Reference 3A DeCapo " Blue Tak" question

Thanks for the replies everyone. I got some blue tak but think shutterbug may be right. My sound is very dynamic right now with sand filled stands, so may be one of those if it ain't broke, don't fix it kinda things.

Telescope, I'd recommend trying the blue-tak yourself and come to your own conclusion. Generalized opinions are a dime-a-dozen and *almost* never based on structured or measured testing criteria by the "audiophile" masses.

Clear your brain of everything you've read so far in this thread, try Elizabeth's, Lindisfarne's and Ths364's recommendations, and see what "you" think. If you desire more opinions, use the "search" feature. I'm sure you'll find plenty opinions conveying positive and non-detrimental results. Give it a try.

Regards,

Actually, for some of us this is where audio gets fun.

When trying various speaker interfaces I wasn't measuring, wasn't really analyzing. I was listening to music that moves me. When I was impressed with how I was enjoying the music or the sound more (or less) than before, then I would try to reason out how the change might do that.

If you listen at low or moderate volumes then these sonic differences are very apparent.

If you listen loud all the time, and require absolute clarity, then you may want to clamp them down firmly to massive lead filled stands and then buy an amp with alot of power as you try to regain the musical enjoyment and experience that you used to achieve with just a few watts.

Telescope,

Reference 3A recommends using Blu Tak, at least with the Dulcets. I found that the "pea sized ball" recommended in the owner's manual was too much. The speakers ended up sitting about 1/4 inch above the stand's top plate! I called Reference 3A and asked Tash. He said that was way too much; you want the speaker coupled to the stand but sitting as close to the top plate as possible.

To remove the speakers, Tash recommended warming the Blu Tak up just a bit with a hair dryer set to "low," and then lifting them off the stands with a twisting motion. This worked fine, thank goodness! The finish (piano black) was undamaged.

Next time around, I took VERY small bits of blu tak and kind of smeared them out very flat onto the top plate of the stand in the 4 corners AND in the center (Tash emphasized this). Now they are coupled but nearly resting on the top plate.

Do they sound better this way? I THINK so... bass seems tighter, for example. But I wouldn't swear to it. I think you have to experiment.

My experience matches Rebbi's. It takes very little BluTak to get a good bond, I used four small balls hardly larger than a BB. And the trick for removing the speaker from the stand is important. Don't try to lift at all, hold the stand firmly in place and rotate the speaker until the bond with the BluTak is broken, then lift.