What are the best tweaks in your experience?

[henrich3]

My two best "tweaks" were installing acoustic panels at first reflection points and getting an OmniMic to measure my system's frequency response. (Yes, there's more to measurements than just frequency response, but that one measurement will reveal a lot about acoustic problems that should be addressed.)

 

[sbnx]

While I don't claim that my system is "truly aligned", I have worked on my set-up and room acoustics for years, to tremendous effect. Five years ago I never would have dreamed of the performance that my main components were in fact capable of.

It is my suspicion that most people switch gear too quickly without putting time and effort into optimizing what they already have, and without even remotely knowing at what level their existing gear really can perform.

Al, I agree. Not to say someone could not get everything optimized if they put in a lot of time and effort and have the ear to hear the differences each little shift makes.

 

[Lee]

My two best "tweaks" were installing acoustic panels at first reflection points and getting an OmniMic to measure my system's frequency response. (Yes, there's more to measurements than just frequency response, but that one measurement will reveal a lot about acoustic problems that should be addressed.)

Great reply. I also had great luck with panels at the first reflection points.

 

[sbnx]

I realize this thread is about tweaks and we have discussed speaker placement. So I am going to call this tweaky speaker placement and is what Elliot and me are referring to. Here is the thing. To most people speaker placement involves moving the speaker(s) in increments that are in reality quite large. e.g.. 1/8 inch is about a mile in terms of sonics. Of course one starts out with bigger movements in the range of inches, 1/2 inches, 1/4 inches, 1/8 inches to find the "best" position in X and Y. But then a point is reached where fine adjustments in X or Y can not even be seen. (By this I mean you can't physically observe the speaker move). in adjusting Rake and Azimuth I can hear clearly audible changes of 0.002 degrees. This is the "pointy end of the stick". This is where the speakers get really dialed in and dynamics, timing and expression come forth. Although these changes are audible they can't really be measured. I have tried using REW. The changes in any of the available data is so subtle that it is unclear which graph to try and correlate.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

so are we certifying set-up guys?

or talking about tweaks as Lee laid out?

acoustics, power and signal cables, and vinyl playback accessories might be said to be tweaks, but are separate categories. and we all already have to have these things.

but what don't we have to have?

tweaks.

i would define tweaks as non acoustical, non signal cable, non vinyl tweak products which improve music reproduction performance. resonance control, power grid enhancements, grounding products, mysterious electronic enhancers, control adjustments of cable layout, stand alone FR changers (not wall attached).

is an RTA or other measurement device a tweak? no. it's just a tool to measure. you never 'hear' it.

 

[sbnx]

Everything matters. Just the impact of some things is bigger than others.

But the point of Eliot's and my posts is that unless you have your system optimized at a pretty high level there won't be much of an audible difference between A and B tweak. The more you move the system to the "pointy end" the more everything one changes starts to stand out as a change in sound.

 

[sbnx]

Here is another tweak. Different shelf materials that you put the gear on sounds different. Stainless Steel, Aluminum, Granite, Corian, Glass, MDF, Solid Maple, Bamboo, Carbon fiber, Acrylic, PEEK ...

I am currently using a product called Accouplex which is a PEEK doped acrylic.

 

[jep123]

I have an acoustically well treated dedicated listening room and the speakers placed where they sound their best. I have used almost all « tweaks» thinkable from power conditioners, cable lifters, footers, spikes, high end racks, etc etc. And very expensive cables.

Now I am listening in the same room with zero tweaks. Nothing. And cheap cables like Mogami, Belden etc. Nothing fancy. One can live perfectly happy without all the woodoo and hype that goes with all tweaks. A good room and proper speaker positioning is by FAR the most important things in order to have a good sounding system.I tend to laugh about the claims made by the manufacturers of tweaks and certain cable manufacturers. And from reading some reviews….

I have been in this hobby for more than 40 years and I know what I am listening to and what I am hearing. And know when it sounds right, to my ears.

 

[facten]

Footers - Neodio B1s & the new version B2s ( In my systems the SQ benefits were placing them under equipment. I didn't hear any SQ benefits using them on top of equipment or speakers , or in front of speakers which differs from Roy's review and also Neodio's website. YMMV). Size of the equipment and the rack come into play as to whether or not the Neodio's can be used under equipment due to how they have to be placed. I can't use them with my preamp and power amp because of that; I do use them with my integrated amps , and with the DAC in my 2nd system

AC filters - Puron, & Shunyata Venom Defender. Didn't hear any SQ difference using Furutech Clear Line

LessLoss Firewalls for Speakers

Cable lifters - homemade wooden for speaker cables

1st 3 had more of a SQ beneficial impact than the cable lifters.

