tweaking.....

I am absolutely amazed at the sonic differences small changes in the set up of hifi can account for and wish to post my findings for any newbies to hifi. I am very inexperienced, but have had good advice from many on here, especially Zanash who has been very helpful. I can definately hear the differnce between cables and noticed a big difference with new IC and speaker cable, but due to a recent change of decor in my listening room could not replicate the sound my room once had. Ive had a new carpet that is very thick and I stripped the wallpaper to reveal bare walls. This has had a profoundly bad effect on the sound of my room....it sounds bloated and lacking life....that was my first lesson...next was the fact that to get throughthe thick carpet, i needed to make more use of my spikes on the hifi stand, by screwing them out a bit more...this made the vocals sound squealy and horrible....ive found that by returning them in, the sound is much better....Ive also learned the benefit of good mains leads and can clearly distinguish between cheapo ones and the better ones i now have.....The isolation feet that david f produces also do a great job, and i can spot the difference between the size of ball-bearings and the sounds that accompany..The lathe also changes the sound of a cd for the better ive found....Now many of you may think im talking rot, but i am absolutely amazed at the differnces that small adjustments can make to my system...I am also aware that the slightest change can affect the sound of the system, not necessarily better or worse, but a change nontheless. How do you ever get them all correct? The problem is now that this is becoming obsesive and is pissing off my partner...will it ever stop? or am i doomed to endless nights of pissing about with wires and isolation feet? any similar cases out there..has anyone ever sold the lot and bought a stack system instead? im tempted..

 

Is it a hobby with you or just a means to an end? Neither is the right answer.

As part of that hobby state of mind there is nothing wrong with tweaking your system if the act of tweaking itself gives you pleasure in addition to the end result gained. Goodness me, I have known golfers spend fortunes on a club that gives an extra 5 yards on a drive

After that you have to look at it from a different perspective then it all makes sense. Make a point of analysing what the system is doing right instead of what it's doing wrong, that mostly provokes the tweaking. When it sounds right to you then never assume that throwing more money at it will yield better results - it won't.

As far as isolation goes, once it sounds 'clean' you have arrived.

As far as cables goes, once it doesn't sound coloured any more you are there at your destination so stop.

 

banpe2006 said
I am very inexperienced

so perhaps you could explain what coloured means for him.

 

I think he already has a good comprehension of it judging by the effects he has noted when changing the room around

 

I went through a tweaking phase. Now I just prefer to switch the system on and play music. If it sounds 'wrong' I switch it off and do something else, or have a drink or two. Nowt wrong with tweaking, especially if it's free or very cheap, unless it becomes obsessional to the point where you're listening 'for things' rather than listening to music.

By far the biggest improvement to my system came when I changed speakers a couple of years ago; it dwarfed anything achieved by tweaking/tinkering/faffing about with leads, supports and such.

 

I'm always amazed by how little effect tweaking has, so gave up years ago. Speakers and rooms are all that really matter to me nowadays, perching the electronics on different bits of wood or spikes or ball-bearings or whatever makes **** all difference IME. And I think you'd have to regard lathing your CDs as the early signs of OCD.

-- Ian

 

just wait till you try foam pipe insulation. Its the new hot tweak over at the cyrus forum.

cut small slices of foam pipe insulation (15mm - 25mm depending on preference) and put it under your chosen kit.

result... better focus, clarity etc. Reports have it beating a lot of high street isolation solutions.

 

Have you done it?

 

Lathing does sound like madness i know SSB, but i did a blind test with a friend who knows little of anything to do with hifi and he got (out of 5 attempts) four definate nods for the lathed cds being better than the non-lathed..thats a fair result at 80% success. Anyway, it works for me...Ill do you one for free Sideshow, you sound interested

 

I have to add, Im not that certain what "coloured" is to be honest

 

i assume you mean pipe insulation... yeah ive done it... havent done any major comparisons with and without yet though.

certainly doesnt make it any worse

but many people i know swear it makes a great difference.. moreso that the likes of stillpoints and ball bearings etc.

 

Hi All

I had a xerxes turntable, sounded awful on its custom tripod, yet much better on michell tenderfeet plonked directly on the thick glass shelf. Funny that, but here's a belter...

Thought my monoblocks had a bit of a hum which seemed biased to the left channel tonight which I put down to low playing levels, and my bat-like hearing. Turned the thing off and the hums still there. Just happened to look out of my flat window and the "all you can eat" Chinese Buffet has got two enormous Fujitsu expelairs fitted to the back wall. Doh! I'm an audiophoole!

Cue "Fast Show" Jesse's Diets voice..."Next week I are mostly be playing music with the double glazing closed!" - now thats a room tweek!

 

i tried this too, but didnt get great results either.......the insulation that is....bad luck with the air con.....

 

How about positioning screwed up bits of paper under your chair and listening with one shoe off? Peter Belt (is he still around?) used to swear by such 'upgrades', along with aligning all the screw heads in your abode etc...

Can't say I ever tried it personally...

 

I'll tell you what it isn't banpe2006, it isn't
it sounds bloated and lacking life
I'll let previous posters who ducked the question enlighten you, if they can.

 

so why are you telling him to try it......or was it joke ?



coloured ...think back to the sound of the van de hul cables ...in a way they sounded coloured ..

but its just a perspective thing...it all depend from your relative starting position.... its also a termed favoured by so called experts to demean a system ie oh it sounded terribly coloured compared to mine... this is often aimed at valve amplification.

No sound is wrong ... some may not be accurate but if you accurately reproduced a trumpet in your listening room you would not like it imo.... you have to get the best sound from the gear you have. I'm not a fan of component changing every month ...the gear people buy is generally very good ..its just a question of getting the different bits to work together.


From my listening of your system ..the bit I felt that was holding the system back was the apollo rack ....as shown by davidf's feet... it could be as simple as the carpet interfereing with the "isolation" just like your speaker stand spikes .... you could try sitting the whole on paving slab ..or going the other way and "floating it on buble wrap

As to hifi nirvana .....its the journey not the arrival [as it doesn't exist ] you show me the very best hifi gear and within a few moments a better system will come along !

 

I got a set of valve-dampers (can't remember what they're called) for the input valves on my integrated amp. Result - a sound that was clearer, tighter, and more lively.

I lent the dampers to a friend to try on his valve pre-amp. Result - a dulled, lifeless sound that neither of us wanted to listen to. Take the dampers off and everything sprang back to life. Go figure.

 

Yes, it was just a joke.

 

yes, the rack is "ringing" quite a bit I feel Zanash...you were spot on.....I like the ball bearings...they make a marked improvement to the cdp.

 

How long ago did you stop testing and started playing that boring K7, again and again... :chunder: