Audio Tweaks & DIY

[bayoutider]

ProfessorJK has a good idea to start a list of simple tweeks to improve the sound or performance of your audio system. Some tweeks are inexpensive, practically free, others become expensive so proceed with caution. Also included in this thread will DIY (Do It Yourself) where the handyman can save big bucks providing the labor.

Add Tweeks one at a time in a thread so they can be easily archived.

 

[bayoutider]

re: Audio Tweaks & DIY

#1 - Lift those speaker wires.

If you are on carpet lift your speaker wires 6-8 inches off the floor. Use Styrofoam cups, wooden blocks, wooden dowels or whatever else you can think of. Speaker wires should be no shorter than 8 feet in length and be of equal length for best sound.

 

[rolltidescott]

re: Audio Tweaks & DIY

#1 - Lift those speaker wires.

If you are on carpet lift your speaker wires 6-8 inches off the floor. Use Styrofoam cups, wooden blocks, wooden dowels or whatever else you can think of. Speaker wires should be no shorter than 8 feet in length and be of equal length for best sound.

bayou, I've never heard this. (Not doubting it...) But, why?

 

[TDBama78]

re: Audio Tweaks & DIY

bayou, I've never heard this. (Not doubting it...) But, why?

im guessing that it has to do with static elec. and resistance affecting the electrical signal through the speaker wire there fore affecting tonal quality. that is my guess and we'll see if im in the ball park

 

[bayoutider]

re: Audio Tweaks & DIY

Carpet is a huge mass of low quality insulation (dielectric) it absorbs and smears energy from the field around the wire. The effect is pretty grim, making music sound both dulled and harsh. Lifting the wires off the carpet will give the music a lift in the full spectrum. You will likely notice what some call more air in the upper ranges and a tighter bass.

Most of these tweeks will be very subtle. To test your ears play no more than one minute of music, make the change and play the same minute of music again. Most people cannot retain a difference in music played longer than one minute you may even want to cut it down to 15 seconds. Take the tweek away and see if you miss anything, sometimes losing something is easier to pick out than adding something.

I first witnessed this parlor trick at the CES Show in Chicago. This is where incredibly high priced equipment is showcased in incredibly bad sounding hotel rooms. Systems sounding good here are special and it's always interesting to see what some designer or engineer has come up with.

 

[bama579]

Audio Tweeks & DIY

#1 - Lift those speaker wires.

If you are on carpet lift your speaker wires 6-8 inches off the floor. Use Styrofoam cups, wooden blocks, wooden dowels or whatever else you can think of. Speaker wires should be no shorter than 8 feet in length and be of equal length for best sound.

Agreed. A great tip, sir.

If you cannot/will not remove spkr wire from carpeting, do not coil any excess in a circular pattern. This creates a miniature magnetic field, further decaying correct phasing and "smearing" the soundstage, or degrading the sense of back-to-front depth.

#2 - If using smaller - not floorstanding - speakers, use a solid (non-flimsy) stand to minimize vibration from the stand. Also, position the tweeter as close to ear-level when listening as possible. Higher frequencies are more directional than lower ones.

Getting the spkr stands off the carpet/floor using spikes will help improve the way things sound.

 

[bayoutider]

re: Audio Tweaks & DIY

Agreed. A great tip, sir.

If you cannot/will not remove spkr wire from carpeting, do not coil any excess in a circular pattern. This creates a miniature magnetic field, further decaying correct phasing and "smearing" the soundstage, or degrading the sense of back-to-front depth.

#2 - If using smaller - not floorstanding - speakers, use a solid (non-flimsy) stand to minimize vibration from the stand. Also, position the tweeter as close to ear-level when listening as possible. Higher frequencies are more directional than lower ones.

Getting the spkr stands off the carpet/floor using spikes will help improve the way things sound.

Great tip. If you purchase stands made from metal tubes fill the tubes with lead shot or sand to add weight.

 

[Professor-JK]

re: Audio Tweaks & DIY

#3 There are two ways to position speakers in a room.

One is the Golden Rectangle Rule.
If your room permits, try placing the speakers about 3’ from the front wall. This reduces bass reflections from the front wall and helps tame boomy bass.The distance from the side wall(s) is equally important. The Golden Rectangle Rule states that the speaker’s distance from the side wall should be 1.6 times the distance from the front wall. If the distance from the front wall is 3’, the distance from the side wall should be 4.8’ from the side wall (or vice versa if your room is wider than longer). Finally, angle the speakers towards the listening spot, called speaker toe-in.

