We all do it. So what is your favorite and most affective tweak and why.
rollo
My favorite tweak has to be my custom Daruma type ball bearing isolation footers. These made a huge improvement the soundstage height, width and depth when placed under my DVD player. The bass and treble
frequency extension and resolution were also improved. This type of isolation was also built into my loudspeakers by the manufacturer and the same improvements in bass and treble extension and resolution are present.
Other tweaks I use include after market AC outlets, slave inductors in parallel with the power amp and front end as well as tiptoes,ERS paper,maple butcher blocks,HVAC rubber/cork vibration isolators,Caig ProGold,Nordost ECO III and Windex.
Scotty
Cleaning my connections. It's basically free but for time invested and makes a big difference.
Also, lapping and polishing AC cord prongs to avoid micro-arcing. This assumes strong, tight polished jaws in the receptacles also.
Bryan
My fav tweak is cleaning my ears and going to bed early the night before I plan to listen. Drinking water before and during listening. My brain is the most important component in my system, and needs all the help it can get.
A small folded blanket hanging over the leather couch stops reflections. Listening at night when AC and house are dead quiet. Turning off the fridge.
I have some new Herbies dampers on my pre thanks to mdconnelly, they seem to work pretty good!
Sorry, but gotta mention 2 tweaks:
1) Walker SST (http://www.walkeraudio.com/sst1.htm) - works wonders with my gear. (Haven't tried the Extreme version.) Brought improvements in all applications including PC / IEC prongs, RCAs and RCA plugs, speaker cables and amp terminals, internal speaker wiring connections, tube pins, and TT cartridge pins. EDIT: Seems to simply let more of the music flow through one's system. Effect seems to build, the more components/connections that are treated. Wicked nice on the cartridge pins. Improvements per component or connection treated range from not-so-subtle to "OMG!"
2) IsoTek System Enhancer CD (http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/isotek/cd.html) - works exactly as advertised. Bye-bye long burn-in times. Also, only takes about 5 minutes for a system, once optimized, to be brought back to that level. Brought noticeable improvement in system components that had been used for numerous (X,000) hours and I felt were well "burnt-in". Well worth the $33 price tag.
No affiliation with any of the above vendors. YMMV.
Edit: added info to SST.
I agree with Rich. Gotta take care of yourself first. So, my favorite tweak is to exercise, eat a good meal, get a cup of hot tea and maybe a cat on the lap (depends on whether the feline likes the particular music). Makes for great listening. Speaking of felines, both our cats hate the Isotek martian popcorn music burn in stuff. It gets into their little brains.
On the more traditional type of tweak, Alan Maher's power enhancers helped my system beyond the modest investment.
Quote from: Phil on December 01, 2007, 01:00:34 PM
Speaking of felines, both our cats hate the Isotek martian popcorn music burn in stuff. It gets into their little brains.
My cat is denied entrance into the listening room. I dislike feline fur in audio gear. :-P
Phil, I also have had positive results using a cat on the lap for a tweak.(http://www.audiocircle.com/gallery/albums/userpics/53827/Teton_GS_HT_with_MaineCoon_active_mass_dampening_option.jpg)
I can see the potential problem with cat hair and fan cooled equipment however.
Scotty
Scotty,
What a beautiful beast! And I can see that you, being a true audiophile, have tried the cat tweak on speakers as well as the lap. That tweak didn't work very well for me. One of our critters would do what we called "the waterfall." This was a feline-directed tweak that consisted of disgorging hairballs, with dinner, along the length of the speaker's grill. It didn't adversely affect the HF but made the mids muddy. YMMV, of course.
Of course the cat tweak should be tried around the shoulders too (especially in winter). This one is great if the HF needs a bit of damping.
Phil
Putting my speakers on custom stands that have casters under'm. I can play with speaker positioning on a daily basis, easily simulating a box swap. Soothes the itch for a while.
cheers ww