Tweakdom

[Carlman]

I treated myself to a Leica D2 laser measuring tool year and being able to get all distances exactly the same makes more improvement that I thought possible.

Yay!  I have found the same, Mike.  What is also cool is you can measure every part of the speaker to some point.  If you level your speakers, then measure again, you'll see the difference and can adjust.  It is a methodical and fairly annoying task but when I do everything, I'm rarely disappointed.

OH, and as to tweaks, removing the covers of tube equipment seems to improve things in my system.  I like the sound of my preamp without a cover more than with... less ringy I guess.

[richidoo]

Supposedly the conductive metal of the lid also has an effect. I have read a few times where people prefer no lid, vibration is probably the larger influence. A company in UK builds plastic chassis gear to avoid the metal cooties. They have a white paper to explain it all, of course...   I just can't remember any of the brand names or people names connected to them right now in my post football party daze.  

Googling "Harbeth San Diego Tim" (the only words I could remember) led me to Tim Ryan, Simplifiaudio.com the importer of DNM Audio who makes the acrylic preamps to reduce vibration and electromagnetic influences on the signal. Tim also imports Gradient speakers, that everybody liked last summer at the NYC show.
http://www.dnm.co.uk/materials.html

[rollo]

Good call Carlman. Me too. The covers are off the Pre and Amps. I know David Berning is no fan of steel. He is 100% alum.



charles

[rollo]

  At a friends request wrapped the fuse with Teflon plumbers tape and compared to the Hi Fi tuning fuse. Save your money and wrap a fuse today.
   Remember wrapping the blades of the AC plug and pushing it back into the plug recco ? Wrapping da fuse is more affective. I'm laughing at the results cause it should make zero difference but it does. Try it and report back.


charles

[sleepyguy24]

Thanks Rollo for the tip on the teflon plumbers tape. I'm going to use that in addition to the deep cleaning I do to fuses.

In fact that is one tweak a heavy tweaker shared with me. I may have mentioned this before so sorry for the repeat.

Apply metal polish (I use Noxon Liquid metal polish) on AC plug blades, speaker terminals, IC female jacks etc. Wipe clean with lint free cloth and swabs. (You will be surpised at the dirt and grime that come off). Then to ensure all the residue is off and then apply caig deoxit or other non residue contact cleaner. I use MG Chemicals 409B-340G Electrosolve Zero Residue Contact Cleaner.

Doing the cleaning with tubes is an exercise in patience.

Now here is another tweak I got from Morrow Audio.

http://www.morrowaudio.com/newsletters/issue5.html

I haven't tried it but will try it when the funds free up.

[rollo]

  If one reads a bit further at the Morrow site adding those rear speakers is what I'm talking about with the Puesdo surround thread. A must try.
  Scotty informed me of the choke, however o smitten with the PIAudio Uberbuss never tried the choke and plug deal.


charles

[richidoo]

I treated myself to a Leica D2 laser measuring tool year and being able to get all distances exactly the same makes more improvement that I thought possible.

Yay!  I have found the same, Mike.  What is also cool is you can measure every part of the speaker to some point.  If you level your speakers, then measure again, you'll see the difference and can adjust.  It is a methodical and fairly annoying task but when I do everything, I'm rarely disappointed.

OH, and as to tweaks, removing the covers of tube equipment seems to improve things in my system.  I like the sound of my preamp without a cover more than with... less ringy I guess.

Leica releasing their first "consumer oriented" laser measurement tool soon, called Disto D510. It will communicate by bluetooth to smart phone, allowing you to label accurate dimensions to a photo taken with the phone. Not on Amazon yet so I don't know the price. No reason to think it will be cheaper than the dumb Leicas, which are adequate for speaker setup.

http://www.elektor.com/news/laser-distance-meter-cooperates-with-smartphone.2400674.lynkx

http://ptd.leica-geosystems.com/en/Leica-DISTO-D510_102636.htm

The best part is how happy the man is in the promo video, and the cool music. I want to be that happy when I measure things.

[sleepyguy24]

Hi Charles

Is this what you mean by wrapping plumbers teflon tape around the blades of a plug.

http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/tweaks/messages/16/165450.html

Now for the plumbers tape around the fuse. Is it just around the glass or do I wrap the entire fuse with Teflon tape? Also which fuses did you wrap? Do I wrap the fuse near the power plug only or do I wrap the fuses on each channel of my Sumo Nine Amp? Did you wrap the fuses on your source equipment too?

Thanks and advise when you can.

  At a friends request wrapped the fuse with Teflon plumbers tape and compared to the Hi Fi tuning fuse. Save your money and wrap a fuse today.
   Remember wrapping the blades of the AC plug and pushing it back into the plug recco ? Wrapping da fuse is more affective. I'm laughing at the results cause it should make zero difference but it does. Try it and report back.


charles

[StereoNut]

  ...wrapping the blades of the AC plug and pushing it back into the plug recco...
charles

Dumb question...

What is it about the tape that changes things... is it "physical", because it packs itself into the small spaces at the base of the blades where they enter the plug itself and reduces vibrations of some sort... or is there something "electrical" about it?

Thanks!
SN

[rollo]

Not dumb at all .It appears it is a resonance thing.


charles

[rollo]

Hi Charles

Is this what you mean by wrapping plumbers teflon tape around the blades of a plug.

http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/tweaks/messages/16/165450.html

Now for the plumbers tape around the fuse. Is it just around the glass or do I wrap the entire fuse with Teflon tape? Also which fuses did you wrap? Do I wrap the fuse near the power plug only or do I wrap the fuses on each channel of my Sumo Nine Amp? Did you wrap the fuses on your source equipment too?

Thanks and advise when you can.

  At a friends request wrapped the fuse with Teflon plumbers tape and compared to the Hi Fi tuning fuse. Save your money and wrap a fuse today.
   Remember wrapping the blades of the AC plug and pushing it back into the plug recco ? Wrapping da fuse is more affective. I'm laughing at the results cause it should make zero difference but it does. Try it and report back.


charles

    Wrapped every dam fuse in the system. Now for plugs if there is room to stuff it in stuff it in. I would try my source PC first. If you hear an improvement go forward with the rest.
   


charles

[BobM]

On the subject of covers ... I for one don;t want anything falling into my components, so I leave the covers on. However I have found it helpful to run a strip of black electrical tape on the inside surface where the cover rests. It does dampen it a bit and the screws continue to offer grounding. Then there's various forms of iso damp sticky stuff to be applied to the inside of the lid if needed.

[sleepyguy24]

Hi Bob

That is interesting about the cover. What is your take on this idea? Have you ever put Dynamat or vibration reducing liner for computers in the inside of a tube cage? Attached is my picture of my tube cage. I was thinking about lining up the insides front and sides of the cage with the extra stuff I have.

Thanks

[BobM]

Well, in my opinion, tubes get hot and throw off heat - in an upwards direction. I wouldn't suggest putting anything above them. Let the chassis design vent that heat as it was designed. Now, on the chassis below them is a different story, especially if it is a cheap and thin metal plate.

[rollo]

On the subject of covers ... I for one don;t want anything falling into my components, so I leave the covers on. However I have found it helpful to run a strip of black electrical tape on the inside surface where the cover rests. It does dampen it a bit and the screws continue to offer grounding. Then there's various forms of iso damp sticky stuff to be applied to the inside of the lid if needed.

     Can understand however one can cover with a cloth of some kind when listening is over.
   So far the most affective material used for damping the top cover is lining the perimeter of the top plate with thin Balsa wood. Try it and report back.


charles