Tweaks & Mods That Don't Work

[Early B.]

A particular tweak or mod may work for some people, and for others it's a waste of money. What tweaks did NOT work for you?

My list includes tube dampers, rubberized vibration isolation (similar to Vibrapods), "audiophile" outlet, and "upgraded" subwoofer cables. The stupidest thing I ever did was varnish the inside of my speakers so the sound waves would not get "trapped" in the microscopic crevices of the wood. :o

[Vr3MxStyler2k3]

Ive never tried it...

But Im going to go out on a limb and saying cable risers... are a joke... lol

[cmy330go]

varnish the inside of my speakers so the sound waves would not get "trapped" in the microscopic crevices of the wood. :o

Wow...I would have guessed that would be worse for a speaker. Don't you typically want to minimize reflections inside the cabinet?

Anyway, so far I am with you on the Vibrapods. Can't say that I have noticed a marked improvement.

[Vr3MxStyler2k3]

Ive done something similar to vibrapods...

I took a sheet of foam and cut it to size and put it under my CDP - 3/4" Sonic Barrier Foam Pad - and my CDP is on the bottom of my TV stand.... and with a SVS right beside it - it would skip every once in a blue moon.. havnt had it skip YET with that foam pad under it...

[cmy330go]

I certainly see where they could be of benefit in an extreme situation like that.

Gotta love those SVS subs!

[Dennis Gardner]

These tweaks are the greatest! Don't laugh until you've tried it. Name of CP member withheld due to witness protection statutes. :D

[cmy330go]

These tweaks are the greatest! Don't laugh until you've tried it. Name of CP member withheld due to witness protection statutes. :D

Aren't those made by Klipsch?? :D ;)

[beardog03]

These tweaks are the greatest! Don't laugh until you've tried it. Name of CP member withheld due to witness protection statutes. :D

so that was for XM satalite reception...right..?!!

[PolknPepsi]

Double runs of cable from my amp to my bi-wirable speakers. They now sound better with a single run of a different type.

[Dennis Gardner]

so that was for XM satalite reception...right..?!!

Actually, these were tried to enhance SDA effect.

Old Fun SDA thread. (http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29641&highlight=tin+foil)

[cmy330go]

Dennis,

You may want to consider a patent on those, or before you know it Bose will be selling them for $299. ;)

[steveinaz]

Tweaks that flunked:

1. Bi-wiring
2. Power conditioning (actually made things worse, less slam/dynamics)
3. Monster Cable speaker wire: Do yourself a favor and buy a $6, 50ft roll of 18awg Radio Shack solid core copper hook-up wire, better results and waaaaayyyyyy cheaper.

[dorokusai]

Walker Audio SST Contact Enhancer (http://www.dedicatedaudio.com/inc/sdetail/1506)

I picked this up just to find out for myself and found absolutely no benefit whatsoever. I gave it to away. You win some, you lose some.

However, I regularly use CAIG De-Oxit/Pro-Gold (http://www.caig.com/) to clean up all my connections and it works very well on vintage gear, as they've typically seen alot of use. It's just a cleaner, not an enhancment, but dust and dirt accumulates on older gear, especially if you didn't own it.

Cable Risers

I've tried DIY Styrofoam cups and even my favorite company, Signal Cable Acrylic Cable Risers (http://signalcable.com/cableriser.html) . I found absolutely no benefit whatsoever with either product. There is a market for this type of product, as it's sold by more than a handful of manufacturers. I just didn't get anything out of it. You see quite a few of these at trade shows, in ALOT of rooms, so there you go.

Bi-Wiring

I've only owned a few pairs of speakers that were Bi-Wireable but found no benefit whatsoever. I would like to try Bi-Amping sometime, but I've never been hurting for power, so it's very low on the list of priorities.

Disclaimer: Just because I didn't find value in the aforementioned products or ideas, doesn't mean you won't. You should try things on your own, and establish your own opinion, not the opinion of others.

[madmax]

I have a wall right behind my seating location. A tweek I played with was putting a piece of Sonex foam behind me to eliminate high frequency reflections from that wall. It was weird. I had the impression of total silence behind me and a big full sound in front. VERY unnatural.
madmax

[Vr3MxStyler2k3]

I have done decided that when I get my own house...

Im going to have atleast 3 feet (if not more, much more) space behind me when I sit down... even if it looks weird.

Music just sounds better away from the rear wall. Completely IMO.

