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Biggest bang-for-the-buck tweaks!!!

post #1 of 38
2/20/07 at 8:44pm
Thread Starter 
What are some absurdly cheap or easy tweaks that give good results in spades?? That I should try out??

I'll start with two:

- using spikes under my speakers. Holy moly, everything took better shape in the soundstage.

- getting rid of the TV between my speakers. It was like someone opened up a door in the middle of the soundstage.
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post #2 of 38
2/21/07 at 8:03am
Speaker placement and evironment change.
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post #3 of 38
2/21/07 at 9:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Turnaround View Post
- getting rid of the TV between my speakers. It was like someone opened up a door in the middle of the soundstage.
this is huge I recently went from 2 racks between my speakers to on tall one and what a huge change for the better. I would advise anyone to to the same try to keep the space between speakers as empty as possible.

Also treating the room to cut down on echo and reflections, while I used auralex corner traps and wall treatments you can make your own on the cheap. here is a great site to get you started
http://www.geocities.com/jonrisch/index2.htm
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post #4 of 38
2/21/07 at 12:22pm
ERS Paper, Magix levitation feet and Nordost Valhalla cables are the tweaks I like the most. It's not that good for the price if you only add a few. But the more you add the bigger the improvements get!


PS Audio MultiWaveII (MWave4) is the greatest tweak ever for Toroidal transformers. The MWave4 function is only in the older Power Plants, not with the new Premier.

The CleanSweep function of MultiWaveII+ is the greatest tweak for all gear, without it I can't listen to music, it's only hundred bucks. Premier Power Plant has a similar function called CleanWave, but I haven't tested it much. It seems like the older CleanSweep makes it smoother with more transparency and the new CleanWave makes it brighter and more detailed.

PS Audio Noise Harvester is also a hundred bucks but I didn't like it much, it made bass too big and heavy.
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post #5 of 38
2/21/07 at 6:08pm
Two free tweaks

Loudspeaker listeners remove the terminations from your speaker cables.

Remove your power conditioner and plug things directly into the wall. You may find, as I did, that despite conventional audiophile wisdom your AC is perfectly fine.
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post #6 of 38
2/21/07 at 7:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Turnaround View Post
- using spikes under my speakers. Holy moly, everything took better shape in the soundstage.

amen. spikes are much more effective than edit: acoustically treated material, ie SoundQuest Isol-Pads

with headphone, just fooling around with the pads works wonders! reversed bowls for grado owners...
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post #7 of 38
2/21/07 at 11:16pm
not absurdly cheap, but maple cutting boards under components work extremely well.
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post #8 of 38
2/21/07 at 11:54pm
Cheapest tweak I've ever found: stop reading Head-Fi and Audioholics and just listen to your rig. It'll sound tons better.
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post #9 of 38
2/22/07 at 1:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dpippel View Post
Cheapest tweak I've ever found: stop reading Head-Fi and Audioholics and just listen to your rig. It'll sound tons better.
maybe...but where's the fun in that
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post #10 of 38
2/23/07 at 8:32pm
Next doctor visit or physical - get your ears checked for wax, and if needed, have the doc flush them out with the little syringe thing and shoots water and flushes it out. Man was I surprised by how much crap was in there. But the hearing really goes up another level, more clarity and focus with everything, almost had a similar feeling when I got glasses/contacts for the 1st time and everything just snapped into focus.

Question for everyone - I never received the tip toe spikes that normally come with my speakers, and I have been informed that they are practically impossible to source. However, he did tell me that marbles can be used in place. Does anyone know where I can get some sets of marbles to use as tiptoes for my speaker bases?
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post #11 of 38
2/23/07 at 10:54pm
Speaker placement and graphic equalizer

See ya
Steve
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post #12 of 38
2/24/07 at 9:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by recstar24 View Post
Next doctor visit or physical - get your ears checked for wax, and if needed, have the doc flush them out with the little syringe thing and shoots water and flushes it out. Man was I surprised by how much crap was in there. But the hearing really goes up another level, more clarity and focus with everything, almost had a similar feeling when I got glasses/contacts for the 1st time and everything just snapped into focus.

Question for everyone - I never received the tip toe spikes that normally come with my speakers, and I have been informed that they are practically impossible to source. However, he did tell me that marbles can be used in place. Does anyone know where I can get some sets of marbles to use as tiptoes for my speaker bases?
Ryan your regular doctor did this? MD?
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post #13 of 38
2/24/07 at 4:24pm
Depending on your speakers, bring them out from the back wall a couple feet and toe them in slightly. I remember one day messing with my PSB Silver i's and suddenly feeling like they were perfectly locked in. Cool feeling!
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post #14 of 38
2/24/07 at 6:59pm
Read the directions

My new speakers Polk Audio Lsi 15s can be bi-amped. I was using them with my Pioneer elite receiver with just the front L and R hooked up.

The bass was not well defined at all it was some what smeared. I was reading the Receiver manual and found out it has extra l and R for bi amping it uses the back speaker amp! Who knew. I got some speaker wire, and proceded to wired them up. I turned the amp on and presed play on the Meridian Hotel California by the Eagles never sounded so good in my living room.

Moral is read the directions. After 40 plus hours of break in and the bi-amping the bass is much more well defined and has a density I have never felt before in my home speaker system.
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post #15 of 38
2/24/07 at 8:25pm
For floor standing speakers on wooden floors - place them on concrete paving slabs. Standmounted speakers - 3 blobs of blue-tac between the speaker and the stand, then place stands on slabs.

Try to adjust speaker height or listening position so that the speaker drivers are at eye i.e. ear level
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