Re: Cheap Tweaks ($100.00 or less)

TjMV3 · « **on:** 5 Mar 2007, 06:11 pm »

100% Bamboo Chopping Blocks under Sources, Pre Amps and Amps.

Such as these:

http://www.cookwareessentials.com/Totally-Bamboo-20-3150-TBM1038.html

http://www.amazon.com/Tru-Bamboo-Trubamboo-Jumbo-Block/dp/B00062JB16/ref=sr_1_6/103-6613437-4947027?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&qid=1173116117&sr=1-6

http://www.cookwareessentials.com/Totally-Bamboo-20-3415-TBM1040.html

http://www.cookwareessentials.com/Totally-Bamboo-20-3420-TBM1041.html

They come in different sizes, you just have to hunt around a little to find one that suits each components size.

Bamboo is excellent for audio applications, including window blinds and room treatments.

I even use 3/4 inch ones under my floorstanding speakers to avoid damaging the hardwood floor and to provide a little isolation.

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #1 on:** 5 Mar 2007, 06:20 pm »

Excellent list, TjMV3...but not quite in the spirit of Free/Cheap tweeks....but a worthy start to a new sticky database for < $100.00 tweeks

I think I read somewhere that bamboo was 20% denser than maple...so perhaps it's a better choice under equipment than that touted wood is

Anyway, it's clearly a more eco-friendly choice as it's a grass, not a tree, and grows much quicker than maple does.

Thx, John / TCG (Moderator / Audio Central)

TjMV3 · « **Reply #2 on:** 5 Mar 2007, 06:46 pm »

Quote from: TheChairGuy on 5 Mar 2007, 06:20 pm

Excellent list, TjMV3...but not quite in the spirit of Free/Cheap tweeks....but a worthy start to a new sticky database for < $100.00 tweeks

I think I read somewhere that bamboo was 20% denser than maple...so perhaps it's a better choice under equipment than that touted wood is Anyway, it's clearly a more eco-friendly choice as it's a grass, not a tree, and grows much quicker than maple does.

Thx, John / TCG (Moderator / Audio Central)

Well, they are all under $100.00.

Not free, not exactly cheap.

But compared to those multi-hundred dollar isolation platforms; these are indeed "cheap".

Also, Bamboo is acoustically inert and it is much better at dealing with vibrations. Which is essentially what one would want from an isolation platform.

Actually, I think Bamboo is 16% denser than Maple

, yet lighter. But 20% is close enough

jrebman · « **Reply #3 on:** 6 Mar 2007, 01:17 pm »

Don't know what the density is, but as far as hardness, it is 25% harder than Oak, and 12.5 % harder than rock maple.

The entire first floor of my home has a bamboo floor, and this includes my main listening space. Great stuff.

Thanks for the links -- may have to get a couple of the thin boards to put under my speakers.

-- Jim

BubbleChamber · « **Reply #4 on:** 11 Mar 2007, 09:48 am »

Does thickness matter? I found some in my local store which is about half as thick as the one shown in the links above. They only cost $20 and big enough for my amp!

TjMV3 · « **Reply #5 on:** 11 Mar 2007, 02:59 pm »

Personally I prefer the two inch thick bamboo blocks, but I suppose the thinner ones will do the job, also.

I'm also going to use these bamboo blocks under my speakers, but haven't decided what thickness to go with for the speakers. I have a notion that the 1" or 3/4 " thickness would be better for speakers. But I'm not sure yet.

martinr · « **Reply #6 on:** 11 Mar 2007, 03:25 pm »

Now that this new <$100.00 thread has been started, I'm going to take a huge risk and describe the tweak that I have used for the past 6 years and will continue to do so as long as it is available. There are naysayers and from what I have read some people can get angry when anyone suggests that Peter Belts tweaks actually provide any sonic benefit. I want to preface this tweak suggestion by making it clear that in my opinion this provides sonic benefit - some may think this is "snake oil" and that is fine, again this is my opinion based on my listening experiences.