[Ricardo]

-I have a denon 3803 driving RTi8's and CSi5 in the front stage; I bought 3 Outlaw monoblocks because I thought I'd hear a difference. I Did not. Returned the Outlaws.

[Early B.]

-I have a denon 3803 driving RTi8's and CSi5 in the front stage; I bought 3 Outlaw monoblocks because I thought I'd hear a difference. I Did not. Returned the Outlaws.
I'm surprised you didn't hear a difference, i.e. improvement. Those monos should have smoked that Denon.

Well, that's the weird thing about this hobby -- it's so freakin' super subjective.

[Ricardo]

I'm surprised you didn't hear a difference, i.e. improvement. Those monos should have smoked that Denon.

Well, that's the weird thing about this hobby -- it's so freakin' super subjective.

Yeah..I was looking for an $800 improvement...was not there....for me.

[Early B.]

I hear ya. Sold my HT amps a couple of months ago. Sounded great, but I preferred the cash instead.

[dbnh]

Sorry to hear one forum writer didn't have a good experience with SST; my time with the product has been the exact opposite. As for cable risers - I never bought any, but I do fashion cable lifters from wine corks (not the rubbery corks, I use the real cork and notch a piece out for the cable to rest in and get it off the carpet) and at least I haven't heard any sound degradation. Never bought isolation platforms outside of Vibrapods (I have had success with Vibrapods), but got free slabs of granite and marble from a local stone business that work great under my amps, preamp, JD-100, TT.

In my earlier days of audio, I purchased Monster ICs. That was a mistake $onically, esp. when compared to some fairly low cost ICs out there. I should say that at least the Monster ICs were better than the crappy ICs that shipped stock with my old Sony carosel CDP, old Teac cassette deck, etc.

[dragon1952]

I've got the Vibrapods and the Signal Cable risers. I can't begin to tell you the improvements they make in my system. It probably sounds 100 times better.....no , 1000 times...no, wait....1,000,000 times better! Yeah, that's the ticket! 1 million times better! It's like a sheet of concrete was removed from in front of my speakers :cool:

[cmy330go]

I've got the Vibrapods and the Signal Cable risers. I can't begin to tell you the improvements they make in my system. It probably sounds 100 times better.....no , 1000 times...no, wait....1,000,000 times better! Yeah, that's the ticket! 1 million times better! It's like a sheet of concrete was removed from in front of my speakers :cool:

You must work for Mapleshade (http://www.mapleshaderecords.com/tweaks/freeaudiotips.php). :)

[dragon1952]

Not quite :p But I did get one of their catalogs in the mail the other day. Not sure how I got on their mailing list but talk about tweak city :rolleyes:

[Dennis Gardner]

sheet of concrete

No need for handcuffs or date rape drugs at Dragon's house.............come here honey and slip between my sheets.... if you can lift them. :D

[phoneisbusy]

I've got the Vibrapods and the Signal Cable risers. I can't begin to tell you the improvements they make in my system. It probably sounds 100 times better.....no , 1000 times...no, wait....1,000,000 times better! Yeah, that's the ticket! 1 million times better! It's like a sheet of concrete was removed from in front of my speakers :cool:

This coincide with the time you moved the speakers from behind the concrete columns? :D

regards

Dave

[dragon1952]

Nyuck, nyuck, nyuck. Wise guys! (he says in his best Curly the Stooge voice) :D

[wingnut4772]

I tried something siilar to Vibrapods. I can't say I noticed an improvement but they did really help me place my equipment in the rack without scratching. I also tried that whole cable elevation thing but for HT it's a little ridiculous.

[dragon1952]

I don't know man. That static electricity thing is real. We recently went through a period of very low humidity and I was getting zapped really good every time I touched my gear. If you've got carpet and low humidity it's not that far fetched that it could create havoc with your speaker cables.

[dbnh]

I don't know man. That static electricity thing is real. We recently went through a period of very low humidity and I was getting zapped really good every time I touched my gear. If you've got carpet and low humidity it's not that far fetched that it could create havoc with your speaker cables.

This is one reason why I put cork under my cables, to get them off the carpets (as well as off the baseboard FHW heat covers). I also like to use corks to keep ICs from touching one another, etc.

[wingnut4772]

I dunno..maybe because I always have had tile?

[michael_w]

That's an awesome idea... use corks as IC spacers. Thanks I'll have to try that. Probably won't make a difference but it's worth a shot.

