Cheap tweaks...What would YOU reccomend?

Haoleb,

I've got the part number on those lampswitches. They are Brass Bracket Knob #8-32F made by Midwest Fastener Corporation (upc is 73828764594-1). hope you can find them.

Try some DH Squares under the spikes of your speakers. Only $10 each and make a HUGE difference. Tightens up bass and imaging. Hard to believe how much of an improvement they make for a small amount of money.

For cleaning CD's go to an eyeglass store and ask for their cleaning cloth used on plastic lenses. Runs from $1.00 to $6.00. It is a microfiber material and can be washed and used over and over.
There may be another version which has a wax or cleaning agent in it but I have not found it yet.

1) Make sure are four spikes on speakers are firmly touching the floor. Any wobbling seems to affect imaging and clarity.
2) try http://www.audiotweaks.com for other ideas.

Ear wax remover. Tall chair. Equip into closet.

The post above is correct about having clean ears. This is not a joke. There is stuff made by Murine (I think) called EAR that will disolve earwax. My system was sounding harsh and I cleaned my ears and suddenly the transients came back.

Second tweak was accidental. I bought one of those tall bentwood chairs from IKEA. The kind where the cushion comes up significantly above your head. Was rearranging furniture and put it in the "sweet" spot. What a difference! I think maybe the cushions absorb early/late/extra (?) reflections. Whatever, the image was substantially more focused.

I also put my equipment in a little closet at the end of my listening room. In my case the closet is somewhat centered, so it does not add much to the speaker cable run, and it provides great isolation. This is obviously most important with a turntable, but I suppose it helps CD's as well. Downside is you can't look at your cool gear , but you are supposed to have your eyes closed as noted above anyway.