Re: Cheap Tweaks ($100.00 or less)

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #60 on:** 16 Jan 2008, 07:52 am »

Quote from: saisunil on 15 Jan 2008, 09:02 pm

Waipuna sound Myrtlefeet
$39 for three feet (for one component) - shipped!
There is January sale going on for $35 shipped
http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?accstwek&1205013996

This is wholesale price - once he gets dealers it is going to double!

I bought 4 sets.

Works great

Thanks for the tip....just put my order in to give them a try....

ZLS · « **Reply #61 on:** 16 Jan 2008, 01:21 pm »

I also ordered a set of the myrtle blocks. The guys from Waipuna must be trying to figure what going on!

saisunil · « **Reply #62 on:** 16 Jan 2008, 03:21 pm »

Make sure when you order it - ask him to send it to you without the felt at the bottom. In other words you do not want the felt glued at the bottom. The felt at the bottom takes away dynamics. Just like you say "sauce on the side" - you may sau "felt" on the side - that way you can try it with or without - without having to glue / remove it.

I had to remove the felt - which took quite some time and energy.

Enjoy!

PS: The felt was put to provide protection for the shelf for those who need - it is actually sonically not good.

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #63 on:** 17 Jan 2008, 06:04 am »

Quote from: saisunil on 16 Jan 2008, 03:21 pm

Make sure when you order it - ask him to send it to you without the felt at the bottom. In other words you do not want the felt glued at the bottom. The felt at the bottom takes away dynamics. Just like you say "sauce on the side" - you may sau "felt" on the side - that way you can try it with or without - without having to glue / remove it.

I had to remove the felt - which took quite some time and energy.

Enjoy!

PS: The felt was put to provide protection for the shelf for those who need - it is actually sonically not good.

Thanks for the info.....done.

doak · « **Reply #64 on:** 21 Jan 2008, 06:27 pm »

Quote from: jimdgoulding on 4 Oct 2007, 01:39 am

Make an appointment at you general practitioner el doctor and have your ears irrigated. No joke. See if he thinks your wax build up is normal. Go home and hear how much high frequency information you have been missing.

I have my ENT MD do this yearly and agree it's one of the best "tweaks" one can do - essential "equipment" maintenance.

doak · « **Reply #65 on:** 21 Jan 2008, 06:35 pm »

Quote from: saisunil on 26 Sep 2007, 04:40 pm

Sound Quest ISOL Pads $25 for 4. I use them under all components and cables. I have not heard bad thing about these isolation pads from anyone.

They are inexpensive, they are easy to use they are non directional and they simply do what they are supposed to do - isolate your component from the shelf using rubber cork rubber. Components do not slide or become unstable.

FYI: This is another PRIME example of audiophiles being DUPED and OVERCHARGED for a product readily available to the public at a far cheaper price. These are the EXACT SAME pads that are used to quiet A/C compressors and are sold at AC/Heating supply housess for a couple of bucks each.
Yes, there are MUCH worse examples of "audiophile" companies ripping people off, but a rip-off is STILL a rip-off.

Another recently noted example is the "VPI" turntable level (red triangle with two perpendicular bubble tubes) sold for $13 and also at HOme Depot for $4.
I know these are MINOR examples - "petty larceny" so to speak. There are IMNSHO plenty of cases of GRAND larceny being perpetrated, mostly in the realm of WIRE. Yes, I agree that wire makes a difference. What I DO NOT concur with is that very good sounding wire needs to cost a LOT of $$.
Yes, there certainly ARE expensive equipment items that well justify their cost. However I think many "would be audiophiles" and newbies are put off by the seeming INSANITY of pieces of wire that cost many hundreds if not thousands of dollars.

Just bought enough "White Lightning Moonshine" extention cord to bi-wire my speakers. We'll see how this experiment goes.

TerryO · « **Reply #66 on:** 21 Jan 2008, 07:38 pm »

Quote from: doak on 21 Jan 2008, 06:35 pm

Quote from: saisunil on 26 Sep 2007, 04:40 pm
Sound Quest ISOL Pads $25 for 4. I use them under all components and cables. I have not heard bad thing about these isolation pads from anyone.

They are inexpensive, they are easy to use they are non directional and they simply do what they are supposed to do - isolate your component from the shelf using rubber cork rubber. Components do not slide or become unstable.

