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

I still like my 3BX. DBX for adding dynamic range and reducing hiss on compressed LP recordings. It worked really well on old 1/4 try commercial tapes reducing the tape hiss.
I wouldn't mind trying one. I have a 1BX and do not like it. With a
Moon Gel is $7 @ Guitar Center and Sweetwater. The same sort of price differences apply to digital scales. The same stylus scale that Needle Doctor is asking $50 for I bought from Amazon for <$20.
Yup. I've seen the blobs for as much as $14, but usually cheaper. Unfortunately I didn't find this out until AFTER I bought the little box with the magnifier on top. :(
 
Two that really didn't have any apparent benefit:


PS Audio Noise Harvesters. Bought two before running dedicated lines in room. Supposedly blue light indicates they are "absorbing" noise. Just appeared to be power indicators. ;)

View attachment 1307781

If those PS Audio boxes contain a capacitor, they may actually work, albeit probably a bit of money for a box with a cap in it.
 
I'm definitely going to try the silver conductive grease, because that actually makes a lot of sense.
I've spent a fair amount of money on better quality banana plugs for speaker cable termination, and I will not use anything that has a brass base metal. My personal opinion is that gold over pure copper just sounds better. Although I did recently try some silver over pure copper Furez bananas in one of my systems, and they are very nice. They seem to be a little brighter than the gold plugs were in that system with the same 10ga OFC cables. I guess a lot of people would scoff at the idea of throwing 200 bucks at a set of Furutech banana plugs (that's one set of speaker cables) but I firmly believe that they sound better than the cheap ones I tried.
 
Another is that "Moon Gel" you can pay $30+ for a small round chunk in a little plastic box, or pay around $14 or less for a much bigger blob, probably colored blue without the fancy little box. This stuff is used to clean a TT stylus in case your not into that format or haven't heard of it.

I bought the little box a few years ago for $20 like a chump and then bought the moongel for like, 7 bucks just compare... Both work equally as well. Another example of calling it audiophile and adding a ridiculous amount of cost.
 
I'm definitely going to try the silver conductive grease, because that actually makes a lot of sense.
I've spent a fair amount of money on better quality banana plugs for speaker cable termination, and I will not use anything that has a brass base metal. My personal opinion is that gold over pure copper just sounds better. Although I did recently try some silver over pure copper Furez bananas in one of my systems, and they are very nice. They seem to be a little brighter than the gold plugs were in that system with the same 10ga OFC cables. I guess a lot of people would scoff at the idea of throwing 200 bucks at a set of Furutech banana plugs (that's one set of speaker cables) but I firmly believe that they sound better than the cheap ones I tried.

For me, the goal is to use $30 worth of silver bearing grease to make $10 banana plugs sound like $200! :)
 
Another here who has a cache of harvested video cables that I use for rca's. They just....I dunno...seem to sound better. And thicker.

Best tweak I can think of at the moment is hanging upside down on my inversion rack before a listening session.

I decompress the discs in my neck, open up my clogged eustachian tubes, and the sound is clearer, highs are temporarily returned.

Oh, and I put a grapefruit up my butt. Really helps with the subsonics.

I'm only kidding about the grapefruit. This thread needed a laugh.
 
PS Audio makes some good ones as well , pricey but from what I have personally heard , they are worth it .

Audiofreak71

I have a feeling the PS Audio ones are doing the same thing as the medical ones for the same "audiophile premium" as we've been mentioning. HOWEVER.... they look much better than the industrial ones, and that's worth money. The other thing is that I think the medical ones may make a lot of noise because of fans and transformers and such... still doing research on that one, but once I know for sure I'll post my findings.
 
Another here who has a cache of harvested video cables that I use for rca's. They just....I dunno...seem to sound better. And thicker.

Best tweak I can think of at the moment is hanging upside down on my inversion rack before a listening session.

I decompress the discs in my neck, open up my clogged eustachian tubes, and the sound is clearer, highs are temporarily returned.

Oh, and I put a grapefruit up my butt. Really helps with the subsonics.

I'm only kidding about the grapefruit. This thread needed a laugh.



Video Cables have plenty of shielding and I think that's what makes the difference. In fact I think the much-vaunted "digital coax cables" of the late 90's were just duded up video cables.

