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magiccarpetride
29-07-2011, 18:00
One of the most recent tweaks I've done on my system was to clean the contacts on the power cables, interconnects, and speaker cables. This cheap and easy-to-do tweak rendered audible improvements as far as clarity, stability, and authority of the reproduced sound.

That positive result got me thinking: obviously, contacts between the electrical outlet and the components, as well as between the components etc. seem to be important for the quality of sound. Ideally, the best quality would be achieved if there were no discontinuities, no contacts, just one long wire running through all the electrical and electronic components. Since that's not possible, the next best thing would be to ensure that the points of contact are as solid and as sturdy as they can be. Examining some of the AC plugs in my system, I've noticed that they seem a bit wobbly and when flicking the prongs with my index finger, I could hear a slight metallic ringing. That means that there are some unwanted acoustic vibrations that must affect the electrical signal.

Did a bit more research on that topic and found out that there is a solution -- teflon tape! Basically, wrap the tape around the base of each prong, plug it in, and at that point the physical contact becomes much tighter. If you then unplug the AC and flick the prongs again, the metallic ringing should be dampened. OK, makes sense from the theoretical perspective -- time to give it a good old sit down and listen.

I didn't have much time last night, so I wrapped teflon tape only around the prongs on the plug for my power conditioner. Before I did that, I listened to the Beatles "I'm Only Sleeping" from "Revolver" (1966). Then I wrapped the teflon around the prongs on the AC plug for my power conditioner, plugged it back into the wall socket, and listened to "I'm Only Sleeping" once again.

Holly excrement! Talk about self-hypnosis. The bloody song now sounds different. I can hear Lennon's jangling Jumbo Gibson acoustic with such presence, that it took my breath away. McCartney's bass is now easier to follow, and I can now hear with greater ease how he weaves all those melodies and rhythmical punches. Ringo's drumming is absolutely brilliant on that song, and now his cymbals sizzle like never before. And Lennon's peerless 'fuck you' attitude is fully present in his sneering vocals.

I know I'm easily excitable and prone to exaggerations, but man, it cost me $1.29 for this teflon tape, and I can't believe the difference it makes. Tonight I'm going to teflon all of my other AC plugs, see if I get even more improvements.

This tweak is definitely worth trying; it's ultra cheap, takes just a few minutes, and may revitalize your hi fi!

Werner Berghofer
29-07-2011, 18:08
obviously, contacts between the electrical outlet and the components, as well as between the components etc. seem to be important for the quality of sound.

Wow, now that’s what I call a true recognition. Any ideas yet about the average burn-in time required for standard teflon tape until things really start to shine? ;-)

Werner.

magiccarpetride
29-07-2011, 18:21
Wow, now that’s what I call a true recognition. Any ideas yet about the average burn-in time required for standard teflon tape until things really start to shine? ;-)

Werner.

Good question. To get a hunch for how long will it take, I suggest you go away and polish a turd. Once you get it to the point where is really starts to shine, that's how long it usually takes.

Werner Berghofer
29-07-2011, 18:29
I suggest you go away and polish a turd

It’s not only your themes and topics I certainly do appreciate, but also your eloquent, sophisticated and respectful style of conversation.

Werner.

Dingdong
29-07-2011, 19:07
Are there not better quality plugs that you could buy? I can't see the teflon thing working with UK plugs, but there is a limit to my knowledge.

wee tee cee
03-08-2011, 17:01
I was under the impression that you cannot polish a turd....You can however roll it in glitter....

magiccarpetride
03-08-2011, 22:20
Are there not better quality plugs that you could buy? I can't see the teflon thing working with UK plugs, but there is a limit to my knowledge.

Just wrap the teflon tape at the base of each prong, then plug it in. The force of pushing the plug into the socket will also push the tape snugly to the very base of the AC plug, and it will stay put there. Now you have achieved the dampening effect that you read about so much in all those gossip-oriented tabloids. If you're lucky (meaning if you have a sufficiently sophisticated, resolving system), you'll be able to hear how most of the digital pixelation (also known as 'graininess') has now vanished from the sound. I had a friend come over last night and he was at first taken aback by the change in the sound of my system. Then he slowly realized that the qualitative leap was from digitized (pixelated) to the liquid, analog (read: smooth, relaxed).

The more I learn about the sound reproduction, the more I'm starting to realize that it's basically down to two factors: the quality/cleanliness of the electric power supply, and the minimizing of the RFI.

Your nautical mileage may vary...

magiccarpetride
03-08-2011, 22:22
I was under the impression that you cannot polish a turd....You can however roll it in glitter....

Have you ever tried?

