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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
skypunk's avatar
skypunk
499 posts
 
Love the naysayers when they have never even gave it a shot.

Kinda like all those people who told Columbus he would sail off the edge of the earth. Or the ones that told Chuck Yeager his controls would reverse and he would die when he hit Mach 1.

Take your tinfoil hats and hold them between your knees.

Cheers naysayers.


rsf507
2,342 posts
 
@aj523 I actually tried a 2nd Clear Line but just was too much so dealer took back. Although I tried it on my OLED TV and seemed to give me slightly better color but didn't think it was worth the 200.
orgillian197
119 posts
 

millercarbon7,655 posts
02-13-2021 9:40pm
You know the biggest BS that many are susceptible to? The BS that says people who haven’t tried or heard know better and are entitled to second-guess those who have.

+10,000

And to the OP - Thanks for your refreshing and honest take your tweak attempts.
audio2design
1,351 posts
 
The way I read the ops post, the products that actually do something, i.e. address vibration issues with a turntable setup make a noticable difference. The ones I would call tweaks, i.e. supposed vibrations in electronics, did nothing.
aj523 OP
373 posts
 
@audio2design

Yeah so I’d say the biggest bang for the buck is clearly around turntables and speakers for sure.
The Townshend podium under my harbeths was a revelation albeit an expensive ticket for entry. The fact that vibration control works under those doesn’t necessarily mean it didnt or doesn’t work under other electronics like an amp, preamp. In fact I’d say it likely does but in my case perhaps my particular brand of amp or preamp doesnt benefit, or I just didn’t hear it cause it was so subtle and not perceptible to me. I don’t have another source in this setup to try like a CD player but I suspect it would be improved.

Now one thing I didn’t mention is that I have the entire rig running through an Audioquest Niagara 5000 power conditioner which was my first significant upgrade - going from 3 wall outlets to just one thru this unit improved the entire sonic presentation, background noise dropped to a crazy silence, all those proverbial buzzwords comes to mind. I didn’t view that as a tweak though so didn’t include it. That’s an easy one to experiment with and hear an improvement. 
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