I use P.W.B. rainbow foil and electret cream to treat all of my Cd's - I hear slightly deeper base and an over all richness added to the tonality of all storebought Cd's - doesn't do as much for home burned discs. If you email Mrs. May Belt in England she will send you a free sample of rainbow foil - the electret cream and foil are $35.00 each - for that price the you get enough foil to treat approx. 50 discs, electret cream will treat about 100 discs. Reviews claim this has a beneficial effect on vinyl also but I haven't tried. One downside to ordering is PWB prefers cash in American dollars for small orders - they say this is entirely at their risk - once you email them and tell them the money is in the mail they mail your product. There is also a 21 day return policy.
Here's a link to the web site:
http://www.belt.demon.co.uk/priceus.html

Happy listening! aa

Martin

weirdo · « **Reply #7 on:** 12 Mar 2007, 03:22 pm »

Now that we are in the 100.00 catagory, here's what I did for my speakers. Ihave Gallo Ref. 3's. Practically everyone uses some kind of platform to raise these things up off the floor. The store-bought solutions include plastic bases you fill with sand at about 600.00 per pair and I saw some Mapleshade products designed to do the same with wood. Very handsome but expensive.
I bought 4 unfinished pine table tops at 24" dia and about 1`.5 inches thick each from Lowes, stacked two for each speaker base and glued wood cabinet knobs underneath them. The total uplift was around 6 inches. I used Gorilla glue to fasten everything because it seems to slolidify everything it touches. the Gallos are now raised and seem to image a bit beter, particularly for those standing in the listening area. The wlhole thing was around 100.00. I suppose a hardwood would have been a better choice but also cost prohibitive.

gooberdude · « **Reply #8 on:** 12 Mar 2007, 03:41 pm »

very cool weirdo. If your Gallo's are the ones Pierre Sprey made a special mounting for, go for it at some point...you won't be sorry.

I just spent $560 on Mapleshade's Floorstanding Speaker Plinths. 4" thick, 12" x 15". they are the bomb but DAMN! so expensive.

weird thing is they worked better with one under my sub, and one under my turntable (once the brass feet were removed)....keeping my speaks resting on the carpeted floor.

one step forward, 2 steps backward in 'tweaksville' sometimes.

Cool thing is they sold on A'gon last night after being listed for 20 minutes, costing me only $60 or so to try them out. Next I have to muster up the nerve to spend $250 on a single 4" board to go under my TT...mapleshade's air dried 4" wood is addicting for sure, be warned.

I might duplicate the effort you reported here though, sounds cool. finding a proper mount for speakers is crucial. Phonebooks do not work on carpet, but DO work on hardwood floors, for example...

You might try slipping empty LP album covers (or 1 layer of normal cardbaord) in between your speakers and the table tops.

matt

weirdo · « **Reply #9 on:** 14 Mar 2007, 12:42 pm »

Hey Goob, never thought much about paper and cardboard , but thanks for the hint. I'm going to try the album cover thing and also varying thicknesses of business cards. The Gallo's are very revealing and it is relatively easy to hear differences in cabling and vibration supression. My wife gets a big kick out of watching me try to tweak my stereo gear. Glad to amuse.
It all started with hockey pucks.............

miklorsmith · « **Reply #10 on:** 14 Mar 2007, 03:09 pm »

Quote from: martinr on 11 Mar 2007, 03:25 pm

I use P.W.B. rainbow foil and electret cream to treat all of my Cd's

How do you apply these things? The cream I assume is rubbed on then cleaned off. Is the foil adhesive? Do you cut a small piece and stick it on? Have you tried the different types of foil?

Audiophiles are a conundrum. On one hand, we are ever-hopeful the Greatest Thing Ever will drop in our laps. But, having this hope disappointed so many times we also are skeptical of GTE claims and look for some technical footing. Do you know of any quasi-scientific explanation of why the stuff works? There are plenty of tweakers out there who would jump on the wagon for sure.