Grapefruit eh? I've always sworn by shoving a big papaya up there... it better than breadfruit. :)
 
Silver and copper are
Another here who has a cache of harvested video cables that I use for rca's. They just....I dunno...seem to sound better. And thicker.

Best tweak I can think of at the moment is hanging upside down on my inversion rack before a listening session.

I decompress the discs in my neck, open up my clogged eustachian tubes, and the sound is clearer, highs are temporarily returned.

Oh, and I put a grapefruit up my butt. Really helps with the subsonics.

I'm only kidding about the grapefruit. This thread needed a laugh.
Plus you can find the nicer ones by the handful at Goodwill stores.
 
For me, the goal is to use $30 worth of silver bearing grease to make $10 banana plugs sound like $200! :)
:beerchug:
I should be really happy then!
On a side note I found a couple of different brands of silver conductive grease in syringes that look to be suitable for the job.
MG Chemicals 8463 -7G
Chemtronics CW7100
 
One more with zero effect. And for me, essentially zero cost. Wrap teflon tape around the AC plug blades and push them back toward the plug.

Theory? Minimize leakage.

Reality? A way to waste some teflon tape. :)

View attachment 1307846
And time.
I spent the better part of a whole damn day wrapping power cable connectors with teflon tape and heard nary a difference one way or the other. Spent the better part of another whole day unwrapping teflon tape from the same. That's nearly 2 whole days I'll never get back!
 
I have a feeling the PS Audio ones are doing the same thing as the medical ones for the same "audiophile premium" as we've been mentioning. HOWEVER.... they look much better than the industrial ones, and that's worth money. The other thing is that I think the medical ones may make a lot of noise because of fans and transformers and such... still doing research on that one, but once I know for sure I'll post my findings.
If the medical ones were about the same but weren’t noisy I’d be interested in going that route myself, it would be out of sight so I really don’t care what they look like as long as they do there job properly.

Audiofreak71
 
Onwardjames is on the right track. I have found my system to sound much cleaner and more accurate if I listen after meditation or yoga. Getting my mind centered and ready to listen makes a huge difference compared to sitting down stressed or tired and expecting the system to do that for me.

jblnut
 
Another here who has a cache of harvested video cables that I use for rca's. They just....I dunno...seem to sound better. And thicker.

Best tweak I can think of at the moment is hanging upside down on my inversion rack before a listening session.

I decompress the discs in my neck, open up my clogged eustachian tubes, and the sound is clearer, highs are temporarily returned.

Oh, and I put a grapefruit up my butt. Really helps with the subsonics.

I'm only kidding about the grapefruit. This thread needed a laugh.
I couldnt live without my inversion table!! Im gonna try out your theory right now!!
 
And time.
I spent the better part of a whole damn day wrapping power cable connectors with teflon tape and heard nary a difference one way or the other. Spent the better part of another whole day unwrapping teflon tape from the same. That's nearly 2 whole days I'll never get back!
I tried that with a tone arm. What a waist of time. Being careful to wrap it perfectly and I heard absolutely no difference. Even with a test record. It did keep me from trying shrink tubing next though.
 
The only non-science tweaks I genuinely use are these two guys:

left.jpeg

right.jpeg

The Inner Health Plus Guy on the left speaker and The Walrus on the right speaker. Whatever speakers are out to be played with, they sit on top. It's a ritual now. I think they are blurring/absorbing wall reflections or something.

To me, speakers sound better when these dudes are sitting on them.

Soft toys are cheap, fun and whimsical and I swear they increase enjoyment especially with small bookshelf speakers (my current passion). Give it a try.
 
The only non-science tweaks I genuinely use are these two guys:

View attachment 1308293

View attachment 1308294

The Inner Health Plus Guy on the left speaker and The Walrus on the right speaker. Whatever speakers are out to be played with, they sit on top. It's a ritual now. I think they are blurring/absorbing wall reflections or something.

To me, speakers sound better when these dudes are sitting on them.

Soft toys are cheap, fun and whimsical and I swear they increase enjoyment especially with small bookshelf speakers (my current passion). Give it a try.
It's obvious that they are room treatments! ;)
 
When I painted some old faded woofers with this stuff the bass tightened up noticeably. I did it for cosmetic reasons and was surprised that their sound actually improved.

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