 

[Elliot G.]

no Mike not ceritifying anyone. However speaker positioning and where you sit are the most significant tweeks and cost nothing , of course I am but a Tradesman with no qualifications who can't certify his work. I did stay at a holiday inn last week!
Have a good weekend all I am going to try to certify my golf game.

 

[PYP]

I have an acoustically well treated dedicated listening room and the speakers placed where they sound their best. I have used almost all « tweaks» thinkable from power conditioners, cable lifters, footers, spikes, high end racks, etc etc. And very expensive cables.

Now I am listening in the same room with zero tweaks. Nothing. And cheap cables like Mogami, Belden etc. Nothing fancy. One can live perfectly happy without all the woodoo and hype that goes with all tweaks. A good room and proper speaker positioning is by FAR the most important things in order to have a good sounding system.I tend to laugh about the claims made by the manufacturers of tweaks and certain cable manufacturers. And from reading some reviews….

I have been in this hobby for more than 40 years and I know what I am listening to and what I am hearing. And know when it sounds right, to my ears.

Completely agree that how the speakers fit the room and are positioned is mostly what you hear.

I too have removed all the tweaks I had (well, not the bamboo chopsticks to hold up the ICs, but that is to keep pressure off the connectors). Many years ago, when I was at my most tweaky, I found that I was listening to favorite songs or albums just to hear the differences made by tweaks (and in some cases gear). Ultimately, that didn't make me happy at all, even though I could tell you that a given vocalist had smoked a cig twenty minutes before sitting in front of the microphone - yes, could tell she wasn't standing. And that she had a lemon, not cherry, lozenge before singing. Once I re-discovered the joy of listening to music, my approach changed completely.

 

[dbeau]

You might be surprised. You can still optimize the system within the constraints that you have. (Unless you are saying that the speakers have to be pushed against the wall). If you have/allow 2-3 feet from the front wall that is usually enough space to get the system sounding good. Not the best you could achieve in the room if there was no restriction but still quite good.

Agreed and thank you.
WA X1 fronts are ~ 4' from wall and that's within inches of max to allow traverse space between areas.
I am not against tweaks as I have plenty but just commenting on why reluctant to bring in professional.
I have seriously thought about it and have talked with Trayl and Smith - very open and helpful men.

 

[Alrainbow]

A famous boxer had a fitting comment
everyone has a plan until they get hit
Elliot has I feel an on point view. but few follow myself included.
very few get above 50% of what there systems can reproduce
a plan in its first step is to not just buy but have some guidance what may work In a given room.
knowing what it’s supposed to be or sound is next if not we wonder around fixing last weeks mistrals with new ones.

 

[hopkins]

Best audio tweak according to Audioholics

Otherwise i’ll agree that speaker placement and acoustics are on the top of the list.
Well designed equipment should not really require any tweaking.

 

[Carlos269]

no Mike not ceritifying anyone. However speaker positioning and where you sit are the most significant tweeks and cost nothing , of course I am but a Tradesman with no qualifications who can't certify his work. I did stay at a holiday inn last week!
Have a good weekend all I am going to try to certify my golf game.

Elliot, you obviously missed the point of my post and took offense to the misinterpretation; so let me break it down for you:

I will not repeat what I have already stated many times on this and other forums but in summary the matter of “sound quality” is a very complex and personal one for a number of technical reasons

To begin the speaker/room interaction is not isolated to the speaker and the room; it is a convolution of the source material spectral content, upstream equipment transfer functions, and the speakers’ frequency response and polar radiation pattern. This is why engineered rooms do not live up to expectations as there is no room-Acoustics one-size fits all.

Second we all have an individual head-related transfer function (HRTF) which means that what we hear is not exactly the same under the same conditions. Add to this the Fletcher-Munson contours for the human ear and pretty soon you realize that something as simple turning the volume knob up or down will affect the excitations not only of the room but also of your ears.

When I asked how do you and the other set-up man certify your set-up, I ask because I am curious to see how the execution and target goal is defined. If the only criteria is that it “sound good”, my next questions is to whom? And what will happen when there is a change of component in the system? Will the set-up expert need to come back after every change?