There are MANY cases of completely sane audiophiles finding happiness with sound enhancers that are not scientifically explained. Personally, as a person with limited time and budget I stick to things I can at least try to wrap my head around. I WANT to believe.

gooberdude · « **Reply #11 on:** 14 Mar 2007, 04:05 pm »

Have a look at P.W.B. Electronics' website, its a hoot for sure. Being a tweaker i couldn't fight the urge to ask for some free foil from May Belt, peter's wife. The tiny foil slivers are attached to my Herbie's WE turntable mat, the inner plastic spindle, on top of my tv's cable box, and inside each of my speakers ports & probably somewhere on my cdp.

did the foil help? NOPE.

am i removing it? not a chance. i dig stickers and positive energy.

What gets me the most about P.W.B. are the prices. possibly the most expensive tweaks in this hobby are avail on their site.... If anyone reading has not taken May up on the free foil, by all means do so. it may not be your cup of tea, but its an interesting trek into the tweakiest of tweaks. their pricing sheet is completely insane & my favorite part of the experience.

Before you spend $850 on a safety clip with your name on it which you can attach to your seatbelt for a better sounding morning commute, check back in here for a dose of reality! I can sell you that same clip for $350 less & get you a deal on a bulk order.

May Belt occasionally chimes in on threads at audioasylum to defend their products - this sais a whole lot about P.W.B.'s conviction and belief in their products. Even though her responses are kind of cloudy, she doesn't back down or take criticism lightly.

Of all the tweaky mfgrs, P.W.B. has got to be tops, right? they make machina dynamica look tame...

martinr · « **Reply #12 on:** 14 Mar 2007, 04:26 pm »

Quote from: gooberdude on 14 Mar 2007, 04:05 pm

Have a look at P.W.B. Electronics' website, its a hoot for sure. Being a tweaker i couldn't fight the urge to ask for some free foil from May Belt, peter's wife. The tiny foil slivers are attached to my Herbie's WE turntable mat, the inner plastic spindle, on top of my tv's cable box, and inside each of my speakers ports & probably somewhere on my cdp.

did the foil help? NOPE.

am i removing it? not a chance. i dig stickers and positive energy.

What gets me the most about P.W.B. are the prices. possibly the most expensive tweaks in this hobby are avail on their site.... If anyone reading has not taken May up on the free foil, by all means do so. it may not be your cup of tea, but its an interesting trek into the tweakiest of tweaks. their pricing sheet is completely insane & my favorite part of the experience.

Before you spend $850 on a safety clip with your name on it which you can attach to your seatbelt for a better sounding morning commute, check back in here for a dose of reality! I can sell you that same clip for $350 less & get you a deal on a bulk order.

May Belt occasionally chimes in on threads at audioasylum to defend their products - this sais a whole lot about P.W.B.'s conviction and belief in their products. Even though her responses are kind of cloudy, she doesn't back down or take criticism lightly.

Of all the tweaky mfgrs, P.W.B. has got to be tops, right? they make machina dynamica look tame...

I agree Gooberdude -
The foil provides no improvement on anything other than compact discs (I havent tried it on vinyl). But discs that are "foiled and creamed" to my ears sound better. I am also too big of a skeptic to spend money on thier high $$ products, although I have purchased a beginners pack once - the cable rings detracted from the sound when attached to my power cables - added a high end tizziness that I didn't like - the jury is still out on the spiral tube.

MKLORSMITH this is the response I was going to send you before I saw gooberdudes response:
The foil has an adhesive backing, it comes in strips. You cut off two pieces each about 1/8 in wide and apply them to the top side of a disc, one at 45' one at 180' diagonally opposite each other, then dab a little electret cream on your finger and rub on both sides of the disc and over the foil. Use a soft cloth to buff the the cream into the disc, (I use a jewelers cloth). IMHO the sonic improvement is nearly equivalent to a one step up cable upgrade from the same company. I have used this for so long now I practically can't listen to a disc that hasn't been "treated". My wife hears the improvement also.