Second is the 1/3 1/5 Rule.
Position the speakers so that the distance between the front wall is 1/3 or 1/5 the length of the room. Both of these methods prevent the speaker from exciting room resonances. Angle the speakers towards the listening position, as above. Your listening position is as important as speaker position to achieve the best sound quality.



WAR also known as Wife Approval Rating is hard to achieve since placing speakers so far into a room is not cohesive with home decorating.

 

[bayoutider]

re: Audio Tweaks & DIY

For any separate power supply: listen, then turn it 90 degrees, turn another 90 degrees, etc. One of the four positions will sound way better due to non-uniform transformer leakage.

Separate power supplies are even more vibration-sensitive than the components. What you plug into is also important. Many audio-crazies spend useless money on Line conditioners when they will do little to nothing to improve their system. Call an electrician, have him run a separate circuit or two using 10awg solid copper wire. Run a separate ground for these circuits isolated from the rest and install Hospital Grade outlet plugs which cost $10 instead of the $50 found in audio/video stores. If using a surge suppressor treat it as a component. Mount the suppressor off the floor and give it the same vibration isolation you give your other components. You will find a tighter bass and warmer more open midrange.

 

[bama579]

re: Audio Tweaks & DIY

WAR also known as Wife Approval Rating is hard to achieve since placing speakers so far into a room is not cohesive with home decorating.

Unless you are blessed with a rare woman, Wife Approval Rating is extremely rare. Settle for Wife ACCEPTANCE Rating. :biggrin2:

Kudos to Bayoutider and Professor for a lot (or in Tidefansese, alot) of good information.

 

[bayoutider]

re: Audio Tweaks & DIY

#5 Never bundle wires, no matter whether AC, speaker or IC. If you must run wires parallel for more than a foot, separate them by 6" or more. Wires that cross at at 45 degrees or more can touch without any sonic degradation.

 

[exiledNms]

re: Audio Tweaks & DIY

OK, that's it. I'm coming down to Bayou-land to listen to musc & stare @ the ocean. It'll prolly take me a few minutes to get down there...

Seriously, thanks for this thread. It combines three things that are where I am: (a) serious love of multiple types of music, (b) extremely limited $$ - heavily invested in pharmacy school tuition @ the moment , (c) zero home-repair game.

Keep 'em coming!

 

[CapstoneStan]

re: Audio Tweaks & DIY

I would probably not use styrofoam to raise speaker wires. They present heavy static problems on there own. If you've ever been around electronics where ESD was avoided, styrofoam is not allowed in the area.

 

[bayoutider]

re: Audio Tweaks & DIY

I would probably not use styrofoam to raise speaker wires. They present heavy static problems on there own. If you've ever been around electronics where ESD was avoided, styrofoam is not allowed in the area.

Stan's right I probably should have said those big non-Styrofoam drink cups.

Or you can use high voltage insulators like these guys.

 

[bayoutider]

re: Audio Tweaks & DIY

Yesterday evening I finally received the packages I have waited for. My new TAboo amp and CSP2 pre-amp both from Decware (High Fidelity Engineering). It was cool to unpack the units and see the tags on the bottom of each chassis with my name written, build date and order number. Both are warranted for life

First I unpacked the Taboo stereo amp, 6 watts, single ended pentode, class A1, tube rectified using Russian EL83 power tubes. The manual states no preamp is needed and there are two sets of inputs, fixed and varible, on the chassis. I installed tubes into their sockets, 5Y3GB Cryo French Mazda brand rectifier, Russian (military) 6P15P-EV power tubes from the Svetlana St. Petersburg factory and a NOS 1963 RCA 12AT7a signal tube. A PS audio power cord was attached to the IEC connector at the rear and I used Kimber KCAG interconnects to hook up the Adcom 5 disc CD changer. Speakers are Jean Marie Reynaud Twin II till my new speakers arrive in March. Speakers were connected to the amp using Kimber 8TC with bannana ends.

