The plastic-covered pads don't work very well. Find the thickest, softest mouse pad around, but one that's covered with cloth, not plastic. Nice tip.įinally, from reader Michael DeRoche "Here is another cheap isolation tweak that's worked for me, especially on my analog stuff. He went on: "Thank you for your most enlightening reviews, and especially your incisive humor." Now you see why I'm printing his e-mail! There was more: "Oops, I almost forgot: The most wonderful tool for lifting speakers is the lowly garden shovel! Once the speaker is in place, you can slightly insert a shovel under the cabinet, elevate it slightly by gently pushing down on the shovel's handle with one hand, and insert the footer assembly with the other! All in the interest of happy schlepping, J-10! You might be interested to know that I've been involved in sound reproduction for 50 years and am still trying. The bass appeared to be tighter and more delineated, and, last but not least, you can move the speakers with greater precision and ease." I found it afforded a more beautiful and holographic soundstage with a greater sense of air and greater delicacy to the highs. This arrangement provides a more perfect isolation for the speaker from the floor, yet makes for a low-reactance system to driver motion. Finally, there's a low impedance between the tile and the carpet or wood floor beneath it. Then there's a moderate impedance at the interface between the carbon block and the tile surface. But between the pointy tip and the carbon damper there's a very high impedance. "There exists a low impedance at the speaker and its support point. "Dear J-10: The best support for loudspeakers are points placed on carbon dampers on top of bathroom tiles! Let me elaborate." Yes, Donald, please do. Angel of Angelphonics Labs had popped into my online mailbag: Result: No more static-electric charge to attract dust! Long live chemistry, long live tweaks!" Thanks, Larry.Ĭoffee clutched in hand one morning and trying to regain my composure, I noticed that an e-mail from Donald W. That's my applicator! I transfer sparse amounts of Lemon Pledge to it and clean my LPs once the heavy debris has been removed. Take a 3½" length of the foam tubing, wrap a piece of Hitecloth around it (cut to fit), and secure the seam with duct tape. Then get some bicycle handlebar foam-the tubes are sold in 8½"-long pairs. Start with some Hitecloth, a product that's packaged in 7"-per-side squares meant for cleaning CD surfaces. "You appear to encourage tweaks," he wrote. The next tweak was sent in via snail-mail by audio worthy Larry Marks of Toronto, Ontario. One might then slightly raise the two rear screws, as I did, and remember to stay outta that La-Z-Boy recliner! The only possible downside with speakers might be if their tweeters wind up slightly higher than optimal in relation to seated ear height. Back then, I'd used Goldmund cones under the Ascents, which seemed to do the trick. I enthusiastically agree-Pol圜rystal is great stuff. Of course, Robert Stein is no fool he quickly recommended that his friend upgrade to Pol圜rystal-coated brass spikes. What a pain in the ass: measuring and setting four screws under each speaker, with another four screws for the external crossover, and all over again for the other channel. I screwed my Avalon Ascents the same way. The racks were SuperSolidly mounted this way, even if-veteran tweaker that I've become-I now realize that they'd have performed even better had I filled their hollow frames. I'd used a stud finder to locate and mark the joists running under the plywood top floor, then driven into them as many of the screws as possible. A few turns on one or more as needed to level things up nicely!"Įxactly what I'd done under all my Arcici SuperStructures, but with flat-head aluminum sheet-metal screws. Then simply set the speaker spikes into the Phillips-head screws-X marks the spot. I told him if the 1" OEM speaker spikes didn't penetrate his thick carpet and padding, he should get some 1½" wood screws and drill them through the rug into the subfloor, leaving the heads of the screws exposed at the base of the carpet's pile. Stein: "I was fielding a question from an audiophile with a thick carpet and wobbly speakers, and realized what I was suggesting he do was something you'd done yourself some time ago with your old racks. I was reminded of it recently when I stubbed my toe on a screw head sticking up about 1/8" from the floor (Ouch!), and by an e-mail that arrived the very same day from Robert Stein of Ultra Systems/The Cable Company. This month, "Fine Tunes" offers a grab-bag of useful and inexpensive tips for the impecunious tweaker searching for better sound.įirst up, a technique I used in the early 1990s, when all my equipment was on Arcici SuperStructure racks and isolation shelves.
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