Favorite Budget Tweaks

jm1

hearingimpared wrote:

It is said that our audio memory is very short. . . I don't buy that.

"For his first experiment he came up with an elegant concept: He stopped people on the street and asked them to sing, entirely from memory, one of their favorite hit songs. The results were astonishingly accurate. Most people could hit the tempo of the original song within a four-percent margin of error, and two-thirds sang within a semitone of the original pitch, a level of accuracy that wouldn’t embarrass a pro.

When you played the recording of them singing alongside the actual recording of the original song, it sounded like they were singing along,” Dr. Levitin said."

This is from the top of the second page of this article. I also agree with you on this.

cstpeter

Too extreme tweaking




(btw, anybody keeping up with that crazy Swede?)

hearingimpared

jm1 wrote:

"For his first experiment he came up with an elegant concept: He stopped people on the street and asked them to sing, entirely from memory, one of their favorite hit songs. The results were astonishingly accurate. Most people could hit the tempo of the original song within a four-percent margin of error, and two-thirds sang within a semitone of the original pitch, a level of accuracy that wouldn’t embarrass a pro.

When you played the recording of them singing alongside the actual recording of the original song, it sounded like they were singing along,” Dr. Levitin said."

This is from the top of the second page of this article. I also agree with you on this.

AAAAAAA we don't need all that cerebral, high IQ reading material. . .all we have to do is watch old reruns of the show "Name that Tune." How many times did we hear a contestant say, "I can name that tune in one note." LOL

Oh boy I am really showing my age now.:D

SCompRacer

hearingimpared wrote:

Oh boy I am really showing my age now.:D

How 'bout the show where a prop duck dropped down on a cable with the prize money?

hearingimpared

SCompRacer wrote:

How 'bout the show where a prop duck dropped down on a cable with the prize money?

That was Groucho Marx's show You Bet Your Life. . . I think you are starting to go senile!! LOL

EDIT: jeezz I am to, I had to edit that one sentance to you three times before I got it right.

SCompRacer

hearingimpared wrote:

That was Groucho Marx's show You Bet Your Life. . . I think you are starting to go senile!! LOL

EDIT: jeezz I am to, I had to edit that one sentance to you three times before I got it right.

Damn, you are old!:D

W WALDECKER

I really like the results of using Isonode Sorbathane feet under my tube preamplifier and Cd player. tube rolling is also one of my favorite tweaks

MillerLiteScott

Miller Lite 30 pack @$18.00 and a pair of dirty socks priceless:D

Good call.
















Not ment to be a slight, ment to be funny. (message board sarcasm disclaimer)

hearingimpared

W WALDECKER wrote:

I really like the results of using Isonode Sorbathane feet under my tube preamplifier and Cd player. tube rolling is also one of my favorite tweaks

Just a thought on sorbothane. I have loads of sorbothane pods and sheets and use it extensively. I'm not sure if your Isonode feet are 100% sorbothane or of the shape. I've done some extensive testing with sorbothans pods and aluminum cones (haven't caught up to the brass cones or footers yet, very expensive brass is). I found this very interesting. I orginally placed four sorbothane pods under the four corners of my preamp and listened for about an hour. I then switched out the pods with three (in a triangle shape) 1" then 2" aluminum "tip toes" and the difference was night and day. The pods caused muddiness and a very boomy bass as well as the dulling of the treble sparkle. With the tip toes in (either size) all the negative stuff was gone as a matter of fact the treble really seemed to come to life.

I've found that sorbothane works well under power amps (the problem with pods under a power amp is they flatten out quickly and loose their damping properties, therefore instead of four I put 6 to 8 pods to take up the slack) and mechanical devices. I've tried it with tube tuners back in the day and it really cleaned up muddiness.

So what I am getting at here you may want to try some cones or footers(aluminum or brass) on your preamp and CD player. If you don't like what they do, I'll buy the them from you.

I used sorbothane sheets under the deck of my VPI turntable. I did it a piece at a time until I achieved the desired sound, and yes I am nuts because the turntable is very heavy and (I showed Antny this yesterday) it looks like a jigsaw puzzle under there) I had to keep lifting and moving it to stick the sorbothane pieces under it. After doing this, I used and still have four 1 1/2" aluminum cones screwed into the four corners of the turntable.

Mad Tweaker over and out!

jm1

I have talked with someone who works for Sorbothane. He said using flat shapes of the material is better than using pod shaped isolators. Circles are better than squares, discs are better than squares and washer shaped discs are better than solid discs.

Using a sheet of Sorbothane under a component is not recommended. There is a calculator available on their site which allows you to calculate the corrent size shape for your specific application. I used this to calculate the the correct size of disc required for the component, then place an appropriately sized coin on top of the Sorbothane before setting the component on top. This allows for an even distribution of weight on each footer.

