Positive results of system tune-up

[jude]

My system sounds better than ever today. I took about an hour out of my workday today to give my system a tune-up. Here's what I did:

1. Based on morphsci's recommendation, I removed the stock feet from my SCD-C333ES SACD/CD player so that I could place the big Audioquest Sorbothane feet underneath with greater flexibility in terms of positioning them. I also very carefully made sure the SCD-C333ES is sitting perfectly level.
2. The interconnects I'm using (Tara Labs RSC Reference Gen 2's) were purchased used, and I hadn't cleaned them before. I decided to clean their RCA plugs thoroughly using Caig's DeOxit for the stubborn oxidation, and then treating them with ProGold. You would not believe how much oxidation came off those plugs. I then did the same to the jacks on my SCD-C333ES and HeadRoom Max -- those didn't have much oxidation on them, but still had a bit.
3. Cleaned and conditioned the plugs of my headphones (Sennheiser HD-600's and Sony MDR-7506's) with ProGold only, since there was very little, if any, oxidation on them.
4. After I then made sure to re-check my cable routing, making sure that the components' power cables weren't touching each other, other power cables, or the interconnects. I also made sure the interconnects were not touching each other, which is sort of difficult because, just aft the Max, they both have to go through a rather narrow opening, and the Tara cables are quite thick. I also gave the whole rig a once-over with the AlphaLab TriField Meter to make sure all components (as well as the interconnects) were not located near the EMI/RFI emitted by my nearby computer gear -- I only did this because I moved the Max to a new location.

After doing all this, I decided to sit down and listen while I worked, first popping in Thelonius Monk's Straight, No Chaser SACD, and then the Gladiator soundtrack (two albums I know so well, I can practically hum them in their entireties). To my ears, there was not just a mild improvement, but a very noticeable one. Tiny details took on more life -- Monk's "I Didn't Know About You - Take 1" became even more live sounding as a result. No question about it to me, there is a greater sense of the space and ambience of the performances on Straight, No Chaser that made it sound better than I'd ever heard it before. Bass impact is subtly better now, and what sounds like every possible detail and resonation of every pluck of the bass on Straight, No Chaser adds to the exciting feel of almost being there.

A later listen to another album (on CD) that I am very familiar with -- Miles Davis' The Complete Concert: 1964 (My Funny Valentine and "Four" & More/Recorded Live in Concert) -- presented pretty much all the same benefits mentioned above. By the way, if you're a Miles fan and you don't have this one, get it as soon as possible, as it's an amazing, driven performance (reading the liner notes explains some of the reason for the strong emotions behind the night this event took place).

Gladiator likewise sounded better than I've ever heard it. What has recently become one of my favorite testosterone-driven classical soundtracks has enjoyed the benefits of the tune-up too. Oddly enough, this album sounded almost less warm than before the tune-up, but not in an offensive way. More details in the upper registers were very noticeable to my ears after the tune-up. I liked what I heard so much, I listened to it two times in a row.

I'm a little upset with myself for doing more than one tweak at a time, as I'm now unable to tell which one contributed to what. Based on the amount of oxidation that came off those Tara RCA plugs, I'm guessing that the cleaning, and subsequent ProGold conditioning, of those plugs may have resulted in the greater upper register detail. Can anyone here who has also used these Caig products (DeOxit and ProGold) comment on how long these benefits last if indeed these are at least part of the reason for the improvements I'm hearing? I figure I'll do this tune-up every three months unless someone here tells me that I should ProGold the contacts more often (don't worry, I wipe off all the excess ProGold, so if there's a coating left behind, it's so thin as to not be visible).

I also suspect that the overall detail improvement may have been helped by the isolation provided by the Sorbothane feet. Again, it's too hard to say specifically what's doing what when I did it all at once. I know, I know -- I should have thought about that before I did all this, but time was quite limited.

chych, I know you're probably rolling your eyes right now, but I'm a big-time tweak believer at this point.

I'm listening to Miles Davis' Kind of Blue SACD right now, and the improvements, again, are unmistakable to my ears. It's almost like one of the components in my chain was signficantly upgraded, and it already sounded fantastic before the tune-up.

Components in the tuneup include:

1. Sennheiser HD-600 headphones
2. Sony MDR-7506 headphones
3. Sony SCD-C333ES SACD/CD player
4. Audioquest AudioQuest Sorbo-Gel Big Feet (Sorbothane vibration dampening component feet)
5. HeadRoom 2001-model Max headphone amplifier
6. Brick Wall PW8R15AUD series-mode surge filter / power conditioner
7. Tara Labs RSC Reference Gen 2 interconnects
8. (giggling as I type this one) Cardas RCA Caps (covering unused RCA jacks)
9. Caig DeOxit and ProGold (used to clean and treat the external signal-carrying contacts)

 

[Tides]

Jude~

I think it is all in your head~!!!

