I notice they dampen in both directions, foot stomps (vertical) and tapping the side of the cabinet it sits on (horizontal). It definitely got rid of low frequency (less than 15Hz) feedback I was getting from the dual subwoofers moving the turntable that isolation feet (IsoAcoustics) was not able to control.
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also Hydrogen Peroxide, with a few applications, gets a good cleaning of wax buildup…
i find if done just before showering, then i can carefully use warmest water to rinse out the buildup that was released…keep below 5% concentration…
it’s expensive, But, worth every penny!
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I will add to the list the appropriate/warranted use of speaker port plugs. When my speakers are placed close to the rear walls (12") for non critical listening they help improve overall sound quality.
These plugs are usually included with the purchase of the speakers, so they are free-ish. I think folks might be surprised if they experiment with them.
Iso-pucks come in a package of eight are a good deal for small items, while the AV Roomservice EVPs are one of the best component, if not speaker, isolation deals around. Currently 10% off and 20% on second order.
Reading Get Better Sound - Jim Smith he mentioned laser distance meters. $28 very well spent, the book as well at $38 or so.
I have stand mount 2-ways and the laser meter makes it a 2 second job to place them precisely or to replace after playing with different locations to the 1/16".
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Yep. The laser measuring device has proved to be nearly invaluable. I bought this one:
Can’t beat it for fifty bucks.
How are you otherwise liking the book, so far?
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Adjust azimuth at your cartridge. All you need is a tonearm that allows it, an iPad, a record with an appropriate measuring track (40$), a measuring app (20$) and a line input audio conversion device (100$). You’ll get good tracking and much better sound.
I bought a copy also. It is a very interesting read. He seems to be very knowledgeable and able to clearly get his point(s) across. I’m going to go thru the book once then one more time a little slower and dog ear some pages for reference. I also bought the DVD’s but haven’t had time to look yet.
I’ve been playing around with a free tweak, which is to tilt the speakers back a couple degrees by adjusting the feet. It makes a nice change to most aspects of soundstage.
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Would this be influenced by how tall the speaker is? Meaning would you tip a 5ft tall tower or a bookshelf monitor either at all or differently. And does the height of the tweeter/mid/woofer matter in tilting?
You need to have your ear level close to the level of the speakers tweeter so depending on the height of your speaker and your seating position you could need to tilt it either way.
I placed my gear on these rubber feet. Actually I used 4x2 to form feets on each corner. The wide parts against each other; to form a BIG feet.
SQ Effect? don’t really know, might be better, might not be better. But it looks good, and it makes for easy cleaning underneath the gear! Cheap - at local hardware store; look for washmachine damper.
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Frankly I don’t believe I read anything I didn’t already know but it’s nice to have all the great tips in one place but that’s not to say I didn’t learn from it, mostly technique.
Some even many of them are intuitive if one doesn’t get caught in the folk lore trap.
I strongly recommend the book and I believe we should support more people that go to this much effort to record all of this in a book!
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I’m sure it’s influenced by speaker height.
My speakers are just 39" tall. The center of the 10" full range driver is below ear level, so tipping it back made sense to me. I like them this way…until I don’t…
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I believe it’s preferrable to have the acoustic center of the speaker at ear level. Often this is between the tweeter and woofer in a two-way, and somewhere else in a 3-way.
Just listen with the speakers at different heights or different angles. Tilting angles effects more of the interaction with the room than a slight height adjustment.
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Indeed exactly as @brett66 says, the acoustic center rather than the tweeter at ear level by default. In the case of my ATC SCM20 2 way actives, the acoustic center is actually about 3" below the tweeter axis. That is a non-trivial difference when it comes to speaker stand selection!
Ha, I run the ATC SCM11v2. Wish I had the volume for a 20 liter active or even the 19 passive. I chose to keep the ATC after in home audition of 14 maybe 15 different pairs of stand mounts! I spent two years and spent many weeks with most of the candidates.
Something special (or neutral) about the ATC like.
FYI. If you want to elevate your cables with the porcelain bell-shaped insulators, don’t go paying big bucks for “audiophile” ones. Hit eBay and google “porcelain insulator” and you can get ones that were used on electrical poles far cheaper.
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When I had carpeting, I used tea cups
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There you go.