Simple & Cost Effective Mods

Hi All...

Have been reading through this Forum and many others in regards to simple / cost effective modifications done to one's Hifi gear. And we do not have a dedicated thread to share. As such I would like to start up a dedicated thread for all who are willing to share their simple and cost effective mods that have helped to get a tiny ounce of juice out of your HiFi gear. Makes it easy for searching as well.

Thank you.

Cheers

Listen to your system at 5am.

Somehow it sounds better.

Hi ....

My First Contribution.....

[img][/img]

Rob...totally agree with you...have tried weird hours....and somehow...sounds pleasing and everything is enhanced.

cheers

The improvement at 'wierd' hours is mainly due to less pollution in the power grid, since most of the PCs, notebooks, TV, etc would be powered off (except for those PCs which are downloading HD movies lar They run for days on end). Only things on are mainly air-conditioners and fridges. This is the reason why the system sounds better. It is simply better, cleaner supply. It is useful to bear in mind that the whole system is basically taking the power supply from Tenaga and then modulating it, changing it to signals which is a facsimile of sound. So just like if we use polluted water to make a drink and we will get stomach ache, thus if we use polluted power we will not get very good results. This is why eventually most audiophiles HAVE to look at the power supply. Thus the obsession with hospital grade 3-pin sockets and plugs, furutech fuses, PurePower, PowerTrans, and so forth. Sadly they can be costly.

It used to be during CNY, HRH, etc the system will sound very nice because most people are back in hometown and the power grid is very lightly loaded (and polluted). But nowadays, not so much lar because many people have settled down in Klang Valley already and no more going back hometown.

One of the most cost effective mods is vibration treatment. It can be isolation, damping, sinking (as in drawing the vibration away to a vibration 'sink') and so forth. Consequently one of the best return for money invested is good equipment racks, equipment placement boards, proper support (spiking, etc) of speakers and so forth.

Just my opinions.

RobA4 wrote:Listen to your system at 5am.

Somehow it sounds better.

This I have to agree. I usually listen for 30 mins at 630 am to 7 am before going to work.

And if I have the energy, after midnight as well. But morning is better.

seem talking about the "noise" contained in power source which caused unclear & buzz sound from speaker right? one of my manufacturer built a model which have better EMI feature (electromagnetic interferences) to isolate the unwanted interfere from power source... hence as information and did the field test with some of audiophiles and proven it have the sound quality differences with it...

anyway, here my sales thread... i offer for low price for the first few enquiry for testing purpose to verify it make the difference on hi-end system... sorry for advertising here, just sharing what i got which it may bring the beneficial to most audiophiles...
http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/489172

WongKN wrote: Consequently one of the best return for money invested is good equipment racks, equipment placement boards, proper support (spiking, etc) of speakers and so forth.
Just my opinions.

This I got to agree. Its a total different experience.

cheers

wingman wrote:Hi ....

My First Contribution.....

[img][/img]

Rob...totally agree with you...have tried weird hours....and somehow...sounds pleasing and everything is enhanced.

cheers

Wingman,

Why not give nylon screws a try? Instead of metal screw n nut.

wingman wrote:Hi All...

Have been reading through this Forum and many others in regards to simple / cost effective modifications done to one's Hifi gear. And we do not have a dedicated thread to share. As such I would like to start up a dedicated thread for all who are willing to share their simple and cost effective mods that have helped to get a tiny ounce of juice out of your HiFi gear. Makes it easy for searching as well.

Thank you.

Cheers

my 1st toplessloader:

Instead of playing without the cover, why not cut a square opening in the cover so you can still use a CD clamp plus have a cover to keep the dust and inquisitive little fingers out of the circuitry ? Plus you have a clamp but the opened chassis then allows air-borne vibration in, which will have some (small) effect on the transport and the electronics. Sort of like taking 2 steps forward then half or a quarter of a step back.

TL....

Impressive and a daring move.

As Wong ssuggested....you should be able to customize a cover...either acrylic / aluminium sheet.

With a flip door for loading and unloading.

Cheers

WongKN wrote:Instead of playing without the cover, why not cut a square opening in the cover so you can still use a CD clamp plus have a cover to keep the dust and inquisitive little fingers out of the circuitry ? Plus you have a clamp but the opened chassis then allows air-borne vibration in, which will have some (small) effect on the transport and the electronics. Sort of like taking 2 steps forward then half or a quarter of a step back.

still thinking... airbath/shower at the entrance +acrylic cover, or maybe more naked as topspinner

gkl83 wrote:seem talking about the "noise" contained in power source which caused unclear & buzz sound from speaker right? one of my manufacturer built a model which have better EMI feature (electromagnetic interferences) to isolate the unwanted interfere from power source... hence as information and did the field test with some of audiophiles and proven it have the sound quality differences with it...

anyway, here my sales thread... i offer for low price for the first few enquiry for testing purpose to verify it make the difference on hi-end system... sorry for advertising here, just sharing what i got which it may bring the beneficial to most audiophiles...
http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/489172

GK...