Just kidding... or am I not ?~

When those RCA caps and velco strap arrive, I have a feeling I will find the *highs* better and even more detailed sounds coming from my xcanv2

just poking at ya

Tides

PS. thanks again for the caps

 

[Apheared]

Quote:

I'm a little upset with myself for doing more than one tweak at a time, as I'm now unable to tell which one contributed to what.

Rule #1 to troubleshooting: Change only ONE variable at a time and observe results. Ah well, got in a hurry didja?

Go do a friend's rig and take notes... Neil probably needs cleaning up.

 

[mbriant]

Re: Sorbothane feet.

I agree that sorbothane is amazing stuff, but I don't understand what vibrations you are eliminating if you're listening through headphones.

Cleaning the jacks/contacts makes a lot of sense however.

 

[morphsci]

The general rule of thumb is that you should clean RCA contacts about every six months. I just did all my RCA component jacks, IC's and speaker spades. It always amazes me how fast oxidation builds up ... that reminds me, where did I put those anti-oxidant enriched multivitamins?

 

[flashbak]

Jude, I'm in agreement with Mike on that one! Unless your in a room in which people are constantly walking by and shutting doors I don't quite see how it would of helped?

 

[Beagle]

The old placenta effect, I mean placebo.

 

[jude]

I was going to wait until chych responded, but I'll now respond to my skeptical friends who've responded so far.

Yes, my rig with the Sorbothane feet is indeed a dedicated headphone rig. But my floor is not a concrete slab (and I'd put them on even if it was). We have a basement, so the floor under my desk is flexibile. No, it's not necessarily bouncy, but it probably is to a CD player considering that the track on a CD is:

1. ~0.00002 inch wide (2/100,000 inch)
2. ~0.000005 inch tall (5/1,000,000 inch) -- I believe that's about the size of a relatively small bacteria cell
3. And is spiraled in such a manner that adjacent windings of track are only ~0.00006 inch apart (6/100,000 inch)

Call me crazy, but don't you think that even a truck driving by would likely be "felt" by the read/error-correction mechanism to some degree? Or me typing on my keyboard that's on my desk that my CD player is on? Or the movement of my body on the chair on the floor that my desk is on (on which sits my CD player)? I know, some of you will likely argue that none of this actually matters, but I'm of the belief it does. And isn't the "pit" layout of SACD's even more dense than CD's?

If it's a placebo, I'll take it, because something I did yesterday sure sounds good, my skeptical friends!

 

[Neruda]

good job jude! you show them you're not crazy!

 

[morphsci]

You tell'em Jude! Its all about the music and what makes us happy. Some people like tweaking and some people like sniping. C'est la vie.

 

[mbriant]

Sounds like a "dust free" environment is next for you Jude.

How are Neil and the gang gonna react to wearing those white suits, hoods and masks?

Seriously though, your madness is catching. I just received my 3 Hubbell "hospital grade" wall sockets. If they don't improve my system, at least I'll be ready if and when I ever need an iron lung at home.

Time for a cigarette. Nasty, nasty, habit.

 

[jude]

Quote:

Originally posted by mbriant Time for a cigarette. Nasty, nasty, habit.

mbriant, did you know that a particle of tobacco smoke can actually be bigger than one of the "pits" in a CD? LOL! See, am I really that nuts?

 

[jude]

Quote:

Originally posted by mbriant Sounds like a "dust free" environment is next for you Jude. ......Seriously though, your madness is catching. I just received my 3 Hubbell "hospital grade" wall sockets....

I keep my area relatively free of dust by using one of those Swiffer sheets a couple times a day (no, I'm actually not kidding)--those things are fantastic.

And regarding the receptacles. I forgot to report that I canceled my order for the PS Audio PowerPort. They hadn't shipped it after a week, and I have electricians coming to the house to do some work (unrelated to my rigs), and I wanted them to install it while they were here. I'm going to go run out and buy a hospital-grade receptacle that I can get in time for their visit. Hmmm.....maybe I can have a dedicated circuit routed up here? Nahh.....I'll skip that for now (I think).

 

[Neruda]

Here's what I forsee as the next Jude tweak...
Quote:

What Jude will be telling us about in a few weeks I just got back from the hospital today! I underwent a small procedure and got all my skin removed. You see, dust is made up primarily of dead skin tissue, so by getting rid of it I've decreased the dust level in my house considerably. Already I can tell the difference; bass is much tighter and the midrange, particularly vocals, have become quite a bit cleaner and more transparent. It was only moments into my first listen that I knew the swiffers were going in the trash. Seriously, there's no substitute. It does sting a bit but it's a small sacrafice to make. All I'm really worried about is what my business partners will think the next time they see me. maybe I should get a new suit . What's my next tweak going to be? Well, I'm sort of thinking about going into deep space and reducing the temperature around me to absolute zero in order to remove all vibrations whatsoever, including the very movement of the earth! I sure doubt that my sorbothane feet can compare with that. It's pretty expensive though, and I've already paid quite a bit on today's operation, so that'll be in the future. Stay tuned!

 

[mbriant]

Neruda: ROFLMAO