Thanks for that. Quite an extensive housecleaning though that may not be the best word for it. Still have the same interconnects? Was the tweak removal largely all at once or gradual step by step? If the latter, was there any special revelation along the way?
Tim, those are interesting questions and I will try to answer them as best I can. It will be good to get my thoughts down in writing.
First, I am currently using Burley Wire ICs and speaker cables, stock SME phono cables. I still have the Transparent cables and once things settle, I will get another, and perhaps more accurate, idea of what they contribute to the sound. I also tried a Zenwave IC and a power cable in the system last Summer. The cable experiments have occurred during the last year or so.
The Burley are basic cables made by a guy who works for Pass Labs. They are well made, very inexpensive, and seem to do no harm, at least in my system. In some other local systems they have not sounded as neutral. Don't know why. I like them because they are cheap and sound natural in this setting. They get the job done without adding much or anything. With the more recent changes, things are easy to hear, so the Burley may in fact be doing a good job.
Regarding the tweak removals: They were done fairly quickly over about a week long period, before the introduction of the armpod and 3012R. They were done in the following order, as far as I can remember. I listened to each for about a day (3-4 hours in the afternoon/evening) before the next removal.
1. Removal of the five Townshend Seismic Sinks from under front end components. (Phono stage, Preamp, two power supplies, Transparent power distribution box)
2. Deflation of the three Vibraplanes
3. Replace stock Pass and SME power cords with three Ching Cheng power cords
4. Removal of 2 Acoustic Revive dispersion panels
5. Removal of 4 Tube Traps
6. Removal of 2 furniture blankets
7. Addition of small oak blocks under each rack component's stock rubber footers
8. Removal of the Transparent power box
9. Addition of small oak blocks under the massive steel deflated Vibraplane/turntable assembly.
Here is what I just sent someone in a private response after he asked me about the oak footers. He wants to try them and compare to another well known very expensive audiophile brand of footers.
"I read his (ddk's) thoughts about Panzerholz and pneumatic isolation on Tango's thread and then the tweak and Panzerholz threads. I decided to remove completely my five (5) Townshend Seismic Sink air isolation platforms from my rack. David suggested in the threads that air, like plywood, robs the sound of harmonics. He was right. This is what I heard. I then decided to deflate the three (3) Vibraplanes. Same effect. More harmonics returned. But, David then told me that my birch plywood shelves in my DIY rack were robbing the sound too and that the components with their rubber footers needed to be on steel or some hardwood like oak. I had some leftover oak flooring boards from our kitchen, so I cut them into 2" x 2" x 3/4" blocks and put them under all components. Don't know if it made a difference, but perhaps slight. They are under the stock rubber footers, not the chassis.
Last night I also placed some oak under the deflated Vibraplane to get that 450 lbs mass (including turntable) off of the Vibraplane's three rubber deflated footers/bladders. That mass of steel now rests on four oak footers and that too helped solidify the sound. No harm it trying this but don't spend a lot of money."
To answer you question more precisely, I think the biggest revelations came from removing the pneumatic isolation from the system, and removing the acoustic treatments from the room. They both robbed the system of life, even though they did do some things like make the bass more contrasty and images more stark. The energy from instruments and voices, in the form of harmonics, had been reduced, but this came with what I thought was more focus and contrast. I am now starting to realize that real music is not like that. It is more dimensional, more alive, less black and white. More nuanced.
Real music is clear and clean, but not stripped of information to increase contrast and vividness.
Now harmonics are more evident. The room is more filled with sound, inner detail is more clean. Resolution is improved. Timbre is more accurate. Bass is more articulate and nuanced. Voices are more present. Again, this was before the armpod and 3012R, but the addition of those moved the sound even further in this direction.
The oak blocks, Ching Cheng PCs were relatively minor, but I had already been using the Pass stock cords, and they are made by Ching Cheng too. And the oak footers were after the air platforms were already removed. I think the Transparent power box was fairly benign, actually, but I like the freed up rack space.
Now, the system is in a rather "raw" or original state. I'm hearing what the components are actually doing. I'm loving what I'm hearing. Small changes in arm set up and speaker position are now more easily identified. Speakers and tonearm are nearly set now. I plan to live with the sound for a while and listen to my record collection as a appreciate the new sound.
I hope this does not come across as hyperbolic and lacking introspection, but it is difficult to be both deliberate and reasoned while trying to contain my enthusiasm.
