed. He had no mask on at all. He was use to it. He called us "pansy a--ed medical students. Up against the ceiling he had a shelf that went around the entire room with his collection of smashed up and bloody motorcycle helmets. His suicide lecture was a favorite. He gave us a slide show of people who had blown their heads off. Quite a guy.  
aj523 OP
373 posts
 
Thanks mijostyn but this thread isn’t really about my component choices but just my experience with various types of audio tweaks over the past few months and their impact, if any, on improving the hifi “brain to ear” experience in my existing audio room; being as objective and transparent as humanly possible. 

Cheers :)
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