This is sort of "field trial" that you are conducting hence the low cost before mass production and price hike ?

Have you tried this product yourself and are you able to share the technical specification of both the products here, i.e - surge protector. Any WEBLINK that we are able to read and view ? Product internal view other then the blur image in LYN forum ?

We should be able add on an extension sockets from this units to support the various Hifi gear and what would be the recommended number its able to support. Any other consideration that we should be aware off ?

Cheers

[quote="tlkoo"]still thinking... airbath/shower at the entrance +acrylic cover, or maybe more naked as topspinner quote]

TL....to make things much simpler...just design a square "acrylic" box with ventilation holes to cover the CDP ...like some TT Covers. Keeps away dust, airborne disturbance and prying hands.

Maybe line the bottom with rubber lining, prevent the cover from moving around. Rubber lining's that are used for window glass before being inserted into the window frame. Not mistaken its a few dollars a metre.

cheers

assuming parts of cdp/t have been "safed" from airborne disturbance, how could topspinning cd avoid it? there still exist commercial offerings of topspinning cdp/t without any "protection" what about bigger clamp which covers wider area of the spinning cd?




regards

I am not sure of the answers to all those questions but what I feel is that if all of the top CD players that offers CD clamps have the following :

1. The clamp covers the entire CD
2. The transport is always in its own chamber/room
3. Some offers isolation platform.

So given that the top guys who offer top loading are doing this, it seems sensible to follow suit. Especially if it is generally held that they are good sounding.

perhaps the most effective tweak to yourself which often overlooked...and cheap too....

sting wrote:

perhaps the most effective tweak to yourself which often overlooked...and cheap too....

Sting....

Good one..... .... should make it part of the Hifi gear requirment....buy one get this free.....


cheers

What about just having a mindset that , the system sings, performs as designed or manufactured and all sound just great as it is! No worries, no phobia, happy happy...and all cost nothing.

cmboy, you remind me of this good friend of mine, whom might well be reading this as he lurks here occasionally. His philosophy in hifi is simply

"whatever I have, is the best" !!

until his next bekside itch la, that is.....

WongKN wrote:
1. The clamp covers the entire CD

care to list a few, mr wong
pardon my ignorance




thanks/regards

I remember the Micromega series of transports has a clamp which covers the whole CD. Then they have a thick acrylic cover which has a lies flat against the top of the transport chassis top but has a large cutout to accomodate the CD clamp. I remember the Micromega Duo or Trio transport had that.

The older Krell CD players like KPS-20 has a sliding aluminium drawer and a clamp which if I remember has 5 'claws' which latches onto the top of the CD. We press open and the door slides open. We put the CD, then the clamp and we press close or play to close the drawer lid and then play the CD.

I remember the top end Goldmund transport had one too, CD clamp I mean.

For more modern transports, I think we can google up to check for examples.

For the Micromega Duo BS transport, the page below has a photo which shows the CD clamp pretty clearly, through the acrylic lid eventhough it is closed (scroll to the middle of the page).

micromega duo transport

This page shows the Goldmund Mimesis 36 CD transport. The gold CD clamp is clearly seen even through the closed and black coloured lid. Unlike the Micromega, most of the 'lid' is a permanent cover on top of the transport chassis. Where the transport mechanism itself is, a smaller rectangular lid is provided when lifts up to put the CD and clamp.

Goldmund Mimesis 36 transport

many thanks, mr wong


more coming...

Tl....

Care to share how you went about doing that "Mod" on your CDP....who knows a few here might venture into that path....

Keep the juices flowing TL....can't wait to read your escapades...

cheers

wingman wrote:Tl....

Care to share how you went about doing that "Mod" on your CDP....who knows a few here might venture into that path....

Keep the juices flowing TL....can't wait to read your escapades...

cheers

u hv to disengage yr original clamp which is somehow attached to the arm, disable/stop using the drawer, shoot down a suitable clamp...


main2 aja, but serious improvements/enhancements in:
- sonic density
- definition of depth, width & images
- noise floor




hv fun/rgds

Koo,

So that 'shocked' emoticon suggests that you have been 'shocked' with some pretty innovative ideas right ? Looking forward to reading more of your mods. Go for it man !!