Rare Bird
03-08-2011, 23:37
Ever thought about getting a new stereo Alex? :D

Dingdong
04-08-2011, 06:16
Just wrap the teflon tape at the base of each prong, then plug it in. The force of pushing the plug into the socket will also push the tape snugly to the very base of the AC plug, and it will stay put there. Now you have achieved the dampening effect that you read about so much in all those gossip-oriented tabloids. If you're lucky (meaning if you have a sufficiently sophisticated, resolving system), you'll be able to hear how most of the digital pixelation (also known as 'graininess') has now vanished from the sound. I had a friend come over last night and he was at first taken aback by the change in the sound of my system. Then he slowly realized that the qualitative leap was from digitized (pixelated) to the liquid, analog (read: smooth, relaxed).

The more I learn about the sound reproduction, the more I'm starting to realize that it's basically down to two factors: the quality/cleanliness of the electric power supply, and the minimizing of the RFI.

Your nautical mileage may vary...

I still fail to understand why my UK plug will need damping. I can understand needing decent contacts.
Does this damping affect some components more than others?

wee tee cee
04-08-2011, 09:17
Have you ever tried?
Ye,ended in much wailing and knashing of teeth........

AlanS
04-08-2011, 10:08
One of the most recent tweaks I've done on my system was to clean the contacts on the power cables, interconnects, and speaker cables. This cheap and easy-to-do tweak rendered audible improvements as far as clarity, stability, and authority of the reproduced sound.

Always worth doing your housekeeping Alex,



That positive result got me thinking: obviously, contacts between the electrical outlet and the components, as well as between the components etc. seem to be important for the quality of sound. Ideally, the best quality would be achieved if there were no discontinuities, no contacts, just one long wire running through all the electrical and electronic components. Since that's not possible, the next best thing would be to ensure that the points of contact are as solid and as sturdy as they can be.

Oh dear he is thinking, careful of self devised theory and practice.


Examining some of the AC plugs in my system, I've noticed that they seem a bit wobbly and when flicking the prongs with my index finger, I could hear a slight metallic ringing. That means that there are some unwanted acoustic vibrations that must affect the electrical signal.

Ringing noises are acoustic vibrations. More importantly something MAY be loose. Did you take into account that the plug was out of the socket and could have loose fitting pins in it's moulding. The socket makes the pin solidity when it is in place



Did a bit more research on that topic and found out that there is a solution -- teflon tape! Basically, wrap the tape around the base of each prong, plug it in, and at that point the physical contact becomes much tighter. If you then unplug the AC and flick the prongs again, the metallic ringing should be dampened. OK, makes sense from the theoretical perspective -- time to give it a good old sit down and listen.

I didn't have much time last night, so I wrapped teflon tape only around the prongs on the plug for my power conditioner. Before I did that, I listened to the Beatles "I'm Only Sleeping" from "Revolver" (1966). Then I wrapped the teflon around the prongs on the AC plug for my power conditioner, plugged it back into the wall socket, and listened to "I'm Only Sleeping" once again.

Holly excrement! Talk about self-hypnosis. The bloody song now sounds different. I can hear Lennon's jangling Jumbo Gibson acoustic with such presence, that it took my breath away. McCartney's bass is now easier to follow, and I can now hear with greater ease how he weaves all those melodies and rhythmical punches. Ringo's drumming is absolutely brilliant on that song, and now his cymbals sizzle like never before. And Lennon's peerless 'fuck you' attitude is fully present in his sneering vocals.

I am pleased for you. It would have been sooo dissappointing if the sound was not different or worse.

Interesting you entertain the possibility of self hypnosis



I know I'm easily excitable and prone to exaggerations, but man, it cost me $1.29 for this teflon tape, and I can't believe the difference it makes. Tonight I'm going to teflon all of my other AC plugs, see if I get even more improvements.

This tweak is definitely worth trying; it's ultra cheap, takes just a few minutes, and may revitalize your hi fi!

Worth a try I guess especially if you live in Canada with their electrical components.

Could you post some of the things you have done that made no difference or even horrors made things worse.

I won't be buying and using the tape. But thanks for the post.

Edit:
Teflon is an insulator is it not? So one introduces as less effective metal to metal connection. Any explanations with your theory of better current path?

worthingpagan
04-08-2011, 13:11
I found it much easier and much more fun doing this: Get a bowl of warm / hot water, put your feet in (minus any footwear) with a little bubble bath. Make sure there is no airbourn dust in the vicinity, close the doors and windows. Open 14 cans of chilled Stella Lager and drink them quickly one after another, while allowing your system to warm up. Then load your cd's into the player, turn your amp up to around the 12.00 o'clock mark and hey presto..............the whole system sounds like a £100K valve jobby :eek:

Alex_UK
04-08-2011, 13:20
I found it much easier and much more fun doing this: Get a bowl of warm / hot water, put your feet in (minus any footwear) with a little bubble bath. Make sure there is no airbourn dust in the vicinity, close the doors and windows. Open 14 cans of chilled Stella Lager and drink them quickly one after another, while allowing your system to warm up. Then load your cd's into the player, turn your amp up to around the 12.00 o'clock mark and hey presto..............the whole system sounds like a £100K valve jobby :eek:

:lolsign: Probably best to avoid the feet in a bowl of water if you're fiddling with teflon tape on your mains plugs, though!

magiccarpetride
04-08-2011, 18:23
Could you post some of the things you have done that made no difference or even horrors made things worse.

