[gibheid]

I have Dan’s 'Full Monty' Signature Truth Mods for the Sony 999ES.  It's an unbelievably good-sounding machine which has laughed off all of my attempts to ‘improve’ it (vibration/isolation/resonance controls, Shakti Stones, etc.).  But I’m nothing if not persistent and I’m happy to report that my stubbornness has led me to discover that Herbie’s Grungebuster 2 CD Mat produces a very noticeable improvement in the sound of this unit.

It’s a little short-assed rubber hub that clings to the center of the CD.  The effect is to widen the soundstage dramatically and to give the listener the feeling of moving further forward in the concert hall (i.e. in my system it was like moving from row ‘H’ to row ‘A’ or ‘B’).  It also adds more definition to the illusion, with players seemingly more solid and ‘real’.

The price is a ridiculously cheap $7.95 plus 50 cents for a little clam-shell case and you can get it from:

http://herbiesaudiolab.home.att.net/cdmat.htm

It worked for me and it’s nearly free!

[DTB300]

I have Dan’s 'Full Monty' Signature Truth Mods for the Sony 999ES.  It's an unbelievably good-sounding machine which has laughed off all of my attempts to ‘improve’ it (vibration/isolation/resonance controls, Shakti Stones, etc.).  But I’m nothing if not persistent and I’m happy to report that my stubbornness has led me to discover that Herbie’s Grungebuster 2 CD Mat produces a very noticeable improvement in the sound of this unit. ...

So the Shakti on the unit did not make any noticable difference?  

On the other hand, I would whole-heartedly agree on the sonic benefits of the Grungebuster 2 CD Mat...A wonderful little tweak for any player.

Dan

[Bill Baker]

While I don't have my ModWright Denon 3910 yet, I do have the RAM CD25 that Dan designed for me some time ago. One of the best little tweaks I came across was the Eichman Toppers.
 These are resonance control devices that are placed atop the unit and made a noticable difference on this and most other players I tried them on.
 I also have them on my ModWright 9.0SE preamp with excellent results.

 I will have to try the Herbie CD mat as well as the turntable mat.

[ted_b]

I'm always open to new tweaks, if they work.  I own both the Modwright Platiunum hot-rodded 999Es and the max'd out SWL 9.0SE pre.  I use Herbie's tube dampers on each.  Robert Levi likes the 3D Seismic Sink isolation platform for the 999ES, and he emailed me that it's his only tweak that he thinks adds value sonically.  

My concern about the Grungebuster is this:  if you don't place the mat perfectly on the cd won't it throw off the balance...like a washing machine with laundry too much on one side.....and how does one put it on truly perfectly? Thanks,

[gibheid]

So the Shakti on the unit did not make any noticable difference?

Actually the Shakti Stones did make a difference, but in the wrong direction.  They made the sound more 'shut in'.  The soundstage became smaller and the music seemed constrained somehow.  It was as if everything became almost mono, with all sound events seemingly happening in the center of the soundstage.  I've used Shaktis for years and this was the first time they didn't improve things

[DTB300]

My concern about the Grungebuster is this:  if you don't place the mat perfectly on the cd won't it throw off the balance...like a washing machine with laundry too much on one side.....and how does one put it on truly perfectly? Thanks,

The first version of the Grungebuster was difficult to put on and try to get centered.  The new version is much easier to apply and get centered.  For the GB2, I apply mine while the CD is still in the case, using the center plastic part on the case to help center the GB2 on the CD.  Much easier than trying to apply while CD is in the CD player drawer.  

I have found it more important to get air bubbles out then trying to get it perfectly centered.  On my Sony 999ES I have not heard (spinning issues) or sound issues do to the GB2 not being perfectly centered.  

Dan

[fajimr]

IHerbie’s Grungebuster 2 CD Mat produces a very noticeable improvement in the sound of this unit.

It’s a little short-assed rubber hub that clings to the center of the CD. ...

I've heard good things about Herbie's mat and am wondering if the Grungebuster 2 (@7.95) works as well the the original (@24.95).  Any reason to spend the extra $$

[gibheid]

My concern about the Grungebuster is this:  if you don't place the mat perfectly on the cd won't it throw off the balance...like a washing machine with laundry too much on one side.....and how does one put it on truly perfectly? Thanks

Hi ted_b,

I must admit this crossed my mind too, but the wobble theory assumes that the disk is perfect to begin with. You have to believe that the hole is exactly in the center of a perfectly circular disk, and that the spindle of the CD player’s motor fits the hole so snugly that there's no room for 'play'.  It further assumes that the stamped pits of the CD are perfectly concentric with both the disk circumference and the center hole.  With store-bought CDs this is simply not the case.  They are manufactured to good tolerances certainly, but the fact that the pits of the disk are mechanically stamped onto a metal layer, which is then floated in a molten piece of plastic and then left to cool is enough to guarantee that you’re not dealing with absolutes.  It’s a sad fact of CD music reproduction that the weakest part of the whole chain is the disk itself.