Here's a few links to check out:

http://www.soundstage.com/synergize/synergize041999.htm
http://www.soundstage.com/synergize/synergize071999.htm
http://www.belt.demon.co.uk/product/ref/ref.html
http://www.belt.demon.co.uk/product/cream/cream.html

I have tried some of the other foils and yeah they do provide additional sonic improvement, I cant see spending the extra $$$ for the return on investment compared to the rainbow foil though.

A quasi scientific explanation of why the stuff works - I'd like to assume that somehow the disc treatment allows an optical reader to read a disc more effectively, but when someone says this stuff works on vinyl also that theory doesn't hold water. So I have no idea why the stuff works, only that again I stress IMHO it does.

I would recommend that if you are skeptical, first email and get some free foil, if you hear sonic improvement take the $35.00 plunge and purchase some electret cream to fully treat a disc and see what you think. There is a 21 day return policy.

I'm not saying this stuff is the greatest thing ever.....I'm only saying that IMHO it is a great bang for the buck tweak.

aa

Martin

gooberdude · « **Reply #13 on:** 14 Mar 2007, 04:35 pm »

I've only read of the electret cream on their site, sounds completely wild. But I use Mikrosmooth on all my cd's and dvd's, so i do realize the benefits of treating optical surfaces.

mikrosmooth simply uses friction to remove imperfections in the plastic optical surface...what the heck does electret cream do?

Glad you are a sane guy trying out their stuff...a few 'asylum posters (p.w.b. users) really add to the flames when folks think Beltian theory is snake oil. I'm one who is on the fence, but am all bout interesting tweaks and an even better business plan.

martinr · « **Reply #14 on:** 14 Mar 2007, 04:39 pm »

Electret cream may smooth out imperfections as well, I have no idea....
I don't buy into the explanations given on the PWB site - its quantum physics B.S. as far as Im concerned.

Weird stuff but worth a try if you're a tweaker.

aa

Martin

gooberdude · « **Reply #15 on:** 14 Mar 2007, 05:42 pm »

Something that just came to mind is that Geoff Kait of Machina Dynamica mentioned PWB sells 'blue magnets' for attaching to case lids...to go over transformers.

No idea what the color blue has to do with it, but i just successfully did something like this to my cdp &
i just gushed about it in a post here about $3K cd players, silly to do but that tweak alone
did more than most any i've ever tried...crazy soundstage improvement. others have reported the same recently on another forum - concerning improving cheap-o cd players this way.

so, for that one product of PWB's which i've never tried but have experienced good things from the theory & application, it might not be BS.

Spending anything more than 'free' on a fridge magnet that may do the same is...well...i won't comment.

its kinda funny to me that a lot of Beltian theory deals with positive energy, yet their products cost so much. to me, this spreads negative energy. add to that the fact you have to mail cash to the UK...

Martin, do a test for the electret cream to see if its similar to Mapleshade's product Mikrosmooth:

Take 2 brand new off the spindle cd-r's or cd's that have NOT been treated. put them optical face to optical face and gently slide them in your hands, so the surfaces rub against one another. You should feel a definite friction and even grinding sounds. Do not apply pressure or you will scratch them. Next, take 2 electret treated cd's and do the same...is the friction there? with Mirosmooth, there's NO friction after treatment. this is the test i do to show people what the product does, before they even hear what it does. Its so easy to show others that cd's have an imperfect optical surface this way....Mikrosmooth doesn't improve the sound of CD's, it simply reduces jitter in a fundamental way.

At my work are have several small recording studios, one run by an old guy who digs the stuff i came up with but is as old school as it comes. i laid 2 cd-r's in front of him on a table and had him run a finger lightly over each. his finger slid over the treated one easily but when he put his finger on the untreated cd it slid off the table and to the floor immediatley, like he had glue on his finger. his eyes lit up like a 6yr old on x-mas morning and he's told all his buddies about the stuff.

martinr · « **Reply #16 on:** 14 Mar 2007, 05:56 pm »

Gooberdude,
I tried rubbing the discs together as you suggested and compared to two untreated discs, I think I can detect the treated discs have less friction - that very well may be what the electret cream does. Ive treated about 200 discs front and back with one jar - the stuff lasts forever.