Also, do google for more examples. To get more 'shocks' and thus more ideas. The Krell KPS-20i CD player+pre-amp owners manual for e.g., is available on the internet and at the last page of that manual, a diagram of the 5-spoke Krell CD clamp is clearly shown. Bear in mind in real life the clamp is thicker in the middle than at the end. So the spokes are gets thicker (taller if viewed from the side profile) as it gets towards the center. Think of the Shaolin 'Tiger Claw' when you see that design.

I am sure there are other examples as well. Just google.

WongKN wrote:Koo,

So that 'shocked' emoticon suggests that you have been 'shocked' with some pretty innovative ideas right ? Looking forward to reading more of your mods. Go for it man !!

Also, do google for more examples. To get more 'shocks' and thus more ideas. The Krell KPS-20i CD player+pre-amp owners manual for e.g., is available on the internet and at the last page of that manual, a diagram of the 5-spoke Krell CD clamp is clearly shown. Bear in mind in real life the clamp is thicker in the middle than at the end. So the spokes are gets thicker (taller if viewed from the side profile) as it gets towards the center. Think of the Shaolin 'Tiger Claw' when you see that design.

I am sure there are other examples as well. Just google.

dear wongkn


pardon my ignorance, i never saw "full clamps"

come to think further, it is not about toploading, frontloading, sideloading, swingloading or toplessloading but essentially FREE-CLAMPING!!! logically clamp should be free from attachment to arm or any like device to minimise "signal poisons"

more peripheric improvements may come along later too busy with music visits and revisits, of course


this clamp may reduce airborne disturbance as compared to smaller sized clamps? i have the answer lah... but then why some toploader like flatfish has just little to cover?



cheers
tlkoo

Ah, I thought you understood what I meant. The photo of the Micromega transport I was referring to is below:



The clamp is clearly seen sitting inside the cutout in the acrylic lid. It is a 'full clamp' in the sense that it covers the entire CD, not just part of the CD. Can you see it ?

Note that I am not say that it is the only way to do a clamp, just something to consider.

WongKN wrote:Ah, I thought you understood what I meant. The photo of the Micromega transport I was referring to is below:



The clamp is clearly seen sitting inside the cutout in the acrylic lid. It is a 'full clamp' in the sense that it covers the entire CD, not just part of the CD. Can you see it ?

Note that I am not say that it is the only way to do a clamp, just something to consider.

i only buy the idea of FREE-CLAMP!



cheers

As it is your project, you would be the best person to decide what is the best approach. I am not sure what a 'free clamp' means exactly but I think it should work well ! Let us know the results so that hopefully we can also duplicate it (with our own individual approach of course). I myself have a couple of DVD players which could use with a mod like this !

FREE-CLAMP means that it is attached to nothing but merely pressing on the spinning cd due to gravitational force, never pressing force coming from spring of the arm!

i am currently deploying these clamps on cdm2 and cdm4, results have been spelt out in earlier post

Ah, it's like I thought. In that case, I am afraid you might have interpreted the photos incorrectly. All of the transports I mentioned : micromega, krell, goldmund, they all uses a 'free clamp'. I am not sure if you think their clamp is somehow attached to the acrylic covers. No they are not. It is a separate item, much like a turntable clamp. So you open the acrylic cover, you put the CD on to the transport, then you put the clamp on the CD and you close the cover.

From experience, I prefer a clamp that covers the whole CD. The clamp you showed in the photo covers only part of it. The thing is I have seen a CD spinning in the transport bay of a normal CD player with it cover opened. And I can see the CD might not always be spinning perfectly perpendicular to the laser head. This means a particular 'groove' in the CD will wonder around when seen by the laser head. So the laser head mechanism will need to move around to follow that movement and supposedly this disturbs the sound in some way (e.g. extra stress on the power supply). So my own preference is influenced by this experience.

Of course there are many types of CD clamps available, similar to the case of the turntable clamp. As long as it works, to me, it doesn''t matter which type is used.

wow... Your eyesight could "measure" if the lens reads perfectly perpendicularly? Which means perfect eyesight with high precision huh ;-) tongue in cheek, time's up...

Not 'measure' but infer as the disc is not spinning exactly tightly and flatly. You can see it wobbling a bit slightly. Maybe that unit was faulty. It is unlike a high quality turntable like Oracle Delphi, Artemis, Clearaudio, for e.g. where the platter is so tightly balanced you cannot see it spinning unless you look very closely.

