Cheap/Free Tweaks ($10.00 or less)

Scott F. · « **Reply #20 on:** 21 Jan 2007, 02:40 am »

I realize this is about twice the $10 budget but Parts Express used to sell these speaker spikes in packs of 4 for $19. Unfortunately the guy I found carrying these is charging $12 each for them

I use the heck out of these. They go under my CD player, one of my turntables, under preamps, amps, whatever you want to couple and drain vibrations. I've turned on several people to these and they use them under their turntables and love them.

Hey, and don't forget Vibrapods. They work great under equipment too.

BubbleChamber · « **Reply #21 on:** 21 Jan 2007, 02:52 am »

Quote from: Scott F. on 21 Jan 2007, 02:40 am

I realize this is about twice the $10 budget but Parts Express used to sell these speaker spikes in packs of 4 for $19. Unfortunately the guy I found carrying these is charging $12 each for them

I use the heck out of these. They go under my CD player, one of my turntables, under preamps, amps, whatever you want to couple and drain vibrations. I've turned on several people to these and they use them under their turntables and love them.

Hey, and don't forget Vibrapods. They work great under equipment too.

I used these extensively too and I bought them from www.supercellaudio.com for $3.50 - $3.85 each. Very nice customer service. I have a question on the screw and thread size of the spikes and they mailed me samples of the screws free of charge, and gave me a discount on my order without me asking.

BoemPaukeslag · « **Reply #22 on:** 22 Jan 2007, 11:35 pm »

For turntable lovers, the mat is the returning tweak, and they come in extraordinary prices. But the cheapest method worked best for me:
(self-adhesive) felt pads, the ones that you can glue under your chair! Just glue them on the platter, preferably in a way that looks geometrically intriguing. Do not fill more than, say 50% of the surface, to keep your records decoupled and Hurray! inproved PRAT! True!

Doublej · « **Reply #23 on:** 23 Jan 2007, 12:42 am »

My two favorites.

1. P&S 5252 outlets
2. The use of aluminum foil to eliminate static charge from CDs. Take a piece of aluminum foil and fold it in half like a book. Open it, place CD on the foil, close it, and run your hand over the CD. Then play your CD.

Brad · « **Reply #24 on:** 23 Jan 2007, 12:47 am »

Quote from: Joules on 16 Jan 2007, 07:25 pm

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=92557
large speaker/equipment feet - solid brass too

Is the top of this threaded or did you just place the equipment on top?
Both my integrated and my turntable have threaded feet - would be nice to thread the brass cone directly into the component.

Brad · « **Reply #25 on:** 23 Jan 2007, 12:49 am »

Never mind - just looked a little more closely at the picture.
It looks like the insert that the string attaches to threads into the weight.....

TjMV3 · « **Reply #26 on:** 23 Jan 2007, 02:12 pm »

Neoprene Mouse Pads under the feet of your CD Player and Pre Amp. Cheap and effective vibration control.

enjoythemusic · « **Reply #27 on:** 29 Jan 2007, 09:05 pm »

Remove ALL connectors you can.

This includes male/female RCA connectors, loudspeaker terminals, loudspeaker binding posts, etc. All you need is a soldering gun and solder. Imagine the benefits of removing a few or more of noise, the possibility of insertion loss, etc. PER EACH CONNECTOR and the benefits thereof

FYI: the RCA is perhaps one of the worst connectors... ever! (imo)

Yes i am serious... and perhaps have been spending too much time sniffing synthetic racecar fluids, 101LL gas, brake cleaner... and many hours talking to aerospace engineers while setting up my new car's data acquisition system and electricals.

The fewer the connectors the better! The more solid/gas tight each connection is the better. Use a multi-ton press (cheap from Harbor Freight) to 'crimp' wire so the metals crush into one another to the point that no air pockets are present and said connection can easily withstand incredibly harsh environments including aggressive chemicals, harsh vibrations and temperature extremes.

miklorsmith · « **Reply #28 on:** 29 Jan 2007, 09:08 pm »

I got some really cheap, plastic adhesive hooks and stuck them to the back of my rack. I use them to keep the power and signal cables separated.

miklorsmith · « **Reply #29 on:** 6 Feb 2007, 07:17 pm »

On carpet, get casters for your rack and let them roll on ceramic tiles from the hardware store at about a buck a piece. I can roll my rack up against the wall and back out to get to the rat's nest.

Here's a tweak that I KNOW works.

PhilNYC · « **Reply #30 on:** 16 Feb 2007, 12:49 pm »

Neoprene/cork pads for vibration control (similar to those from MapleShade).

$3/pair from Grainger (Grainger only sells to businesses)...

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/wwg/itemDetailsRender.shtml?ItemId=1611629511

marvda1 · « **Reply #31 on:** 16 Feb 2007, 02:50 pm »

but mapleshade and one other seller claim they designed these! aa
i have a local electrical supply store that sell the 4x4 in. ones for $3.91 each.

miklorsmith · « **Reply #32 on:** 16 Feb 2007, 03:21 pm »

Blu-Tack or Plasti-Clay shoved into the gaps underneath a cheap, plastic CDP tray makes the mechanism feel 10x more solid and damps the tray considerably. Just make sure you don't put in so much that it interferes with the slider. There are little, structural ribs underneath - if you keep the damper inside those ribs you should be OK.

