The perils of modifying gear

[Eileen Dover]

I have done many modifications to amps, cdp's and power supplies over the years. It can become addictive and the need for the next fix overwhelming.

It is hard to not think every mod is an improvement, often putting things back to stock is the only way to prove to yourself that you are not imaging things.

Most mods bring forth extra musical detail and going down that road can bring disappointment. All that detail has to be processed by the brain leading to listener fatigue and ultimately the system gets played less. I have been guilty of this and it is a relief to finally take a step back and realise what has been going on. When the system "disappears" you know you have cracked it.

What are the collectives view on this ?

[YNWaN]

Not just when modifying gear, but also when assessing it in general, it's easy to obsess over specific aspects at the expense of the greater picture - that's one of the problems with having specific reference tracks.

[Arkless Electronics]

Not just when modifying gear, but also when assessing it in general, it's easy to obsess over specific aspects at the expense of the greater picture - that's one of the problems with having specific reference tracks.

Also we can all be easily fooled by our own brain/ear interface, what mood we're in, expectation bias etc etc hence people believing they can hear differences between mains cables etc. Other examples being when trying to design a speaker crossover by ear (not a good idea)... I've known times in the past I've spent hours tuning active crossovers it to sound what seemed great at the time, late at night after hours of tweaking and using only specific test tracks, only to try it the next day, rested and on different music, and finding it so awful it seemed beyond belief that I could have thought it anything other than truly dire the night before!

[struth]

now now Jez, some folk do hear differences..in fact most do, although I will grant you that some are expectation bias.

[Arkless Electronics]

now now Jez, some folk do hear differences..in fact most do, although I will grant you that some are expectation bias.

Not with mains cables they don't. Entirely imagination and that's a fact. It's not even up for debate for me and I will always say to anyone and everyone claiming to hear a difference from a mains cable that they are simply wrong. Carry on....

[struth]

As long as its your opinion . I might add ive never heard any with mains cable either but others have, but that is just my opinion

[walpurgis]

They used to burn blasphemers and witches. I think that had something to do with expectation bias too. Not sure quite what they expected though?

[YNWaN]

I entirely agree with Jez regarding the designing of speaker crossovers entirely by ear. In my experience this creates speakers that are very program dependant - good (remarkable even) on some stuff but really bloody awful on other music.

[Light Dependant Resistor]

Also we can all be easily fooled by our own brain/ear interface, what mood we're in, expectation bias etc etc hence people believing they can hear differences between mains cables etc. Other examples being when trying to design a speaker crossover by ear (not a good idea)... I've known times in the past I've spent hours tuning active crossovers it to sound what seemed great at the time, late at night after hours of tweaking and using only specific test tracks, only to try it the next day, rested and on different music, and finding it so awful it seemed beyond belief that I could have thought it anything other than truly dire the night before!

Whilst measurements can be a very good guide to allow mass production of a speaker, it is rare to find a manufacturer that goes that extra yard and individually listens to each speaker, not that that is wrong in my opinion. An assembly of parts unless extremely carefully chosen with consistency, will otherwise be inconsistent.

Delving for a minute into a part which is not part of a speaker, but never the less an example,is a LM317. Whilst it is a widely used as a voltage or current regulator, how many manufacturers bother to listen to each brand of LM317 ? If you happen to have the time to look at internal schematics of each brand there are differences. ST for instance leave out a zener diode on the adjustment terminal, which happens certainly in the circuits I design, to be very beneficial indeed, Yet if I chose without listening I would succumb to the rationale of ... it will do, when clearly ST is the brand that sounds best.

Back to speakers, how many manufacturers will buy in 3 capacitors instead of one,or better still make their own capacitors- if the best calculated value is actually 5.8uf, no what they do is plumb straight for 6uf and say that's good enough, and probably add muttering - its only a speaker.

Cheers / Chris

[User211]

After my recent crossover mod which I have lived with for a few weeks, after having spent a few months with cheap components of the same value, I am seriously impressed by the improvement foo parts have made.

So much so I am trying hard not to spend stupid money on some really silly stupidly expensive caps.