did you experience any hearing loss from shooting?
I don’t believe I did. I wore earplugs most of the time and it was only a 22 long rifle. I’ve had air pellet guns that were louder.
Most of my damage came from working with tools, hammers, etc on my right side and from motorcycles (wind noise).
I just put a whole can of electronics cleaner through my 20 year old PS Quintet because I thought it might be about time and… Wow, much better. I just ordered some Caig red to see if that helps too. It really was a huge upgrade. Best $6 I’ve spent recently to be sure.
Has anyone here tried inexpensive “wall wart” linear power adapters on their network switches and possibly NAS units (assuming same voltage, amperage and plug size/polarity) to replace the SMPS units that are probably powering these devices now? If so, any difference in sound with their network capable DAC such as the DSD/Bridge II if you’ve tried them?
Yes. The ify versions are a good bang for the buck.
Thanks for the suggestion. I was thinking a little more low-brow, perhaps products from Jameco.com, hoping they’d be a nice step better than the stock SMPS that come with the network products.
I forgot about them. It would be a cheap test even if there’s no audible improvement in your system. It wouldn’t cost much to find out.
Saddest thing is 20 odd years ago most every wall wart was linear (and heavy with a real transformer).
I threw a bunch of them away about 5 years ago…
I received the linear wall warts for my network switches in the house but nothing for the NAS power supply yet (I have not found an inexpensive linear power supply that delivers 12VDC and 4A or better). However, I did see an interesting little product from iFi called the DC Purifier 2 and may give that a try on the NAS’ power supply to see if that helps.
Anyway, I gave the hi-fi a listen with just the switches all powered up with new linear supplies from Jameco and convinced myself that things are a touch smoother and there’s a little more detail. Not a huge difference, but in keeping with inexpensive tweaks it’s incremental and well worth the low investment cost. At $99 the iFi unit would break that ‘inexpensive’ rule but might be worth a try since I can’t seem to find a proper sized linear power supply for the NAS. And if I want to invest $16 more I found a nice 12VDC 10A switching supply on Amazon that I might try and compare to the stock 12VDC 4A unit supplied with the NAS, with and without the iFi unit.
Been using a Mojo for years. Bought this little DAC with volume control using the usb audio app for HD from my phone. Found it online, ASR measured it and found it good but low output, 0.8v, no problem with my planar headphones. $79 delivered from China with 4 different cables for computers or any type of phone. Supplier is called Zorloo.
I kinda forgot that elevating the speaker cables off the floor makes a difference. The shortest length the Synergistic Research Foundation cables I recently purchased came in, was 8’, so had to do a loop on the floor between the speakers and the amp, but never bothered to elevate them. After reading your post I decided it was time to get the cables off the floor, so rounded up some wooden bed risers which worked out well. Definitely made a noticeable difference. Increased low-level detail and more expansive soundstage.
Everyone wants a more expensive soundstage these days.
If no one mentioned it yet. Blu Tak. Invaluable. Less than $2 for plenty of it. Also “Herbies” stuff.
Mobile Fidelity Vinyl Sleeves. I love these and they’e cheap to boot.
I picked up some rebar chairs at Home Depot which are used to hold rebar off the ground when pouring concrete. Mine are 2 3/4” tall. Smaller cables fit right in the cradle and larger sit in enough to hold them in place. Many styles and sizes are available on line. Mine pretty much look as if they are a audiophile product.
And the drumroll- they come 20 pieces for $4.00!
Superb idea!
Bag of 30 for $15, what the hell, I’m a big spender!
Genius
I was considering these, but I might have to just repurpose the ones that come with the pies – unless I can find them in packages of less then 1000! 
In the meantime, I will get by with my paper towel rolls cut to length, which are currently dotted all over the floor and suspended between various cables behind the kit and out of sight.
Cheers.
Thanks