I was one of those neurotics who trimmed their disks with a lathe to ensure perfect circularity (if that’s a word) and it’s really quite surprising how eccentric the shape of a store-bought CD is.  I remember when the first Apple iMacs came out they had a no-frills CD-ROM built into them.  A CD inserted into an early iMac and spun at super-high CD-ROM speeds would make my desk and floor vibrate because of the eccentricity of the disks!  This vibration was undetectable in a normal CD player at normal CD speeds, but the experience serves to illustrate that disks are not perfectly shaped.  

Circumcising CDs makes an improvement in overall musical presentation, but I found that I could get nearly the same level of improvement by simply blackening the edges of the disk, which—to my mind at least—ruled out minor wobble as a significant factor in signal degradation.  Anyway, trimming the edges of a CD merely ensures that the hole and the edge are concentric; it can do nothing to help if the pits are out of alignment with the center hole.  (As an aside, a disk trimmer will help with disks you burn for yourself.  If you circumcise the disk before you burn, you align the hole with the edge giving you a balanced disk, then when the burner spins the disk the laser and the hole are ‘synchronized’ so to speak.)  

I digress…

Herbie’s GB2 is “short-assed” as I said.  It is only 1.875" in diameter; 1/64” thick and weighs less than a gram.  The hole of the GB2 is about 0.5mm larger than the hole of the CD, so it’s really difficult to get it off-target.  Any wobble is apparently negligible and certainly has no deleterious effects that I can detect.  Hey! I’ve just found out that it’s great on DVDs too!  Go on man!  It’s only 8-bucks!

[gibheid]

I've heard good things about Herbie's mat and am wondering if the Grungebuster 2 (@7.95) works as well the the original (@24.95).  Any reason to spend the extra $$

Hi fajimr,

I tried the original mat and didn't like it.  It seemed to constrain the naturally occurring harmonics in the music and added 'rubbery' overtones.  It also kept getting stuck inside my machine, so it was seriously pissing me off by the time I discarded it!  In fact, I disliked his HAL-O tube damping rings for the same rubbery reasons.  I do use the HAL-O interconnect dampers, however.

Two out of four's not bad!

[djbnh]

I like the old Herbie's mat, it did make things a bit more detailed. However, I too had the mat stick in the machine a few times. Had to undo the ICs, take off the cover, etc. Bit of a pain.

[ted_b]

Hi ted_b,

I must admit this crossed my mind too, but the wobble theory assumes that the disk is perfect to begin with. You have to believe that the hole is exactly in the center of a perfectly circular disk, and that the spindle of the CD player’s motor fits the hole so snugly that there's no room for 'play'.  It further assumes that the stamped pits of the CD are perfectly concentric with both the disk circumference and the center hole.  With store-bought CDs this is simply not the case.  They are manuf ...

Good comeback.  I wil order one.  Did you say you don't like the Tube Dampers on the Modwright 999ES?

[gibheid]

Did you say you don't like the Tube Dampers on the Modwright 999ES?

Well it's funny you should mention that ted_b...

I've always been an admirer of Herbie and his products, but I've never really wholeheartedly liked them.  What I mean to say is here's a guy who has seen the need for specialist products that no-one ever realized they needed before!  He's researched them, tested them, sourced the parts and packaged them.  He sells them for very reasonable prices and offers a 90-day trial period, during which time he will give you a full refund if you don't like what you hear.  If you DO like what you hear, he will give you an unconditional lifetime warranty on everything he makes.

Now that’s service!  I’ve a lot of time for people who conduct their business so openly and fairly… it’s just unfortunate that I don’t really care for the sound.  In my system they seem to over-damp things, introducing a rubbery lifelessness especially to the higher registers.  However, because Herbie’s products are so honest and reasonably priced, and because I like the cut o’ his corporate jib, I’ve never taken him up on his 90-day money-back offer, so I’ve still got bits and pieces of his secreted away in drawers and cubby holes.  What better time to pull them out and re-evaluate them?!

With the HAL-O rings on the tubes of the 999ES the trebles seem choked.  The life, the atmosphere, the excitement, is drained from the recording.  Drums and cymbals in particular seem to suffer: where there was once a lively driving force, there is now a truncated unit, smaller in size and impact.  The rings can be slid up-and-down the tubes in an attempt to ‘tune’ them, but I can’t detect any drastic changes from doing that.

HOWEVER… for the first time I try the HAL-Os with the Grungebuster2 and I’m surprised and delighted to report that the two tweaks in tandem sound really quite good together!  The GB2 widens the soundstage and the HAL-Os deepen it.  There’s no trace of the deadening I heard before.  A perfect match… well I’ll be darned…

I knew there was virtue in being a pack rat!