FYI: This is another PRIME example of audiophile's being DUPED and OVERCHARGED for a product readily available to the public at a far cheaper price. These are the EXACT SAME pads that are used to quiet A/C compressors and are sold at AC/Heating supply housess for a couple of bucks each.
Yes, these are MUCH worse examples of "audiophile" companies ripping people off, but a rip-off is STILL a rip-off.

Mr Doak is correct. Here's an outfit that will sell you 4 pads for $6.00 (plus shipping). It's about a third of the way down the page, see if you can tell any difference from the picture aa

Anyhow, here tiz:
http://www.soundproofing.org/infopages/vibrationpads.htm

Best Regards,
"CheepTweek" TerryO

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #67 on:** 21 Jan 2008, 09:39 pm »

Terry at al, they are likely all the same.

I just happened to be looking at 'footers' the other day and noticed there is a new guy on the scene at Audiogon selling them cheaper now ($10/per 4)....http://buy.audiogon.com/cgia/cls.pl?accstwek&1205867259

So, at least it's moving in the right direction now

Frankly, our little hobby is so small there is little economy of scale to develop much for us specifically. So, much of what it out there in accessories and component parts began life as something else for something else.

John

doak · « **Reply #68 on:** 22 Jan 2008, 03:10 am »

Quote from: TerryO on 21 Jan 2008, 07:38 pm

Here's an outfit that will sell you 4 pads for $6.00 (plus shipping). It's about a third of the way down the page, see if you can tell any difference from the picture aa

Anyhow, here tiz:
http://www.soundproofing.org/infopages/vibrationpads.htm

Best Regards,
"CheepTweek" TerryO

Great site TerryO! Lots of neat and interesting stuff/info here. Lotsa possibilities and educational.
Thanks,
Doak

doak · « **Reply #69 on:** 23 Jan 2008, 12:11 am »

Well I did it,,, Built myself a set of WLM (White Lightning Moonshine) speaker cables.
I won't keep y'all in suspense -with only about 10 hours on them I can easily say: They are REALLY, REALLY good!

Since I needed a set of matching cables for my Emerald Physics CS2, I figured I'd start cheap and take things from there.
I did things a bit differently than the 6 Moons DIY article. #1) I don't use no STANKIN banana plugs - bare wire tinned with silver solder are my "terminations" except for unplated quarter inch push-on connectors attached directly to the HF compression driver. #2) I borrowed an idea from a HD-14 (the orange Home Depot wire) construction post I read and wrapped my two cables for each channel (the CS2's require bi-amping) with Teflon plumber's tape.

I'd been using combinations of wire I had around: Audioquest Type 6, Signal Cable Ultra, and Polk Cobra cable (triple run).
Just as I wanted to use identical top and bottom amplification on the CS2, I wanted to use identical speaker cable to keep everything singing in unison. This is one experiment that's worked out WAY beyond my expectations.

I did have to pay a bit more than I expected for these wires. The Walmart I went to only had the stuff as 20ft. extention cords priced at $7.86 each. Since I need 14ft. runs to each channel I had to buy 4 of them - nearly $32 worth! aa
I used about $5 of Teflon tape and splurged and bought a $4 pack of mutli-colored electrician's tape to pretty things up - total investment about $40 for a custom made, nice looking and GREAT sounding set of speaker cables for my bi-amped system.

With these in the system I feel I am truly hearing what the CS2's are capable of for the first time. I am literally Blown Away by what I am hearing. I see/hear NO reason to look further for speaker wire for this system - not anytime soon anyway. I'll turn my attention to other pursuits and listen to more records.

Doak

TomS · « **Reply #70 on:** 23 Jan 2008, 12:18 am »

Sounds like fun and yes, you should post pictures for us to see your creations

ohenry · « **Reply #71 on:** 23 Jan 2008, 12:26 am »

Quote from: doak on 23 Jan 2008, 12:11 am

...
With these in the system I feel I am truly hearing what the CS2's are capable of for the first time. I am literally Blown Away by what I am hearing. I see/hear NO reason to look further for speaker wire for this system - not anytime soon anyway. I'll turn my attention to other pursuits and listen to more records.

I can post/send pics if anyone is interested.

