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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
sokogear
1,095 posts
 
The longer the power cord the better. The shorter the interconnect or speaker wire, the better. Don't let wires touch and keep them as still as possible. 

These are indisputable scientific facts. Minor violations will most likely not be audible, especially if you don't know something happened. But major things, like using long interconnects that probably require XLR cords/plugs or speaker wire will be.

Love to hear the jokers who make fun of the most extreme audiophiles whose listening rooms probably resemble Jimmy McGill's departed brother from Better Call Saul who was petrified of any magnetic or electric field. Tin foil, etc....

Remember - if you think it sounds better, it does. The mind is a powerful thing.
audio2design
1,351 posts
 
Indisputable scientific facts ... Nothing like gross hyperbole for a Monday!   Longer power cords, but you better make sure those fuses are really low resistance ...

Please don' replace the metal case of your amplifier with a wood one. Just takes one good fault and poof, there goes the house. Electrical products are made of metal or certain plastics for a reason.


If your humidity is low enough that you are worried about static, but a humidifier. Static spray isn't going to help the lack of humidity in the air.


I am going to go with no human can reliably whether my cell phone is in the room or not, not because of the microphone at least. Carefully placed for a sound reflection perhaps, but I am not holding it by my ear like that.


lancelock
1,093 posts
 
@aj523,

How did the Stillpoints Ultra LPI ver2 work combined with the Hexmat?

Lance
Post removed 
aj523 OP
373 posts
 
@lancelock 

Those were my exact thoughts - how is this going to work.  It may just be the most perfect union of mat and record weight because the favorable impact on the sound was quite noticeable.  So the hexmat works as an isolator suspending the record off the platter to reduce vibration while the Stillpoint is doing its thing pressing the record down onto the mat to reduce vibration but only on the label obviously where there are no contact points.  The website for Hexmat mentions that record weights don’t negatively impact it’s performance. 
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