"but i just successfully did something like this to my cdp &
i just gushed about it in a post here about $3K cd players, silly to do but that tweak alone
did more than most any i've ever tried...crazy soundstage improvement"

What kind of magnet did you use?

- Martin

gooberdude · « **Reply #17 on:** 14 Mar 2007, 06:24 pm »

Interesting. Do you rinse off the cream after applying it? with MS, i literally hold each disc under the faucet to rinse the stuff off, then use Viva paper towels and the wagon wheel technique to remove the last bits of residue. its a bit of a process. now i really only use it on all Netflix DVD's, and on blank media prior to burns.

I simply grabbed refrigertor magnets for the cd tweaks. In stock form these magnets held notes & pics, now they make the soundstage about 2' wider, deeper and a bit taller. a crazy, crazy silly tweak. didn't change the tone or add more bass or anything like that. did make it 3-D compared to the pitful presentation its always had. Adding the Herbies grungebuster mat makes it perfect to my ears.

find a flat 1/2" diam magnet that is shaped like a donut (has a hole in the middle). This tweak is twofold: 1) the magnet over the cd spindle simply makes the magnets which are already in the spindle (sony put them there) into super magnets. somehow this steadies the cd as it spins, or something like that. the effect of this magnet application is MUCH more drastic than the 2) tranny magnet mod.

2) the magnet over the tranny is something difft altogether and deals with the way the signal flows through the tranny...the magnet helps (supposedly) to align something. i don't understand this part at all...but the effects are immediate and obvious. I posted about this in the Lab here, but didn't get too much addtl info.

If you try this, be sure the spindle magnet is right over the actual spindle. i nailed it the 1st time though, or so my ears tell me. moving it an 1" to the left or right removes most of the magic.

If you head over to audioasylum and go to the Tweaks section, go back a page or 2 to a week ago and you'll see posts about it. Or, try searching the word 'magnet' or even 'blue magnet' since this is where G. Kait added his 2 cents.

i wouldn't try this on a good cdp. i tried this on my Belles amp and TVC preamp, but the lids on those chassis are not magnetic. not sure if i'd be comfortable with magnets on nice gear though.

the guy who 1st reported it was using a new modd'ed Oppo combo player, in stock form these are $80 i think.

martinr · « **Reply #18 on:** 14 Mar 2007, 06:27 pm »

You rub the electret cream in with a soft cloth - I use a jewelers cloth, buff the disc to a sheen.

Posy · « **Reply #19 on:** 28 Mar 2007, 03:31 am »

ALL: I discovered this forum a few minutes ago, following a link in Wikipedia on Audiophiles. Despite years of reading audio forums, I've never heard of it before, so, surprised that I recognized one of the names here. I found it amusing to find a cheap tweaks thread, because I am the king of cheap tweaks.... But I am always interested in learning new ideas. So thanks to Gooberdude for alerting me to the magnet over transformer idea. Although I've done other tweaks to transformers, I have not heard of that idea or even the PWB product that exploits it. I'll have to look into it sometime...

For many years, I have tried many similar ideas to what I see people proposing in the cheap tweak threads, in regards to putting stuff under your equipment or speakers. I have since gone full circle and abandoned the idea of doing this, and in fact, the very first message I posted in the tweak section on my own discussion forums, addressed this issue by suggesting that people toss their spikes! I know, not a popular idea for an audiophile. But I tend to trust my ears over what I read, so if the ears tell me something that contradicts popular opinion well... the ears have it, as they say.

Just to add to the fun, I'll suggest my own weird footer tweak: if you have 4 feet under your component, place a circle of unprinted blue paper under the front right foot, see if that helps anything.