Doak

Good deal, I'm having great results as well.

doak · « **Reply #72 on:** 23 Jan 2008, 01:41 am »

Quote from: TomS on 23 Jan 2008, 12:18 am

Sounds like fun and yes, you should post pictures for us to see your creations

Have added pics to original my WLM post above.

ohenry · « **Reply #73 on:** 23 Jan 2008, 02:28 am »

Doak,
Your cables look good! I notice that you are using two wires for the (-) side and one wire for the (+). Intuitively, I thought this would be preferable. However, the six moons version uses two wires for the (+) and one for the (-). Does anyone have thoughts on why six moons configured their cable that way?

BTW, I have been using mine consistent with Doak's scheme, I haven't tried switching them because I'm happy.

doak · « **Reply #74 on:** 23 Jan 2008, 02:37 am »

Quote from: ohenry on 23 Jan 2008, 02:28 am

Doak,
Your cables look good! I notice that you are using two wires for the (-) side and one wire for the (+). Intuitively, I thought this would be preferable. However, the six moons version uses two wires for the (+) and one for the (-). Does anyone have thoughts on why six moons configured their cable that way?

BTW, I have been using mine consistent with Doak's scheme, I haven't tried switching them because I'm happy.

Hey,
I read posts from more than one person who said they definitely preferred the 1 wire +/ 2 wires - configuration... It would be easy enough to try it the other way around, but I'm not stopping the record player to try it.

zmanbands · « **Reply #75 on:** 23 Jan 2008, 05:38 pm »

Hi Doak. I suspect the soundproof pads are too stiff and not compressible enough for stereo components. They are rated at 50 lbs each, so with four, would work with a 200 pound component. I'm getting some anyway to compare with the mapleshade isoblocks I already have in my system. The mapleshade pads doubled stacked, are 25 lbs so each one is about 12.5 lbs. Will post when I get the soundproof pads.

doak · « **Reply #76 on:** 24 Jan 2008, 03:54 am »

Quote from: zmanbands on 23 Jan 2008, 05:38 pm

Hi Doak. I suspect the soundproof pads are too stiff and not compressible enough for stereo components. They are rated at 50 lbs each, so with four, would work with a 200 pound component. I'm getting some anyway to compare with the mapleshade isoblocks I already have in my system. The mapleshade pads doubled stacked, are 25 lbs so each one is about 12.5 lbs. Will post when I get the soundproof pads.

I am VERY interested in your findings. I have a LOT of respect for what Pierre Sprey of Mapleshade has done in the audio fled. I have purchased a number of his products including the Isoblocks - several years ago. I read his webpage about how he tweaked and designed them by ear to be most effective. I'm not sure what to think at this point. They sure LOOK like all the others. Maybe this is one time I won't mind being wrong.

saisunil · « **Reply #77 on:** 25 Jan 2008, 08:42 pm »

I think it should be alright if an audio dealer made $13 by selling 4 isolation pads to an audiophile. His time is worth something and they need to bring food on the table, pay bills, stay in business etc. etc. This device works and it does not cost you arm and leg.
There are many isolation devices out there that may or may not work in your system - it may make your system worse or change the tone etc. I have had isolation devices that were slippery. Still YMMV as they say

Peace!

mluckow · « **Reply #78 on:** 26 Jan 2008, 10:07 pm »

Quote from: ohenry on 15 Jan 2008, 07:20 pm

Woods clone...
In case someone is having trouble finding this wire, the Woods "Yard Master" cord is also being marketed as "Utilitech" now in stores. I found this at Lowes today and it's the same cord . . .

ohenry, thanks very much for this information. My local Walwart didn't carry the Woods brand, but I did find the Utilitech wire at my local Lowe's.

doak, thanks for posting your photo, too. I'll be building these for my Feastrex speakers, too.

Mike

mluckow · « **Reply #79 on:** 27 Jan 2008, 11:45 pm »

Well, I got the extension cord at Lowe's, but when I got home and looked at it carefully, I noticed that it's not distributed by Woods, it's distributed by some Chinese company and it says that it's made in China. I should have thought to check it in the store.

So, I guess that Ultitech decided to use wire made by another company instead. I have no idea if this wire would be as good as the original Woods stuff, so I guess I'll return it and keep looking.

Does anyone out there know where it might be available?

Thanks,

Mike