I know that some are guided by measurements but measurements alone do not provide all the insight necessary as microphones do not hear sound like our ears. Our auditory system is more complex than a diaphragm generating an electrical signal. To take full advantage of measurements you require the accompanying knowledge of Psychoacoustics to correctly interpret and make good use of the measurements. The response of a calibrated microphone captures raw sound the issue is not with the capture of the telemetry but with the interpretation of the graphical data as it relates to “sound quality”.

Next let’s talk about room correction, this is a dynamic way to solve acoustic issues and while it is a valid approach, it overlooks the fact that the human brain is the world’s best room correction device ever invented, able to arbitrate complex room interactions that the software developers have yet even began to implement. If you listen in a near-field arrangement and listen to the on-axis direct sound field, your brain corrects for reflections and other room anomalies, short of rattles and other course sound irregularities. The ears-brain cognitive function should not be underestimated and underutilized.

Others mentioned eliminating or attenuating, through absorbers, diffusers, or diffraction, the point of first reflection, which is interesting to me as how is this exact location determined by these individuals as it is a function of frequency and varies depending on the wavelengths. Furthermore not all first reflections are unwanted; for instance, first reflections which follow the direct sound between ~ 5 and 15ms contribute to a feeling of intimacy.

And to Lee, your answer is wrong, it is not “experience” one wants in a competent person, the correct answer is “knowledge”.

At times I do feel like a man playing among kids on this forum but someone has to keep the ignorant, the equipment peddlers, and the big yellow bus chasers honest.

 

[Cellcbern]

The answer is experience.

Jim and Stirling have done meticulous setups of thousands of high end stereo systems in a methodical way. Most audiophiles can't duplicate that level of experience.

On the other hand there isn't as much learning/experience on your part when you hire someone else to do the experimenting for you.

 

[Hear Here]

In fact and with my personal experience I don't understand why more people will not hire someone to do this for them especially if they dont have experience or don't know how to do it. It is the MOST underrated, not talked about and understood part of audio and IMO the most important part of getting an audio system to sound good. Tryng to put a "gizmo" in a system to fix whats wrong makes absolutely no sense to me.

I completely agree that proper setting up of speakers is of paramount importance. Who did you get to set up your speakers? Unfotunately I know of no one in the UK capable of this job. The US has Jim Smith of course.

 

[Cellcbern]

Hey friends,

Was wondering what tweaks or devices you have inm your system that have made a sound quality difference for you? I am curious more along the lines of accessories like footers, grounding devices, various noise reduction devices, special racks, sound filters, room treatments, power distributors, etc.

If you accept that noise/distortion of different types masques the musical signal then you have to "tweak" to address power purity, mechanical vibration, and room acoustical anomalies. In my system: Pendulum based (Wellflloat platform) and air suspension (Townshend Seismic Sink) isolation paired with resonance dissipation/tuning feet (ASI Top Line and Dalby Lignum Vitae) have made dramatic improvements in sound quality. Note that the Dalby footers are the best sounding I've ever encountered at any price. Customized Marigo Mystery Feet work well on my amp which has integral spiked legs. Isoacoustics Gaia footers in place of spikes on my speaker outriggers also made a clear improvement. Stumbling on/testing/replacing some (resource limitations) of my absorbers and bass traps with the unique DHDI ZR Acoustics panels also made a dramatic improvement. Strategic deployment of the tiny ASI "Sugar Cubes" helps fine tune room acoustics. A range of power purifying and noise reduction tweaks - dedicated line and breaker box, Bybee Stealth power conditioner, grounding boxes, Lessloss Firewall 640X, Puron, Nordost, and Furutech plug-ins, Quantum Resonance Noise Disruptors, Shakti ("Air") Stones, Bybee IQSE's and Quantum Clarifiers, etc. have together effectively banished AC and signal noise. Inexpensive grounding devices and cables (Puritan Groundmaster City with Russ Andrews cables for chassis and signal grounding) have provided enough of a benefit that I haven't yet been tempted to add more expensive grounding boxes. Not sure speaker positioning should be considered a "tweak" but I did experiment with and adjust speaker position over many months until I reached a point where further adjustment netted no gains. While optimal use of the ZR Acoustics panels requires the speakers to be very close to them (within inches), there was still considerable experimentation required with distance from side walls and toe-in. It was also a subtle improvement to change the speaker rake angle (tilted up at the front by 1/2"). Happy to share specifics on any of these if you are interested.

 

[GertSterlingSilver]

Really dialing in the position of your on-ear hearphones or IEM's,

 

[Alrainbow]

Really dialing in the position of your on-ear hearphones or IEM's,

we all need these as tools I’ve done this for years but mostly get shouted at