Free Tweaks

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wingnut4772
wingnut4772 Posts: 7,519
edited October 2006 in DIY, Mods & Tweaks
Okay so this audio hobby is a crazy, addictive obsession into ever improving our gear. Let's save some money for a change and list your free tweaks here that you have discovered made a difference in your set up.

(Also feel free to add the insanely cheap)

My first free tweak is proper cable management. Be sure to at least separate your AC cords from your speaker wires and interconnects.
Sharp Elite 70
Anthem D2V 3D
Parasound 5250
Parasound HCA 1000 A
Parasound HCA 1000
Oppo BDP 95
Von Schweikert VR4 Jr R/L Fronts
Von Schweikert LCR 4 Center
Totem Mask Surrounds X4
Hsu ULS-15 Quad Drive Subwoofers
Sony PS3
Squeezebox Touch

Polk Atrium 7s on the patio just to keep my foot in the door.
Post edited by wingnut4772 on
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  • michael_w
    michael_w Posts: 2,813
    edited October 2006
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    Fill your stands with shot or sand. It's pretty cheap for a bag of sand and can make a big difference.

    If you have hardwood floors throw down an area rug between you and the speakers. It should help to null any nasty reflections a little bit.
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  • BlueMDPicker
    BlueMDPicker Posts: 7,569
    edited October 2006
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    Nevermind.... I thought this said Free Twinkies.
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  • Early B.
    Early B. Posts: 7,900
    edited October 2006
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    Play with placement.
    HT/2-channel Rig: Sony 50” LCD TV; Toshiba HD-A2 DVD player; Emotiva LMC-1 pre/pro; Rogue Audio M-120 monoblocks (modded); Placette RVC; Emotiva LPA-1 amp; Bada HD-22 tube CDP (modded); VMPS Tower II SE (fronts); DIY Clearwave Dynamic 4CC (center); Wharfedale Opus Tri-Surrounds (rear); and VMPS 215 sub

    "God grooves with tubes."
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  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    edited October 2006
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    Put each piece of equipment on a good dense platform. MDF seems to work good.

    Try different signal routing where possible. For example, maybe you have a tape input which you could run your CD player or whatever your main source is into and eliminate some circuitry it must go through. (Big tweak with the AI preamp I have).

    madmax
    Vinyl, the final frontier...

    Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D
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  • ESavinon
    ESavinon Posts: 3,066
    edited October 2006
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    Clean the contacts twice a year including power cords.
    Unplug every cable and wire used, spray with contact cleaner,then treat and clean any rca jacks/xlr jacks with deox it.
    SRT For Life; SDA Forever!

    The SRT SEISMIC System:
    Four main satellite speakers, six powered subs, two dedicated for LFE channel, two center speakers for over/under screen placement and three Control Centers. Amaze your friends, terrorize your neighbors, seize the audio bragging rights for your state. Go ahead, buy it; you only go around once.
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  • Willow
    Willow Posts: 10,882
    edited October 2006
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    not free but cheap, replace stock jumpers.
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  • steveinaz
    steveinaz Posts: 19,522
    edited October 2006
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    If you have carpet, place your spiked speakers on pieces of tile. Try just 1/2" of toe-in, I found this to be optimal with practically every speaker I've owned.
    Source: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Shop Spkrs: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2
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  • surfntomm
    surfntomm Posts: 185
    edited October 2006
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    steveinaz wrote:
    If you have carpet, place your spiked speakers on pieces of tile. Try just 1/2" of toe-in, I found this to be optimal with practically every speaker I've owned.

    wont pieces of tile look like crap sitting on carpet under you speakers? :confused:
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  • Early B.
    Early B. Posts: 7,900
    edited October 2006
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    surfntomm wrote:
    wont pieces of tile look like crap sitting on carpet under you speakers? :confused:

    No.

    He means 12" x 12" or similar size ceramic, granite or marble tile in any color that goes well with your decor. Some high end speakers and speaker stands use tile as bases. A solid base provides solid bass.
    HT/2-channel Rig: Sony 50” LCD TV; Toshiba HD-A2 DVD player; Emotiva LMC-1 pre/pro; Rogue Audio M-120 monoblocks (modded); Placette RVC; Emotiva LPA-1 amp; Bada HD-22 tube CDP (modded); VMPS Tower II SE (fronts); DIY Clearwave Dynamic 4CC (center); Wharfedale Opus Tri-Surrounds (rear); and VMPS 215 sub

    "God grooves with tubes."
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  • sucks2beme
    sucks2beme Posts: 5,558
    edited October 2006
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    Willow wrote:
    not free but cheap, replace stock jumpers.
    Boy did I need to do this. The stock ones were 20 years old and nasty.
    Night and day difference. The highs are back the way they should be.
    "The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." --Thomas Jefferson
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  • Frank Z
    Frank Z Posts: 5,860
    edited October 2006
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    Use rubber door stops to angle the center channel speaker directly at the primary listening position.

    Buy and use an SPL meter to properly calibrate your system.

    Read up on proper sub setup and placement before buying a bigger, uglier sub.

    Get your brain wrapped around the concept of proper placement for optimal sound.

    Read your damn manuals front to back while actually sitting in front of your gear.

    Read up on how your speakers use 1 watt of power.

    Toe-in is your friend....disregard if you own SDA's

    Surround sound effects should be seamless and not easily identifiable with regards to which speaker the sound came from.

    Forget you ever heard of THX.

    There are no movies produced in 7.1, 9.1, 104.1, 6.1 is all you'll find on a DVD.

    DSP modes are garbage.

    Dolby PrologicIIx kicks major azz!

    The only thing that should be on top of your speakers? Air.

    Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.

    We did in fact send men to the moon.

    Russmans head really is THAT BIG.
    9/11 - WE WILL NEVER FORGET!! (<---<<click)
    2005-06 Club Polk Football Pool Champion!! :D
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  • Frank Z
    Frank Z Posts: 5,860
    edited October 2006
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    Oh yeah, almost forgot....
    Download and read the Polk Audio HomeTheater HandBook.


    Learn how to use the search feature on this forum.
    9/11 - WE WILL NEVER FORGET!! (<---<<click)
    2005-06 Club Polk Football Pool Champion!! :D
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  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited October 2006
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    Oops.. my bad.. i thought you said Free Twinks.. :p (some of you will get that). ;)
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
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