I turned on the amp and let it sit idle for 25 minutes then turned on the CD source. I was expecting great things as I slowly turned the gold knob on the front of the amp. I was greatly underwhelmed but I told myself it's new and needs break in time. Even though it was new I was looking for an answer why with the volume all the way up the volume was well below what I expected. I sat in my chair thinking it must be a mismatch, the CD needs more gain and the pre-amp will take care of that.

I opened box number two and unpacked the CSP2 preamp sat it beside the Taboo and began installing tubes. NOS GE 5U4 rectifier tube, a matched pair of Russian 6N1P input tubes for each channel and the lead input tube is the venerable Mullard 6922. Another PS Audio power cord was attached and another Kimber KCAG interconnect was plugged in. One more 25 minute warm up was given to the CSP2 and Taboo before I gave the Adcom the play signal.

I have had lo-fi, mid-fi, hi-fi, even over the top-fi but this was jaw dropping. Brand new out of the box isn't supposed to sound this good. Sure they say they break them in on the bench but I thought they just began breaking them in. That low volume I first experienced now had authority. I was listening to Pink Floyd Dark Side Of The Moon at a room filling volume and my speakers have disappeared. Sound is coming from everywhere and I can pinpoint several instruments. All the little noises, clicks, chimes and bells enter and leave with such clarity. I have heard this good before but it's been a while. I listen to the whole CD as time seemed unimportant and I stared at the two new units which now look like some mad science project from Frankenstein's laboratory. There are no rear connections on either unit. Every wire including power cord and speakers come out from the top in a loop-de-loop fashion. I don't know how I will be able to tame the tangle of wires but that is my task for today along with mounting the new Clearaudio phono cartridge in my turntable tone arm. Thursday my ZP3 RIAA phono stage will be delivered along with a couple of Steve's Decware Zen 1/2 meter custom interconnects. I can hardly wait to play a record.

I'll try to get a picture up as soon as it's presentable.

 

[bamanut_aj]

re: Audio Tweaks & DIY

Advice, please:

I have a Yamaha multi-zone receiver with good SpeakerCraft wall mounted speakers outside for one zone. However, for the zone inside, my speakers aren't even worth turning on. Once I get the money to upgrade, my question is this: I have two speakers on the back wall, mounted on plates. I have the ability to put them in the wall should I choose to.

So what's the better option? Mounting them on the wall, or putting them IN the wall?

 

[bayoutider]

re: Audio Tweaks & DIY

Advice, please:

I have a Yamaha multi-zone receiver with good SpeakerCraft wall mounted speakers outside for one zone. However, for the zone inside, my speakers aren't even worth turning on. Once I get the money to upgrade, my question is this: I have two speakers on the back wall, mounted on plates. I have the ability to put them in the wall should I choose to.

So what's the better option? Mounting them on the wall, or putting them IN the wall?

Mounting them in the wall will probably give you a bigger sound, deeper bass and larger image.

 

[bamanut_aj]

re: Audio Tweaks & DIY

Mounting them in the wall will probably give you a bigger sound, deeper bass and larger image.

that's what I figured. LOL, that wall is the common wall the baby's room......that could get interesting!

 

[bayoutider]

re: Audio Tweaks & DIY

that's what I figured. LOL, that wall is the common wall the baby's room......that could get interesting!

This would be extra expense but the wall cavity could be lined with Dow Corning 703 or 705 rigid fiberglass insulation, more on this fine product later. This insulation is the same that Heat and A/C contractors use to make duct work out of and the same material recording studios use as acoustic wall treatment. It comes in thickness of 1" up to 4". Depending on the depth of the speaker you might be able to cut a piece to fit between the studs behind the speaker on your daughter's wall. You could also cover a 2'X4' sheet and hang it on the wall of her room behind the speaker after covering it with some cloth. I hung panels of this stuff on the walls of my music room and was astonished with the results.

 

[CapstoneStan]

re: Audio Tweaks & DIY

One of the best resources around for tweaks and improvements both cheap and ultra expensive, ridiculous and sublime is in Robert Harley's book "The Complete Guide to High-End Audio." It can be bought at Amazon at the link below.

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Guide-High-End-Audio/dp/0964084961?&camp=212361&linkCode=wsw&tag=bamanation&creative=380793]Amazon.com: The Complete Guide to High-End Audio: Robert Harley, Keith Jarrett: Books[/ame]

And best of all, pretty much all of his suggestions are right on the money.