In the future, I plan on trying Sorbothane under the VPI TT to see if this makes any difference. I currently have footers under the feet and will calculate the necessary sized washer shaped material.

maingey

Running an a Radio Shack tape demagnetizer over a cd. Effects are temporary, and must be redone, but this was just shown to me the other day and blew my mind. I asked if there were any dangers of introducing what could be a minimally charged disc into a player and was told no.

Dennis Gardner

Tweaks are always a point of contention for the non-believers, but I always dismiss any naysayers that aren't old enough to have properly setup a turntable arm/cartridge, microphones in a live environment or had the pleasure of rolling tubes in audio gear.

Many tweaks in the analog world are profound in their effect, while most in the digital world are sublime in nature.

The favorite tweak for me has been making my own ICs using teflon coated shielded twisted pair silver wiring. Great return on my $$$.

hearingimpared

jm1 wrote:

I have talked with someone who works for Sorbothane. He said using flat shapes of the material is better than using pod shaped isolators. Circles are better than squares, discs are better than squares and washer shaped discs are better than solid discs.

Using a sheet of Sorbothane under a component is not recommended. There is a calculator available on their site which allows you to calculate the corrent size shape for your specific application. I used this to calculate the the correct size of disc required for the component, then place an appropriately sized coin on top of the Sorbothane before setting the component on top. This allows for an even distribution of weight on each footer.

In the future, I plan on trying Sorbothane under the VPI TT to see if this makes any difference. I currently have footers under the feet and will calculate the necessary sized washer shaped material.

AW C'mon . . . you are not going to give us a link to the site for the calculator? I find this very interesting.

I used my ears as the guide for the numerous pieces of sorbothane under the heavy plinth of my VPI. I had it just right but that was 20 years ago and may need to be redone. I will determine that when I get my analog rig going, which will be very soon.

jm1

The Design Guide can be found on the main page of the Sorbothane web site. Download and plug in your numbers. There is other information of interest on the web page.

hearingimpared

jm1 wrote:

The Design Guide can be found on the main page of the Sorbothane web site. Download and plug in your numbers. There is other information of interest on the web page.

Thanks JM.

riglehart

hearingimpared wrote:

I placed six sorbothane pods on top of my Spectral pre, 4 on top of its outboard power supply, and two on top of my Oppo, one right above where I estimated the disc would be spinning. . .THIS SOUNDED LIKE PURE MUD!

I did a google search on these and found...

http://www.tweakshop.com/BlackHolePods.html

I assume this is what you are talking about.

I don't understand how putting these on top (or bottom) of a preamp or power supply would do anything? I'm not calling you a liar, so please don't misunderstand. I just don't get this at all.

I could see on a phono or a cd transport, but not a pure electrical component. What's the theory here?

hearingimpared

riglehart wrote:

I did a google search on these and found...

http://www.tweakshop.com/BlackHolePods.html

I assume this is what you are talking about.

I don't understand how putting these on top (or bottom) of a preamp or power supply would do anything? I'm not calling you a liar, so please don't misunderstand. I just don't get this at all.

I could see on a phono or a cd transport, but not a pure electrical component. What's the theory here?

Yes, it was the Tweak Shop, I was friends with the original owner some 20 years ago and had my own audio business at the time so I paid considerably less for products because I was in the trade therefore had stockpiled loads of stuff.

I did put some on the CDP at the same time as the preamp and its outboard power supply. It is all about resonance. If you change the resonance of a device you will change the output. Resonance is why you must deaden the speaker stands, equipment stands etc, by putting filling it with lead shot or sand, these are not electronic devices but will greatly impact your equipment output because of resonance. I'm not sure which of the devices the sorbothane had the most impact on to make such a dramatic difference in the sound but I am assuming it was the preamp because I had six pods on the top of it.

Sorbothane has almost the same dampening power as lead. All I can tell you riglehart is that with all the pods in place the system sounded like pure crap until I removed the pods. I haven't had time to go back and isolate which pods on which device was causing the awful result.

One more thing. I found that by placing four sorbothane pods under the Oppo player, it sounds better than if I put three aluminum cones or nothing at all under the Oppo. You say snake oil????? I hear a big difference. Not because it cost me any money, it didn't, those cones and pods were bought and paid for over 20 years ago so I'm not enamored with the things because I paid for them and WANT to hear a difference.

Resonance my friend resonance, an enemy of any piece of audio gear including cables and wires.

riglehart

hearingimpared wrote:

Resonance my friend resonance, an enemy of any piece of audio gear including cables and wires.

Thanks for such a thorough reply. Looks like I have to do a little tinkering.

W WALDECKER

hearingimpared wrote:

Just a thought on sorbothane. I have loads of sorbothane pods and sheets and use it extensively. I'm not sure if your Isonode feet are 100% sorbothane or of the shape. I've done some extensive testing with sorbothans pods and aluminum cones (haven't caught up to the brass cones or footers yet, very expensive brass is). I found this very interesting. I orginally placed four sorbothane pods under the four corners of my preamp and listened for about an hour. I then switched out the pods with three (in a triangle shape) 1" then 2" aluminum "tip toes" and the difference was night and day. The pods caused muddiness and a very boomy bass as well as the dulling of the treble sparkle. With the tip toes in (either size) all the negative stuff was gone as a matter of fact the treble really seemed to come to life.

