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becoming an end unto itself. But can there be a happy medium? Is there such a
thing as tweaking in moderation?
Ah! Herein lies the dilemma!
So how do you know when you are obsessively tweaking rather than 
constructively
tweaking? Ask yourself these questions:
  * Have you ever (a) gotten into a verbal altercation; (b) physical
    altercation; (c) arrested; or (d) divorced, over tweaking your stereo?
  * Have you ever lost sleep over (a) the way your system sounds to you; (b)
    the way your system sounds to someone else; or (c) the way you wish your
    system sounded?
  * Do you ever (a) buy; (b) listen to; or (c) claim to like The Weavers at
    Carnegie Hall or any Amanda McBroom recordings?
  * Do you listen to the same (a) track; (b) part of a track less than its
    entirety but more than one minute; or (c). part of a track less than one
    minute, repeatedly in order to "evaluate" something/anything in the 
system?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are a potentially 
bsessive
tweaker. I speak from experience. I can answer yes to all but question 3 
(thank
God!).
I have explored tweaks ranging from the mundane and harmless, to the extreme
and irreversible and am here to report that there are indeed good--almost
necessary--tweaks.
The tweaks that work, and are probably justifiable, are almost invariably,
simple, straightforward, and intuitively sensible. The price is relatively
minor in all cases that I will report, and they do make significant sonic
differences! (note: I use the term differences rather than improvements
purposely. Ultimately, you have to apply your own subjective judgmental 
owers
to figure out what it is you like and dislike).
The most single important and necessary tweak, the ONE that absolutely must 
e
done, is the one that often is not!
No secret here folks! It is relative room placement of the speakers to the
listening position.
Hey, it is incredibly easy to change the way your system sounds; just start
moving it around. Forget throwing hundreds or thousands of dollars into room
treatments. Just start by moving closer to your speakers.
As a generalization, to improve your system, keep speakers away from room
boundaries and move your listening position closer to the speakers. *
Another easy way to open up a system is to orient it along the long wall of 
the
room. It never ceases to amaze me that when given a choice, many 
audiophiles"
stuff their expensive system at the end of the "bowling ally" in rectangular
rooms. Then they have the audacity to claim superlative imaging (they usually
gush on about the immense depth...sure, that is because there is absolutely 
o
width). Personally, I think it is more satisfying to have speakers disappear 
in
the room with lateral instrument placement appearing outside the physical
constraints of the boxes than to hear the vocalist "on the other side of the
back wall. To have both is wonderful, but you rarely achieve it on the short
wall, often on the long.
Isolation. Yes, isolation is a good thing. Bottom-line: Pucks are a lot of
money for what they do. Instead, go buy some racquet balls, neatly slice them
in half (follow the seem with a sharp razor-blade repeatedly until it splits)
and viola! You now have amazingly good isolation for components (use as many 
as
necessary depending on weight), they look cool, and, you spent less than two
bucks!)
Contact (e.g., jacks and speaker binding posts) cleaners and treatments: yes 
to
the former, no to the latter, case closed.
Green "CD" paint: laugh all you want but it works, and it is cost-effective.
Freezing your CDs: Anyone who plays with liquid nitrogen at home is beyond 
he
tweaking phase of their career.
CD mats: they definitely work, but many transports refuse to operate with 
them.
CD rings: skip them and buy some green paint instead, or a mat.
Tonearm wraps: sure, they work noticeably well, but keep in mind that they 
re
generally ugly, difficult to apply, and they change the mass of your arm
significantly.
CD lens cleaners: What are you, crazy?
 >>> Continued to next message...
--- S. Arizona Stick Lizard Country
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