This is the old tried-and-tested rite of passage for many budding audiophiles before they get accepted into the 'grownup' club of 'real' audiophiles. It would appear that the only trustworthy audiophiles, the ones who earn the respect of their peers, are the ones who claim that everything sounds the same. People who are convinced that it is not possible to improve the sound quality no matter what you try are the ones who get to wear the much coveted badge of 'objective' and 'serious' mature audiophile.

In order to impress such crowd, many sheepish novices are putting a brave face and ridiculing anyone who claims to have arrived at a better sound. They're calling 'Bullshit, that's all in your head, all these improvements.'

But since I don't give a shit about these curmudgeons, I'm not trying to pretend to be a hardened objectivist and to claim that no tweaks could ever result in any detectable change.

But to answer your question, I have made a lot of changes to my system that either didn't generate any detectable difference, or have resulted in horrible degradation. I've posted about a lot of these on this forum. One example is Stan Beresford's digital coax cable which really degraded the sound of my system. That was a colossal waste of money (and time); these things happen, and yes, more often than not, most of these tweaks turn out to be a blind alley. And as far as the neutral change (the one that didn't result in any detectable difference), Belkin interconnects come to mind -- despite the huge hoopla on this forum, I couldn't hear any difference after replacing my Nordost interconnects with Belkin (which is a good thing, because Belkin are waaaay cheaper).

BTH K10A
04-08-2011, 19:31
Ringing noises are acoustic vibrations. More importantly something MAY be loose.

Alex, have you tried wrapping the teflon tape around your head?

This will reduce any cranial vibration and ameliorate any ringing in the ears and has the effect of raising the quality of a £9.99 system to that of one costing £100k+ and all for the measly outlay of 89p. ;)

Marco
04-08-2011, 20:33
And you can treble the effect if you wrap it around your bell-end! :carrot: :carrot:

Marco.

Rare Bird
04-08-2011, 20:37
Thats true Marco, it cuts down the skin effect aswell :D

Reid Malenfant
04-08-2011, 20:43
And you can treble the effect if you wrap it around your bell-end! :carrot: :carrot:

Marco.


Thats true Marco, it cuts down the skin effect aswell :D
Jeez, what the feck have i been missing :lolsign:

BTH K10A
04-08-2011, 21:23
Yes, I'd forgotten about the skin effect :doh:, and the tape may also safeguard against EMI effects from any increased red blood cell activity although as a dielectric it may well increase capcitance of the member :eek:

AlanS
05-08-2011, 00:03
This is the old tried-and-tested rite of passage for many budding audiophiles before they get accepted into the 'grownup' club of 'real' audiophiles. It would appear that the only trustworthy audiophiles, the ones who earn the respect of their peers, are the ones who claim that everything sounds the same. People who are convinced that it is not possible to improve the sound quality no matter what you try are the ones who get to wear the much coveted badge of 'objective' and 'serious' mature audiophile.

In order to impress such crowd, many sheepish novices are putting a brave face and ridiculing anyone who claims to have arrived at a better sound. They're calling 'Bullshit, that's all in your head, all these improvements.'

But since I don't give a shit about these curmudgeons, I'm not trying to pretend to be a hardened objectivist and to claim that no tweaks could ever result in any detectable change.

I wonder if I were present in your world for before and after tweaks if I would hear what you describe as the improvement.
My system sounds different each time I use it, it isnt an immutable constant until I change something.




But to answer your question, I have made a lot of changes to my system that either didn't generate any detectable difference, or have resulted in horrible degradation. I've posted about a lot of these on this forum. One example is Stan Beresford's digital coax cable which really degraded the sound of my system. That was a colossal waste of money (and time); these things happen, and yes, more often than not, most of these tweaks turn out to be a blind alley. And as far as the neutral change (the one that didn't result in any detectable difference), Belkin interconnects come to mind -- despite the huge hoopla on this forum, I couldn't hear any difference after replacing my Nordost interconnects with Belkin (which is a good thing, because Belkin are waaaay cheaper).

Phew, you can learn as much from failures as successes.

