Are There Improvements that Can Be Easily and Quickly Made Without Buying More Stuff?

Been busy with all the ideas.

Made a new hole in the back of my equipment cabinet for power cords. All power cords are now separated from interconnects.

Checked and cleaned all connections. Found a loosened RCA connector in one speaker and tightened it.

Moved one speaker and am trying different toe in angles. This could be the key to better sound.

@waytoomuchstuff and @terry9 ​​​​​and @defendert My back wall is 29ft from my listening position, with furniture, counters, cabinets etc. between it and me. My bass and sub-bass is very very good when the recording is good. So that’s not a problem to fix except to change all recordings played to good ones.

@boomerbillone Yes, I regularly clean my ears. I have been missing the highest frequencies since I was in my 20’s. Sometimes with a very high note on a piano I hear the hammer hit the string, but not the note.

@lanx0003 My next step will be to subscribe to a streaming service.

@roadwhorerecords I’ve got the glass of bourbon right next to me.

So far, I think the sound is better. Vocals are more pronounced…the music is more airy…the sound waves from the 2 channels are meshing better…there’s more decay so there’s more of a sense of space. I’ll keep trying little changes in the location and direction of my speakers and my chair height to try to find the sweet spot. I understand that just a few inches or degrees can make a difference.

p.s. - had a grouse walk by the window today while I was changing things.

Thanks to you all!!!

Only play music that sounds good on your system. Amazing improvements. 

Great advice from Chayro, I love Graceland by Paul Simon and So by Peter Gabriel, , unfortunately they both sound terrible on any decent stereo I have tried, much, much too bright.  Sorry, goodbye Peter, goodbye Paul.

+1 for earwax removal.  Sounds silly but once you try it, you’ll understand.
Avoid q-tips whenever possible.  Just use something like Debrox and then shower.
Almost free.   

I would do a complete cleaning with few affordable things: pipe cleaners, microfiber cloth, electrical contact cleaner & canned air. Step 1 disassemble the entire system and throughly dust and clean the shelves: Then use microfiber cloth to clean the outside of you components. Then clean the outer portion of the rca's with electrical contact cleaner & microfiber cloth: Then use a pipe cleaner and electrical contact cleaner to clean the inside of the rca's. If you have XLR's, the pipe cleaners work great to clean both male and female ends. The you can use microfiber cloth and electrical contact cleaner to wipe all the blades on your power cables. Lastly, you can turn your attention to the speaker connectors at the amp & speakers. The pipe cleaners work great with banana connectors & the microfiber works great with spades. Once all this done, you can reassemble the system. Then final thing to do is to use the canned air to blow out the volume control and all the buttons. This deep cleaning is good for 1 year with minor maintenance.