Best Tweak you have done to your Setup

[prem]

Hi Staxx

I have used Shakti Hallographs in the past. The ASI resonators are a cut above that. The Hallographs break up the standing waves and deflect them. Its not much different from using a diffusor. The end result is pretty much the same. However I have not heard the Novum resonator but it appears to work on a different principle from the ASI Resonators. The ASI resonators work on the principle that you need a pin to prick a balloon. Hence the air pressure build up is broken at strategic points in the room. Obviously from the size of the Novum resonator it does not appear it works on this principle. The ASI Resonators actually have a European patent. When used in a car on the engine, it improves fuel efficiency by reducing the friction between air and the moving parts and thereby improving efficiency.

 

[Flash]

On a lighter note :

The biggest tweak I have done to my setup is being in close proximity to it.

I have been working from home a lot as of late which translates into more time spent listening to music.
The work from home tweak has helped :lol:

 

[Record Player]

Inexpensive tweaks that I have been using -
Cork pads under the feet of transports. They work as good as vibrapods and at a fraction of cost.
All wires seperated from each other and when they cross, they do it at 90 degrees.
Speaker jumpers replaced with good speaker wire.
Turntable is placed on a granite-silicon-granite slab on floor (not on top of my system rack).

The best tweak that I accidentally discovered -
A folding bed cum sofa ! This is like a really thick absorber and has helped tame low frequencies. The sofa is nothing but a thick foam mattress that has been cleverly cut so as to get folded like a sofa and is covered with good cloth.

Things like power conditioner, cables, interconnects etc are essentials and not exactly tweaks so I am not listing them. Letting the amplifier to warm up, switching off the display of transports, unplugging the unused components etc are also regular practice with me.

Very nice Shivam and thanks for sharing this. These are definitely DIY tweaks for me.

 

[Nikhil]

However I have not heard the Novum resonator but it appears to work on a different principle from the ASI Resonators.

prem, I've been following the Novum PMR for some time. What I could gather was that it works on a principle of sympathetic harmonics. Something like the response of a tuning fork but in all "overtones of the musical scale" - apparently a property of the bell bronze material. Here's what they have to say from their website

The PMR is not comparable to other resonators available on the market today. These other resonators produce even harmonics, but usually change the tone of the sound with "false" harmonics, e.g. a trumpet should sound like a trumpet, but with the wrong harmonics, it can sound like a completely different, or synthetic instrument. The PMR produces only harmonics that are perceived by the human ear as pleasant and harmonious. The sounds of music are heard as natural. These "right" overtones are the result of decades of sound research. And by the way... bell bronze is the only material that can reproduce all overtones of the musical scale. This know-how is now being implemented - world exclusive for the first time as a resonator in the PMR.

 

[prem]

Hi Nikhil

Thanks for the link

 

[Viki]

Carpet. Between speakers and main listening position.

Flash, loved yours.

 

[captrajesh]

I am starting a customary thread which I find on other forums but not on here.

Actually, we have some. Here are a couple of threads:

1. Let's discuss some speaker tweaks to achieve "that" sound

2. A few tweaks that have worked for me

 

[Nikhil]

Actually, we have some. Here are a couple of threads:

1. Let's discuss some speaker tweaks to achieve "that" sound

2. A few tweaks that have worked for me

Some great stuff on those threads. Thanks for sharing ...

 

[Nikhil]

prem,

Some great stuff from that thread ...

An even better option is using a sandstone slab with a cork sheet underneath the slab. You will be quite amazed by the naturalness and dynamics

My current audio rack has a glass shelf. Can I place the sandstone on top of the glass with the cork layer in between?
Or do you suggest I remove the glass shelf altogether?

 

[prem]

Hi Nikhil

What is on the glass shelf? Ideally see if you can remove the glass shelf.

 

[Nikhil]

Hi Nikhil

What is on the glass shelf? Ideally see if you can remove the glass shelf.

At the moment the amplifiers are on the glass.

