Re: The Total Tweak

Posted by Al Sekela (A) on April 18, 2002 at 16:23:37

In Reply to: The Total Tweak posted by Bobc on April 18, 2002 at 09:48:39:

No hard feelings, but I find your amusement puzzling.

Don Palmer, retired cable maker formerly dba High Wire, suggested the ceramic tile lifter tweak. I was skeptical but thought a few bucks at the local lumber yard, with a generous return policy for unused parts, was little enough risk to satisfy my curiosity. I was and am amazed at how much this improved the bass detail and punch. For the record, I am using Silver Audio speaker cables, and the bass cables connect my MG-20 bass panels to a Bryston 4B. Similar cables connect the Atma-Sphere amps to the mid/tweeter inputs of the MG-20s, but these do not touch the floor.

Don's experience is that wood and most carpeted floors create the problem. The best solution is to place your amps directly behind the speakers and keep the cables so short (or use the Zero transformer leads) that they do not touch the floor at all, but if your setup does not permit this, the lifters are a very cheap way to make a major improvement in what you hear.

If all audio was so cut and dried that Philistines could make amps as good as Atma-Sphere and sell them for under a hundred dollars at K-Mart, we would not need to experiment with tubes, circuits, cables, or speakers. We could buy our audio systems like we buy our microwave ovens.

One could ask why people would choose wood as a material for the body of moving coil phono cartridges, but, conceding the existence of such devices, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that wood responds to humidity changes by absorbing and releasing water, and that treating it with oil would change its acoustical and electrical properties.

Similarly, speaker cables that are not flat ribbons with ultrathin dielectric between them will have significant leakage of electrical and magnetic fields, that engage the permeable and permittive materials nearby. That lifting such cables reduces the parasitic interactions with nearby materials should not surprise anyone with an open mind. That it makes a large difference in what I hear is clear to me. You may not need such a tweak because your cables are superior in design, but you should not ridicule the concept.

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - ZZZZZZ - Al Sekela 16:18:17 04/14/02 (21)

Re: ZZZZZZ - Allan 22:19:19 04/19/02 (3)

Bypass your fuses - that's good advice! - Bobc 16:39:09 04/20/02 (2)

Already bypassed - Allan 19:51:35 04/20/02 (1)

End of consultation - Allan 05:06:13 04/21/02 (0)

The Total Tweak - Bobc 09:48:39 04/18/02 (7)

Re: The Total Tweak - Allan 02:33:14 04/19/02 (3)

I hate it when that Happens! - Bobc 06:05:05 04/19/02 (2)

Re: I hate it when that Happens! - Allan 07:37:15 04/19/02 (1)

This could go on forever...but , it won't! - Bobc 10:07:58 04/19/02 (0)

Re: The Total Tweak - JerryS 16:32:35 04/18/02 (0)

Re: The Total Tweak - Al Sekela 16:23:37 04/18/02 (1)

Re: The Total Tweak - Bobc 17:05:18 04/18/02 (0)

Re: ZZZZZZ - Allan 03:10:02 04/15/02 (3)

Re: ZZZZZZ - Al Sekela 15:36:38 04/16/02 (2)

Re: ZZZZZZ - Allan 20:41:48 04/16/02 (1)

Re: ZZZZZZ - Al Sekela 18:29:48 04/17/02 (0)

Re: ZZZZZZ - George M 20:55:09 04/14/02 (4)

Re: ZZZZZZ - Al Sekela 15:41:40 04/16/02 (3)

Re: ZZZZZZ - George M 16:22:11 04/16/02 (2)

Re: ZZZZZZ - Allan 01:24:02 04/18/02 (1)

Re: ZZZZZZ - George M 02:52:05 04/18/02 (0)

Follow Ups

Re: The Total Tweak - Al Sekela 16:23:37 04/18/02 (1)

Re: The Total Tweak - Bobc 17:05:18 04/18/02 (0)

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