I've found that sorbothane works well under power amps (the problem with pods under a power amp is they flatten out quickly and loose their damping properties, therefore instead of four I put 6 to 8 pods to take up the slack) and mechanical devices. I've tried it with tube tuners back in the day and it really cleaned up muddiness.

So what I am getting at here you may want to try some cones or footers(aluminum or brass) on your preamp and CD player. If you don't like what they do, I'll buy the them from you.

I used sorbothane sheets under the deck of my VPI turntable. I did it a piece at a time until I achieved the desired sound, and yes I am nuts because the turntable is very heavy and (I showed Antny this yesterday) it looks like a jigsaw puzzle under there) I had to keep lifting and moving it to stick the sorbothane pieces under it. After doing this, I used and still have four 1 1/2" aluminum cones screwed into the four corners of the turntable.

Mad Tweaker over and out!

The Isonodes are Hemispherical in shape and are made of sorbothane. i am not sure what Durometer/hardness is used in thier manufacture. my system is very detailed and the Bass is tight and focused with the Isonodes in place. it is my understanding that cones transfer vibration vs sorbothane which turns vibration into harmless heat.

pblanc

Got a bottle of Cerumenex at CVS. Cleaned the crap out of my ears. Magically restored highs and eliminated "one note bass".

hearingimpared

W WALDECKER wrote:

it is my understanding that cones transfer vibration vs sorbothane which turns vibration into harmless heat.

You are correct Sir! Atleast that is my understanding of it except for one little thing. Using cones or points xfer the vibs as well as decouples the piece of gear from whatever it is placed on. I don't think sorbothane pods decouple per say. . . I think it just dampins vibs coming in from both sufaces. I've heard that heavy brass fills both bills. I can't afford those yet, that is why I wait for Phil Pearsall to buy them first!!!! LOL

hearingimpared

pblanc wrote:

Got a bottle of Cerumenex at CVS. Cleaned the crap out of my ears. Magically restored highs and eliminated "one note bass".

The least expensive tweak is couple of Q-tips and some good turning!!!

Despite the warning on the box that says they are not meant to be put INTO the ear. It's a shame that's what the damned things were created for and some low life sued them because the goof ball punctured their own ear drum using them.

steveinaz

W WALDECKER wrote:

The Isonodes are Hemispherical in shape and are made of sorbothane. i am not sure what Durometer/hardness is used in thier manufacture. my system is very detailed and the Bass is tight and focused with the Isonodes in place. it is my understanding that cones transfer vibration vs sorbothane which turns vibration into harmless heat.

William
Do you have slab construction in your house, or wood with basement? I'm just curious as I find that concrete sub-floors seem to prefer "hard" cones, and "soft" isolation devices are best with wood sub-flooring.

hearingimpared

steveinaz wrote:

William
Do you have slab construction in your house, or wood with basement? I'm just curious as I find that concrete sub-floors seem to prefer "hard" cones, and "soft" isolation devices are best with wood sub-flooring.

I can help on that one. I have a concrete slab floor and I've had to replace all my sorbothane pods with cones. With sorbothane pods under my preamp, DAC, transport and / or amps the sound was muddy and down right lousy. I replaced all with cones. I do however have the pods under my preamp's outboard power supply. I also changed out the cones under my preamp and tuner with Mapleshade's Isoblocks. I'm not sure as to whether they make an improvement in the sound or not. . . I'm leaning towards not but haven't really done any A/B ing. However the preamp and tuner look cool propped up on the Isoblocks.

michael_w

A recently found tweak for me would be to sell what I have and buy something different for about the same amount of money. I guess it's not really a tweak, but it can sure work out well if you plan things out :cool: . Give new gear a try, buy used and you can experiance a lot.

vhabaygiurbm

Thanks for the post

Mother Mooch

MillerLiteScott wrote:

Miller Lite 30 pack @$18.00 and a pair of dirty socks priceless:D

Good call.
















Not ment to be a slight, ment to be funny. (message board sarcasm disclaimer)

LOL, I ressemble that remark!

30 pack Natural Ice 13.50 and dirty socks 0.00
Sound: Priceless!

beardog03

I just tried the Q-Yip Tweak....
Sounds worse than before...!!!

hearingimpared

Mother Mooch wrote:

LOL, I ressemble that remark!

30 pack Natural Ice 13.50 and dirty socks 0.00
Sound: Priceless!

Wait you left something out!

30 pack Natural Ice 13.50 and dirty socks 0.00
20 trips to the bathroom from DIARRHEA (Natural Ice)

Sound: Priceless!

hearingimpared

beardog03 wrote:

I just tried the Q-Yip Tweak....
Sounds worse than before...!!!

You may have grounds for a law suit against Johnson & Johnson.

If the Q-tip didn't work shove a bobby pin and twist, that will get the potatoes out.