Stuff that hasn't worked for me:

Different cd player stands / risers - I've had it on carpet, mdf, marble, spike things on marble and I can't pick out any difference.

Grills on or off - maybe my LSi grills use good fabric and frames?

Making an exact copy of a redbook cd to theoretically make a copy that is of greater quality - big story around this one... sharper grooves because the disc is new = less errors reading disc etc...

Going from bare wire to banana plugs and vice versa.



For a while when I would be listening to my system I could make my music skip by sliding out of my recliner. Somehow the static created by me sliding only affected the sound when I was using the coax hookup - it didn't do it when I was using the analog outputs of my dvd player.

[Frank Z]

Grills on or off - maybe my LSi grills use good fabric and frames?extra effort went into the design and materials used in the LSi grills to make them as acousticly transparent as possible...and it shows.

[cmy330go]

For a while when I would be listening to my system I could make my music skip by sliding out of my recliner. Somehow the static created by me sliding only affected the sound when I was using the coax hookup - it didn't do it when I was using the analog outputs of my dvd player.

I used to experience the same thing at the store I used to work at. All of the receivers in our audio rooms used digital coax. In the winter when things were dry, and static electicity was a problem, I would always touch either a component or the metal strip that runs up the corner of a drywall joint before touching the selector panel. Regardless of which one I touched, the sound would always cut out for a second.

Sometimes it's amazing what stray voltage can do.

[michael_w]

It's weird / facinating that it'll affect it from across the room too...

[heiney9]

A little late....I don't read this thread as often. Stupidest thing I bought as a tweak was a Monster Product called the Discus. It was a very heavy coated metal disc the same size as a cd and was made to place on top of the cd in the tray. The extra weight was supposed to help with vibration and transport issues. What a load of crap.....I bought it at a discount at the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) when only industry people could attend (late 80's). That is when my general distaste for Monster started. But to be honest if it was another manufacturer I would have been just as displeased.

Live and learn

H9

[mantis]

Coins on top of speakers. I tried all kinds of different ways and I didn't hear a damn thing.
Video cables, Once I owned a cable for Componet that could pass the entire signal and at the corect Ohms, adding higher quality cables didn't help anything.
Digital cables both optical and Coax. I tried different levels, different brands and I never heard a bit of differnce. the only difference I heard was when I tried a cheap optical cable that came with my HD Dss Mitsubishi receiver. It was the only digital cable that sounded different. It sucked.
Grills on Grills off. Really not much difference at all. I tried to hear a differnce but man It sounds as good on as off. I think it's the fact you can see the drivers and you now feel all warm and fuzzy.

[markmarc]

I bought the Discus as well. All it did was ruin the CD pickup mechanism of my HK HD500. Not a financially fun repair.

I bought Monster IC's for about $5 a pair at the same time. I've been quite happy with that investment.

[steveinaz]

The Lsi's do have a "smart" designed grille; it's open, no plastic dividers cutting across the tweeters. I wish more speaker builders did this, at least in front of the tweeter.

I like my Energy's with the grilles off when critically listening. There is a difference with mine, hearable on a number of discs. If you were here, I could demonstrate it on track 3 of the latest Trapt CD. It's subtle, but noticeable.

A good way to check is to place yourself ear-level about 1 ft in front of the speaker. Have your significant other hold the grill over, then remove it a number of times while your eyes are closed---see if you can guess when the grille is gone or in front of the speaker...neat test, and it works.

[dorokusai]

I bought it at a discount at the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) when only industry people could attend (late 80's).

CES is still an industry only event, no general public.

[Early B.]

[QUOTE=mantis]Video cables, Once I owned a cable for Componet that could pass the entire signal and at the corect Ohms, adding higher quality cables didn't help anything.[QUOTE]

Yep, me too. Went to a supposedly higher quality Monster silver component cable. Didn't make a bit of difference. No more cable upgrades for me.

[Frank Z]

Bi-Wire...TTHHPPPPTTT!
Wire that cost more than a buck per foot.....TTHHPPPPTTT!
Fuel Injected, 10 Speed, Chrome-Moly, Ratcheting connectors....TTHHPPPPTTT!

[heiney9]

CES is still an industry only event, no general public.

Really....I thought several years ago they opened atleast the main floor to the general public for a fee. I've been out of audio sales for along time.

H9

[dorokusai]

Heiney - I can only go with information from the CES website....that may well have occurred previously.