Tweaks, money pit or real value?


I’ve had my share of tweaks from isolation devices to contact enhancers. The thing that seems to always follow them is how soon I seem to not recognize the improvement anymore. Initially wow that sounds incredible and then after awhile acclimation sets in and here we go again. Maybe not quite like that, but at times yes. I’ve come to the conclusion tweaks are a money pit and my wallet is a lot less valuable than it once was. 😂 

hiendmmoe

Nearly all money pits.  Not necessarily in principle.  It's just that suppliers mostly rip over gullible customers off.  $2500 for a mains cable, $250 for a fuse etc etc.

I can buy a nice amp, or a turntable or.... for $2500.  Or do a meaningful upgrade of an active component.  Apart possibly from room tuning, no passive upgrade will ever effect the change an active upgrade can.

There is only so much all these tweaks can do. Yes, there will be some perceptable improvement with some of them, others not so much. It is my opinion that you should just concentrate on the basics. Maybe the basics are more set up than so called tweaks. Anyhow, first (1) be sure to set up your speakers properly, ie stand mounts on solid stands well anchored to floor, ie spikes. Stands filled with Atabites or shot. Proper toe in and listening position, and of course treat the room accordingly, whether using furnishings or acoustic panels. Second (2), properly isolate all source components, ie turntable on a wall shelf away from speakers. Third (3), proper alignment of your phono cartridge, azimuth, VTA, VTF, level, etc...fourth (4), proper synergy when using cables. Strive for neutrality in cables and not those that add or subtract. Yes, not always easy, trial and error sometimes, but reading lots of reviews of the cable can help narrow down the ones that may work well. Fifth (5), clean power by use of quality power conditioners and power cables. These should connect preferably to a dedicated circuit. Also the use of a audiophile grade receptacle that will tightly grip the power cord prongs. Sixth (6), and probably a often overlooked point, listen to quality recorded material. You would be amazed how some pressings of an Lp for instance can sound drastically different from another.

Some of the tweaks that I personally think are bs are raising cables off floor. All that needs to be done is to properly route them. Signal cables should be separated from power cables or at least cross at 90 degrees etc...also, the springs under speaker thing...my belief is a speaker should not move, period. Some say the speaker is moving all the time due to seismic movement of the earth...well maybe in California, not where I live. I Could go on and on.....

@steakster

 

+1. No question the tweaks take a good sounding system and improve performance, typically that level can be magical. I have never heard a magical system that was not tweaked to get the most out of the basic components… ever $1M one’s. Although to be fair, I have never heard an untweaked million dollar system… who would do that?

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@steakster 

 

My golf game was never good. My job required circling the globe a lot. I loved mountaineering, but feeling lazier in my old age. Four of my seven bikes are custom made with a strong slant towards long distance. I started tweaking over forty years ago before I could afford decent equipment. You have clearly found some good equipment and pulled technology (your profession?) into your system.