 

[prem]

Hi Nikhil


Would suggest you move it from the glass shelf. Ideally the amplifier should be on the ground on its own stand or if in a rack on the lowermost shelf.

You can try placing the amp directly on a sandstone without the cork sheet. Should work fine. Sandstone should cost you about Rs 500. Try and get 1.5 to 2 inch thick sandstone. Most shops do not know what sandstone is. So check before you buy. Even in Mumbai only one shop knew it

 

[Nikhil]

Prem, thanks again. Have some issues with placing my power amp on the lowest rung at the moment.
About the sandstone shelf, is this only for the amps or does this help for all components?

 

[prem]

Hi Nikhil

Sandstone should help all components. Use of sandstone came as a recommendation to me from SRA, a specialist in isolation equipment

 

[thevortex]

Best tweak I have ever done to my setup is to discover the Behringer DEQ2496 equalizer and use it to hear my equipment - not my room! Next best is discovering specialist audio players such as cMP, Pure Player etc.

Of course the basic thing is to move from DVD/CD player sources to a dedicated PC!

 

[kuruvilajacob]

Nikhil,

You have started a wonderful thread. Tweaks that I have made include building two wall shelf in my listening room and stuffing them with records. You can stuff them with books also. It will take away (absorb) a lot of unwanted sound. Another tweak was to make a separate grounding for the listening room power point. Yet another was to take dedicated power line from ELCB to the power point in my listening room.All these do make a significant difference in getting best out of your system. It is like squeezing out water from a wet towel. It is easy when it is wet but you need to squeeze all the water, you need to apply more pressure. So, you need to do a little extra to get the best out of your system. I have done many other tweaks on turntables which i will post soon. Thanks again for starting this thread. Regards, kuruvilajacob

 

[Nikhil]

Nikhil,

You have started a wonderful thread. ...

Yet another was to take dedicated power line from ELCB to the power point in my listening room.All these do make a significant difference in getting best out of your system.

Thanks kuruvilajacob! With regard to power line treatments, just yesterday I was reading up on a page that came up on a google search.

Recommended Audio System Tweaks: Part 1


I also picked up this gem from the same article ...

Another example of vibration feedback-induced time smearing is the vibration of wires in cables due to sound pressures from the speakers and to electromotive forces induced by adjacent current-carrying wires.

Another form of mechanical vibration-induced time smearing is the fore-and-aft vibration of a speaker enclosure in response to forces on the driver voice coil. This is simply due to Newtons law of action and reaction and occurs regardless of the rigidity and degree of damping of the enclosure.

Simply placing a 15-20 pound lead weight on the top of the speaker improves clarity of sound considerably by reducing Doppler distortion due to the reactive fore-and-aft motion of the enclosure. Doppler distortion smears sonic energy over a range of frequencies (rather than time) and is inherent in all speaker designs. If a driver diaphragm is moving at both a low and a high frequency at the same time (say 50 and 5000 Hz), the higher frequency is modulated (distorted) by the lower frequency due to the Doppler effect. As the sound source approaches at some velocity its sound is shifted up in frequency proportionately to the speed of approach, and vice versa for the sound source moving away from the listener. This effect "frequency smears" the output of all speakers, with the effect worsening with decreasing efficiency, smaller radiating area and 2-way designs. Of course the weights also improve performance by increasing the damping of cabinet resonance.

 

[Staxxx]

The HRS damping plates that I mentioned earlier are supposed to be put on top of speakers as you refer to in your post above. However, I tried this often and I did not like what it did to the sound. It almost made it too precise! The resonance of the speaker enclosures were almost necessary for the instruments to sound more "real" to me. So I now use these under my equipment. Perhaps sometimes it is best (as in this case) to leave it as the designer intended it to be....

 

[Nikhil]

Maple wood is claimed to be sonicaly superior by this particular company ...

Maple Isolation Platform

 

[Cnu]

This is the most common tweak even the company writes in its manual...but i guess people may forget doing this.... changing left & right polarity...of HF, LF cable make the speaker vibrate in opposite direction.... every time i change i hear it improved...change them to normal & sometimes opposite...