Hi....

Anyone tried this on their TT tonearm.

[img][/img]

What are your views.

cheers

Hi All,
Kind of obscure information on the web. Or maybe you guys have done this years ago.

Instead of the Normal Automatic Circuit Breaker for your hi fi, do consider Fuse type. Which mean, no mechanical switching inside other than the fuse and the fuse holder.

Havent try it myself... going to do it later ~~

Note: You are dealing with deadly voltage/current here, if you dont know what you are doing. Dont do it. I am not responsible for any injury or death.

wingman wrote:Hi....
Anyone tried this on their TT tonearm.
What are your views.
cheers

How about you try it yourself then let us know your findings?
Personally I won't try it in that manner. Firstly, I think it looks fugly.
As bad as dabbing blutak at certain places along the tonearm tube. It can all kasi rosak dia punya sound at worst! BUT!...if you like the resultant sound, I'm happy for you...you earned it with an inexpensive tweak.

Entirely my own view and speak for myself only.

CM...

No worries...thanks for you comment... Not sure myself...but it could be positive as well.... read the Blu tack thingy in one of the UK forums....the person claims it sounded better sonically.

Similar to the Proton Sound dampening material for the doors. Without the product the closing of the doors sounds loose or wobbly.With the product the door closing sounds much more firm and solid.

Maybe there is some truth to this as well....u never know....

cheers

Damping a tonearm can have positive or negative results. Only you yourself can determine if its acceptable or not. Its as debatable as in the subject of having a record clamp of various designs on your TT. Please google and reseach about tonearm to cartridge compliance which is quite detrimental to the sonics outcome rather than some person's claim this and that works.

Cm,

U have a point here, I have to agree with u.

I like the suggestion by Sting. Personally, instead of DIY I prefer the professional touch. There are many reflexology/massage places that offer the service. It is called "ear candle". At your own risk though and make sure it is not the "Happy ending" options that you go for! It is to enhance your LISTENING pleasure.

Boy you are right about the tonearm and cartridge symbiosis.

CM...

Similar to The "Air Line / bearing Tonearm " are isolating tonearm vibration the expensive way and the other method with rubber dampner / blu tack as a cheaper approach.

You have you valid reason and your believe which I would not dispute. To me there is so much to theory and some practical test may prove whats preached theoritically is skewed or otherwise.

Yes, very aware of what can be derived from "Google" and I would aslo suggest that you google also to get to view and read the comments on the many mods on dampening. So its a two sided view of the coin.

Similar scenario like products from the emerging market and the established market. Two school of thoughts and preference.

I would leave it to once sonic / product preference.

But would love to read comments and thoughts from any one.

cheers

adrian4454 wrote:Hi All,
Kind of obscure information on the web. Or maybe you guys have done this years ago.

Instead of the Normal Automatic Circuit Breaker for your hi fi, do consider Fuse type. Which mean, no mechanical switching inside other than the fuse and the fuse holder.

Havent try it myself... going to do it later ~~

Note: You are dealing with deadly voltage/current here, if you dont know what you are doing. Dont do it. I am not responsible for any injury or death.

Adrian,
Can you post the link on the website about the benefit of this mod ?

Resonance? Has anyone measured it? Is it at different frequencies? Do certain tonearms magnify these? Corellation betwen tonearm resonance/frequency and cartridge?
There used to be a product that wraps around the tonearm.Similar to the rings that has been proposed here.
Origin Live has said some things on tonearm mods.

I'm guessing if wingman insists on making the Rega arm sound like gold, then a underslung weight and better tonearm wiring is the only course for little money in this department. The Michell Tecnoarm and Origin Live arms are in another league due to extensive modifications done to it. If still not satisfied, there's a lot of other higher compliance arms that can be found in the market.

sivaguru wrote:Resonance? Has anyone measured it? Is it at different frequencies? Do certain tonearms magnify these? Corellation betwen tonearm resonance/frequency and cartridge?
There used to be a product that wraps around the tonearm.Similar to the rings that has been proposed here.
Origin Live has said some things on tonearm mods.

Siva....

I was made to understand that the newer model of Thorens TT has a sort of metal housing ( make it more presentable ) in the centre of the Tonearm, beneath that is a rubber dampner. If thats being the case, the DIY rubber dampner can't be far fetched either.

cheers

cheers

I am not saying that the rubber dampener has no effect. The damping must correspond with the resonance frequency that is degrading the perceived sound quality. Therefore damping can give rise to differing results. My 2 sen worth. Happy Chap Goh Meh to all!