What crazy "pseudo-science" tweak did you feel actually works?

That's why I use Belden for my cable needs. Affordable. Repeatable. Quality.
And to your ears that solution works for you . For other people a $3k power cable works to there ears , others a $3 power cable works etc etc . Nothing is justified in this hobby and nothing is certain other than the gear is gonna get old as time moves forward, so enjoy what you got while you got the time .

Audiofreak71
 
I did notice some ill effects when I tried Audioquest Evergreens in my system--the bass thinned out, and the cables were not as quiet as the no-name cheap cables that were in there before. At first I rolled my own interconnects to replace them (which were dead quiet!), and now I use Cardas Cross interconnects that add a richness that the silver/copper hybrid wiring was lacking. The key is to buy cables used. Let someone else take the hit on depreciation. ;)

You got to see that those cables didn’t work for you where as the Cardas you tried did work . As you already know you have to experiment in this hobby to find the sound you like. So many times people give up on a piece of gear thinking they were not good when it could have been another cheaper solution to get that piece of equipment to sound right . In my case , it was my Vandersteen 2ce Signature ii’s, I almost gave up on them because something always just didn’t sound right . Well a good friend of mine suggested I try a few different cables (interconnects, power cables etc) and that really did the trick , the icing on the cake was adding more power (integrated amp 305wpc) and a nice tube Dac to the equation, however even without those additions the cables solved the issue I was having with the sound therefore saving me a lot of money from buying a whole new set of speakers .

Audiofreak71
 
And to your ears that solution works for you . For other people a $3k power cable works to there ears , others a $3 power cable works etc etc . Nothing is justified in this hobby and nothing is certain other than the gear is gonna get old as time moves forward, so enjoy what you got while you got the time .

Audiofreak71
Audiokarma.org, where "Nothing is justified in this hobby"... Okay, if that's the way you want to view it I guess...
 
Audiokarma.org, where "Nothing is justified in this hobby"... Okay, if that's the way you want to view it I guess...
Well I’m sure if I told you that my $1k power cable makes a major difference in sound quality, you would probably as well as others have something to say about that . Same as someone saying there $3 speaker cables provide the best sound , someone is going to have something to say about that . If it works for you then it’s justified within your own terms but may not be justified to others , therefore there is no justification, you can agree , disagree, agree to disagree etc . As long as your having fun who cares what other people are spending on there systems unless they ask for advice or an opinion from someone who may own the gear there looking to buy .
 
Others, not, such as green marker around the edge of a CD..Optics 101 taught us this.
Actually they do when you understand the challenge. - red laser scatter causing multiple read retries for CRC at a lowly 300 rpm in real time playback.

When I still spun CDs, I used a Marigo mat which not surprisingly, was black on one side and green on the other (the opposite chromatic color to red) to minimize the scatter. Yes, I found it made a subtle difference.

No longer needed as my endpoints stream the ripped data from the server at high speed and buffer up to 600 MB for esssentially memory playback.
 
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Well I’m sure if I told you that my $1k power cable makes a major difference in sound quality, you would probably as well as others have something to say about that . Same as someone saying there $3 speaker cables provide the best sound , someone is going to have something to say about that . If it works for you then it’s justified within your own terms but may not be justified to others , therefore there is no justification, you can agree , disagree, agree to disagree etc . As long as your having fun who cares what other people are spending on there systems unless they ask for advice or an opinion from someone who may own the gear there looking to buy .
I would say as I have to others, more power to ya... I wasn't trying to slam you.
 
I never tried this one but at a hifi show, a man was selling a little one inch disc that when placed near the rear corner of a receiver, was said to reduce distortion. I asked what was in it, he said it was "proprietary" technology and I think worked on induction. The cost was $65. I didn't bite.
 
When I lived in New Mexico, one of a pair of fairly expensive British IC's went bad, and I'll let the brand go unmentioned. On a lark, I tried VIDEO cables. They sounded so good that I have largely used them to this day. On the installation of my latest DVD/CD machine, with dual outputs, I connected two sets of cables to the CD and Tuner inputs of my amp, and A/B'd them. Nothing sounded better than another until I tried a set of Phillips video cables I'd just bought - so I'm using blue for right, green for left, and the red cable hangs free.
Yes - low capacitance video cables. The good ones work great as TT interconnects for this reason
 
In response to a suggestion that green marker on CDs doesn't make sense:
Actually they do when you understand the challenge. - red laser scatter causing multiple read retries for CRC at a lowly 300 rpm in real time playback.
That's the usual assumption. See a counterpoint here: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/bewaring-of-the-green/

I am sure there are some audiophile beliefs that engineers regard as nonsense, but that actually have a grain of truth.

Others are just nonsense.
 
The solution I used was not using markers around the periphery of the discs.

Read more closely.
Yes, it was clear that you used something other than green marker around the periphery of discs. I was referring to this:
Some tweaks can be scientifically proven, such as silver grease. Others, not, such as green marker around the edge of a CD..Optics 101 taught us this.
To which you replied:
Others, not, such as green marker around the edge of a CD..Optics 101 taught us this.
Actually they do when you understand the challenge. ...
It appears you were justifying green marker around the periphery of discs.
 
Yes, it was clear that you used something other than green marker around the periphery of discs. I was referring to this:
Yes, you referred to something different. :)

It appears you were justifying green marker around the periphery of discs.
I was observing that there is indeed laser scatter on CD playback that can be addressed. Merely coating the edges of the disc does not provide a solution.
 
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Yes, it was clear that you used something other than green marker around the periphery of discs. I was referring to this:

To which you replied:

It appears you were justifying green marker around the periphery of discs.
Here is my thought on this entire topic:

If someone thinks "fill-in-the-blank" makes their system sound better, more power to them....

I'm not justifying anything. Do I think marking the peripheral of a CD makes a difference, No, not based on my understanding of CD laser optics. Do I think silver grease can decrease the resistance of a connection point, yes. Will this make it sound better, Not sure, never tried it....

Point is, people can spend their money how they feel fit. Whatever "floats ones boat" - roll with it.

Now, back to the reason of why we spend money on gear: music.
 
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Painting a pattern of marks or dots on speaker cones is known as the EnABL process. Have no first hand experience but you can read all about it here.

https://positive-feedback.com/Issue21/standingwaves.htm


FE206eN300.jpg
 
@Wildcat Found it! https://www.cool-amp.com/conducto-lube

I split the cost with a friend (which has gone up a little) and if I remember correctly, it ended up costing about $35 each with shipping at the time. After years, the stuff is still malleable and I think I have about 80% of it left. This is also because I experimented with others like Chemtronics. All you really need is a half ounce, which lasts forever. If you have 4 friends to share it with, the 2oz jar will cost 28 bucks each plus shipping.
 
Painting a pattern of marks or dots on speaker cones is known as the EnABL process. Have no first hand experience but you can read all about it here.

https://positive-feedback.com/Issue21/standingwaves.htm


FE206eN300.jpg

I read about as much as I could stand after three beers and two rye whiskey drinks. What I can't seem to decipher is what they are using to paint those dots. It would make sense if the dots had some weight to them. For example if they were made from painting on some rubber cement or gluing on tiny felt pads.
 
I read about as much as I could stand after three beers and two rye whiskey drinks. What I can't seem to decipher is what they are using to paint those dots. It would make sense if the dots had some weight to them. For example if they were made from painting on some rubber cement or gluing on tiny felt pads.

Sounds like pseudo science.
 
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