Also, if you remove the lid of your CDP you will likely see a cheap superstructure that is the transport. With the lid off, if you open and close the CDP door several times you'll see there are some parts that move and some that don't. Put some of this same material on the parts that don't for some vibration damping "at the source". Or, the source of your source.

gooberdude · « **Reply #33 on:** 16 Feb 2007, 03:35 pm »

take at look at the Isoblocks on mapleshade's website and you'll see they
aren't much like the hardware store pucks. For starters, mapleshade's are 2 of those pucks glued together, so if the hardware stores are $24 total (you would need 6 to equal mapelshade's 3) and mapleshade's cost the same, why is there a debate about isoblocks all the time? 1 Isoblock is heavier than 2 hardware store pucks by 1/2 an ounce.

also, mapleshade's are glued together something fierce, the cork is difft (squishier) and the neoprene is MUCH softer on the isoblocks. those hardware pucks are not comparable in reality you guys...

i used about 60 of the hardware store pucks to suspend a 3500lb drywall party wall in my condo...they worked great for that but sounded like shit compared to the Isoblocks under my TT.

best cheap tweak i've found lately? Stick unused LP's in between your gear's feet and your rack, especially if your rack has mdf or glass or stone shelving (anything that sounds bad).
I've spent $100 on a maple platform to do the same thing 2 crappy LP's have done under my channel islands vpp-1/vac-1 combo. Take the plastic outer sleeve off, but leave the Lp and cardboard cover intact.

matt

Eduardo AAVM · « **Reply #34 on:** 18 Feb 2007, 05:05 pm »

This is a very interesting thread, please keep it going...

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #35 on:** 18 Feb 2007, 06:14 pm »

Matt/gooberdude,

A ream of paper (Office Depot $3.99 the same as fancy Xerox brand for $7.99

) under your component will accomplish much the same thing.

Ditto for rolling up masses of (dry) newspaper around a paper towel or bathroom tissue tubes, and placing them under your component.

The energy (ie, vibrations) from your surface/rack and the energy stored in your component and drained off and damped by all the paper (wood based, of course).

It's not pretty, either one, but they work. And, they are cheap and or free, of course

Personally, I think bamboo might be more effective than maple for isolation purposes - if you want that 'wood' look about.

gooberdude · « **Reply #36 on:** 19 Feb 2007, 08:02 pm »

Thanks TCG, i'll defintely give paper a try. i've had an LP under my phono pre & external psu for a few days now, the sound is perfect. The tiny ci audio chassis are so small there's little to be done in terms of footers and the stock rubber feet are on both chassis.

The old LP jackets look quite cool on my rack. At some point i might dismantle the rack and line all the shelves with 'em. it would be great to get cooler LP jackets though...

What's weird to me is that the stock shelf (mdf) affects the sound of the stock chassis w/ stock rubber feet. My system is pretty tweaked out though, so nothing really shocks me anymore. Still, i've had this rack for almost 4 yrs.

I wonder if heavier construction paper, or even different thickness cardboard would work??

Instances where vibration draining are crucial, for an amp or turntable, the tonewood platforms perform incredibly. Cool to know that for the less critical applications there are really cheap alternatives.

matt

rollo · « **Reply #37 on:** 21 Feb 2007, 04:50 pm »

Gooberdude,
Good idea, went on a search for cardboard and found some in the form of honeycomb.I placed the CDP on 4 layers of 1/4" th. corrugated cardboard over the honeycomb which sits in a sand box.
It works and works well.I am getting more info than before and the soundstage opened up a bit more.
The shelf and equip rack vendors are NOT going to be happy with this tweak.The only problem I see is looks.However, ugly does not equate to poor performance.
Tried just 1/4" cardboard[[8 pieces] worked just as well

rollo

gooberdude · « **Reply #38 on:** 21 Feb 2007, 06:20 pm »

Very cool Rollo!

I'm planning to run to some used LP stores here this weekend and pick up a bunch of trashed LP's with
cool jackets, oddball stuff that i won't mind looking at but could care less the condition of the LP itself.

Right now the 2 covers that are under my phono pre & external PSU are death metal and a tribute to the Notorious B.I.G. not album covers i want to be staring at and they fly in the face of the PWB tweaks that strive for positive energy!

Honestly, i think the cardboard (thick paper, whatever) works incredible for me because i have a cheap beginner rack with mdf shelves. I hope and pray that when i shell out for a good rack, like a SAMSON, that these measures won't be needed. I kinda wonder though if this isn't more of an issue with damping, or isolation, rather than accounting for ill-sounding rack material?? any which way, i'm glad i went out on a limb...my turntable sounds so sweet these days.

what kind of rack/shelf material is on your rack Rollo??

i'd also 2nd earplugs Kevin...but just for those that stop by to demo my rig!

rollo · « **Reply #39 on:** 21 Feb 2007, 06:58 pm »

Gooberdude,
Actually I do not believe in commercial racks.I feel that they do not allow for separation of components to reduce or eliminate the magnetic field interference.I try to keep the components two feet apart minimum.
I built sand boxes from MDF and mounted them on target speaker stands filled with sand as well.To couple the component to the shelf[which sits in the sand] I use SoundFusion Soundboosters.
The plinth that sits in the sand for the CDP is Corian over clay tiles.For the preamp[active] it is corian as well.For the SET amps, Arcicci Air Heads to great effect.The Linn TT is on a Sound Organization Table which resides on 6 concrete blocks filled with sand[3 high] with rubber walking mat in between to make blocks sit better.
My latest try for wood plinths is spruce with violin lacquer.Actually this may be the best so far.I am now comparing the cardboard and spruce and to be honest I just can not hear a difference.This can probably could be measured but I will use my ears.
rollo

PS wonder if the vinyl contributes to the scheme