HI-FI Tweaks, myth or fact!

Monstermunch · 27 Mar 2006 at 18:02

Thought I would start this thread cos of a heated debate in another forum.

Over the years I have listened to magazines and people go on about simple and easy tweaks to perform on your system for little or no cost. Some good and some bad but i've always tried to be as objective as possible.

Here's a list off the top of my head:

1. Green Pen around edges of discs - Obviously started by the people who make green pens I think :rolleyes:

2. Polishing plug pins and fuses - IMO makes a remarkable difference to the sound, adding control response and bass depth.

3. Green paper in the CD Drawer - One of mates insists there is a difference but I think NOT

Comments, any more anyone. I may add to this later. Maybe we can create a sticky!

Monstermunch · 27 Mar 2006 at 18:17

DRZ said:
Have a read up on Peter Belt - Techniques involve freezing CDs, attaching tin foil to your components etc. Total rubbish.

As for polishing fuses and mains plugs etc - I am sure there are hundreds of things you can do to that mains cable before polishing the fuse will ever make a difference. Ever.

Trust me i've been doing the HI-FI thing for years, it's the only thing i've ever tried that actually makes an audiable difference to the sound. It just seems to give the amplifier much more control.

Obviously it's not as good as a dedicated PSU like the PSX for example or even an expensive power lead, but it does make a difference.

Please give it a try and see for yourself.

Monstermunch · 27 Mar 2006 at 18:38

DRZ said:
I have just built myself a power supply (for some audio equipment I am building) and have it sat here connected to my oscilloscope - do you think I will see a difference when I polish the fuse in it?

Does Brasso give better sound quality than just using fine glasspaper?

Okay you got me on that one but if you don't have the know how and can't afford better equipment then it does improve the sound!

Monstermunch · 27 Mar 2006 at 20:39

mcmad said:
tosh, the lot of it.

do a blind test & see if you still think so..

Generally I agree, every tweak suggested to me i've either thought about or tried. None of which IMO had any impact on the sound except cleaning the pins.

I spose it's no different to putting new banana plugs on speaker cable every few years!

Monstermunch · 28 Mar 2006 at 00:13

dmpoole said:
Good grief I've just brasso'ed the mains plug on my TV and the picture is sharper. The bread in my toaster came out browner too.

Now you're just taking the ****

Monstermunch · 28 Mar 2006 at 00:21

DRZ might be able to answer this, being as he's a scientist an' all

But the idea behind the green thing sounded plauseable, just didn't make any noticeable difference to my ears.

I had read somewhere (not just a hi-fi mag) that bright green was the only thing that would render a laser signal inert. So by using green paper in the cd drawer or green pen on the disc it would soak up stray lasers and help to keep the returning signal pure, instead of picking up distortion from inside the transport.

Makes no difference to me but my mate keeps going on about it and has green paper bluetacked inside his £1100 Cyrus CD8X drawer! :eek:

and I need to tell him he's a PLANK