Alcohol, is an effective and cheap solution! 😂
The Most Cost Effective Tweak
What is the most cost effective upgrade or tweak? What yields the largest return on investment (ROI)? What if you could spend no money and no time and yield significant performance increases? Theoretically, that would result in an infinite ROI!
So how do you make that happen? Stop tweaking. What happens when you stop tweaking and messing with your audio system constantly is that you let everything burn in and settle down. Go read one of the many threads on this website that talks about how long it takes for components and cables to break in. The answers range from a few hours to several days. If you are suffering from constant upgrade-itis, you never let your audio system fully burn in. You’re robbing yourself of free, infinite ROI. And you never truly hear what your system is capable of. I’m not saying don’t upgrade your system. That’s a lot of the fun. Just give it some time and let your system burn in and open up. Reassess where you are at and where you want to go next.
Due to reasons I won’t go into depth on right now (mainly power issues), I am temporarily using a relatively cheap, high power, class D amp. I wasn’t thrilled with this setup and wasn’t sure if I could even call it’s sound signature high end. Due to a busy schedule, I have not had time to upgrade anything or even pursue simple tweaks. As a result of that, I have witnessed how the amp and my system have burned-in/settled down - whatever you want to call it. The sound was initially on the thin side and had harsh treble. Now the soundstage has become huge and the sound has become very smooth - smoother than I thought class D was capable of - especially from a class D amp that isn’t really something to write home about.
My point is that I realized significant performance increases by doing literally nothing. And now that I am hearing what I believe is the true sound of my system, my next tweak or upgrade will be more effective because I can clearly recognize where the weaknesses are at instead of making judgements while things are still burning in, which is often the case with upgrade-itis.
So how do you make that happen? Stop tweaking. What happens when you stop tweaking and messing with your audio system constantly is that you let everything burn in and settle down. Go read one of the many threads on this website that talks about how long it takes for components and cables to break in. The answers range from a few hours to several days. If you are suffering from constant upgrade-itis, you never let your audio system fully burn in. You’re robbing yourself of free, infinite ROI. And you never truly hear what your system is capable of. I’m not saying don’t upgrade your system. That’s a lot of the fun. Just give it some time and let your system burn in and open up. Reassess where you are at and where you want to go next.
Due to reasons I won’t go into depth on right now (mainly power issues), I am temporarily using a relatively cheap, high power, class D amp. I wasn’t thrilled with this setup and wasn’t sure if I could even call it’s sound signature high end. Due to a busy schedule, I have not had time to upgrade anything or even pursue simple tweaks. As a result of that, I have witnessed how the amp and my system have burned-in/settled down - whatever you want to call it. The sound was initially on the thin side and had harsh treble. Now the soundstage has become huge and the sound has become very smooth - smoother than I thought class D was capable of - especially from a class D amp that isn’t really something to write home about.
My point is that I realized significant performance increases by doing literally nothing. And now that I am hearing what I believe is the true sound of my system, my next tweak or upgrade will be more effective because I can clearly recognize where the weaknesses are at instead of making judgements while things are still burning in, which is often the case with upgrade-itis.
- ...
- 92 posts total
Other than wine, the best ROI for improving a system is a dozen or two 5' - 6' artificial Ficus trees scattered around the room. Start with a dense line of trees behind the speakers, one slightly in front of and to the outside of the speakers, and the rest scattered around the room and behind the listening position. |
Alcohol is my #2 solution, applied with a certain level of precision on quantity vs. quality.....one ultimately pays the price of over-indulge.... ;) #1? *coff* '...here...' 50 'odd' years later, it still is quite effective. *S* BTW....Considering the fact that the typ. tonearm/cart combination is dragging a minute diamond (or ?) through a miniscule groove in a vinyl plate totally inscribed with these tiny canyons at what would seem a breakneck speed at the end of a dinky cantilever... Scaling this up, imagine dragging a pipe behind your car with a golf ball on its' 'business end', tracing a gutter at, say, 60mph......rough analogy, but for discussions' sake..... How hot will friction make that ball? Wild guesstimates appreciated.... |
So #2 works for you then? I always wondered about that. https://youtu.be/ZALSvE6N5d0?t=46 |
It is my personal opinion that the cheapest cost-effective tweak is to listen to a warmed up system at night with the lights in the room turned off and your eyes closed. Taking your eyes out of the listening experience super tunes your ears and you will hear things you never heard before as well as gaining insight into your speakers positions and system balance plus the music will be more enjoyable. There will also be the added benefit of less electrical energy (noise) being used in the room and the tweak is absolutely free. |
- 92 posts total