The only way I know of to degauss something which means to remove unwanted magnetic fields, is with an electromagnet or large electric current pulsing through a coil. Back when tube TVs would get color spots that wouldn't go away, I actually had to rent a degaussing coil. Tube TVs usually degauss themselves when turned on, but to a minor degree which didn't always clear the problem.
I seem to recall that in the old days there were devices to degauss your turntable stylus - and I think Cardas used to make a vinyl test album that could be used to somehow degauss your cartridge - but I never understood what the heck it was supposed to do. I can sort of understand how that might work - I suppose if the sylus was forced to vibrate in a particular way that might do something to affect any residual magnetic field in the cartridge. But your ipod? I don't get it...
I seem to recall that in the old days there were devices to degauss your turntable stylus - and I think Cardas used to make a vinyl test album that could be used to somehow degauss your cartridge - but I never understood what the heck it was supposed to do. I can sort of understand how that might work - I suppose if the sylus was forced to vibrate in a particular way that might do something to affect any residual magnetic field in the cartridge. But your ipod? I don't get it...
It's the hot new topic of debate among CD fanatics-and a claim being taken seriously by CD experts, most notably Pete Howard, publisher of the respected International CD Exchange (ICE) newsletter and resident Rolling Stone CD columnist. Howard says he discovered the craze when one of his subscribers sent him a story from a Beaverton, Ore., paper detailing claims made by an audio store owner there.
After interviewing several other people who've tested out the theory-and trying it himself-Howard is no longer a complete skeptic.
"I was intrigued, as would anyone who discovered that you could make what amounts to a $1,000 upgrade on your sound system by simply spending $1.25 for a green felt marking pen," he said. "I think you'd have to say it's half-amazing and half-ludicrous. But I'm getting calls from people who are using adjectives like `incredible' and `terrifyingly improved.' Everybody seems to agree there's something there."
The green felt marker fad isn't the only craze sweeping the CD ranks. According to a four-page story by Sam Tellig in the current issue of Stereophile magazine, you can also improve CD sound quality by coating your CDs with (now you really have to sit down) Armor-All spray cleaner. (You coat the playing surface and wash off the Armor-All before playing.)
Both schemes sound pretty farfetched to us. But Howard isn't so sure. "What makes this such a potentially fascinating story is the implication that after millions of CDs have been tested and manufactured, consumers can suddenly buy a green marking pen or a cleaning spray cleaner and dramatically increase their CD sound. Enough people have come to me that you'd have to say something is happening here, even if you don't know what it is."
....
The sound became more "life -like".
The sound became more vibrant, like fresh cut grass.
The sound improved when I sniffed the pen for a while!
I used a green pen back in the day, the "change" it made wasn't that obvious so I stopped using it. I've tried all sorts of tweaks, custom cables, replace all the wiring in an amp with silver cable, replacing coupling caps with better caps, rolled tubes, different isolation techniques, De-magnatizing CDs, changed cables, build my own cables, converted pentodes to triodes, installed a custom star ground and separate circuit in my house house for the stereo, all sorts of things- I heard differences is almost everything I tried; however, I came to realize that my perception of differences in audio weren't limited to times when I changed something in my system.
Have a couple of beer and things sound different, listen late at night things and sound different, too much coffee, stressed out and guess what? Sounds different. It just didn't seem reasonable to believe that my perception was a valid way of determining the truth of system changes. Tweaking and optimizing was pointless, I was chasing my own tail. I became a cynic not from measurements and graphs but from following my own experience of listening.
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