The Grand Wazoo
05-08-2011, 00:24
Alex,
I find your posts hugely entertaining. Really, I do.
However, your proclivity for, what some people could call exaggeration, (but let's think of it as enthusiastic over emphasis) is astonishing! We hear tales of night and day differences, and so on that must leave people with less hi-fi experience than some of us feel that they have socks stuffed in their ears, and that they're barking up completely the wrong tree in their choices of equipment.

For example:



But to answer your question, I have made a lot of changes to my system that either didn't generate any detectable difference, or have resulted in horrible degradation. I've posted about a lot of these on this forum. One example is Stan Beresford's digital coax cable which really degraded the sound of my system. That was a colossal waste of money (and time); these things happen, and yes, more often than not, most of these tweaks turn out to be a blind alley.

You're describing a twenty quid cable here, but you call it a 'colossal waste of money'. Is that not just overstating the case just a teeny weeny bit. and you talk about it also being a colossal waste of time. So, after ordering the cable, did you unplug the old one you were using & just sit there waiting for the mail man to deliver Stan's wire? Or did you just waste an hour or so of your time?

I'm not disputing that you didn't like what you heard, but the way you couch things does make the realists amongst us pause for thought when you tell us anything.

Rare Bird
05-08-2011, 01:12
:D

WOStantonCS100
05-08-2011, 03:58
I was just about to meaningfully contribute to this thread when there was a knock on the door. When I opened the door, lo and behold, there was a neighborhood cat staring back at me, contemptuously. He didn't say a word; just shook his head at me... :nono: Then, he turned to the side, coughed up a hair ball, grimaced, blew a fart and walked off. :scratch: Strange neighborhood.

http://i815.photobucket.com/albums/zz80/TCKA1ESa/Temporary/contemptuouscat.jpg

Marco
05-08-2011, 08:59
The question is, did you taste the hair ball?

Marco.

WOStantonCS100
05-08-2011, 09:13
The question is, did you taste the hair ball?

Marco.

:lolsign: I licked it a little... :eek: Tastes like chicken. Eeeewwwwwwww...

Marco
05-08-2011, 09:39
Nice one. I'd have been disappointed if you hadn't!

Chicken? The last one I had was more like roast pork - or perhaps that was the actual cat? :scratch:

Marco.

prestonchipfryer
05-08-2011, 10:32
Come on guys - cat fur balls taste of bunny. :lol:

Canetoad
06-08-2011, 11:03
I thought they tasted like pussy! :lol:

Marco
06-08-2011, 11:28
Only if the hairs stuck to them have a whiff of fish sauce!

Marco.

AlanS
06-08-2011, 13:41
Can anyone post pics of Canadian mains plugs and sockets? They may be so crap teflon tape works wonders.

Rare Bird
06-08-2011, 13:52
Arnt they those dual voltage 4 pin jobbies?

Stratmangler
06-08-2011, 14:00
http://www.xpational.com/storage/american%20outlet.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1 303761158981

AlanS
06-08-2011, 14:16
http://www.xpational.com/storage/american%20outlet.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1 303761158981

Chris thanks - those skinny pins need all the help they can get. 240v for ever

Rare Bird
06-08-2011, 15:38
There not Canadian sockets are they? i thought they were simular but had 4 pins 120/240v or am i thinking of somewhere else!!

Stratmangler
06-08-2011, 18:36
Canada uses the same specifications as the USA.

Rare Bird
06-08-2011, 21:09
Canada uses the same specifications as the USA.

Well i have a friend in canada that just told me they use the 4 pin sockets i mentioned for clothes dryers & stoves etc... i knew i wasnt dreaming.

Stratmangler
06-08-2011, 22:18
When I visited Canada in the '90s they used the same as in the USA.
Maybe they've changed the regulations a bit since then.

Rare Bird
06-08-2011, 22:22
I think they use both Chris

Stratmangler
06-08-2011, 22:53
From what I can find, things changed slightly in 1996.

If you look at the paragraph headed "Fixed appliances on three-wire circuits" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_and_neutral

I was in Canada in 1995 :)

Rare Bird
06-08-2011, 23:54
Enter Magficarpetride to confirm this!

WOStantonCS100
07-08-2011, 01:29
http://www.xpational.com/storage/american%20outlet.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1 303761158981

In the US, most of these 2 prong sockets have been written out of code. Households are now required to use the third earth/ground prong. These are for 120V sources only. 220V and higher sources (major appliances and such) are on much more substantial 3 or 4 prong plugs and outlets, of which there seem to be several types. Regardless of code, I'm not sure in practice, there is a clear consensus. At least, I've seen several variations in use in recent years.

In the "south" US they don't use teflon tape for anything; it's DUCT tape for everything, to the horror of many. :trust::lol:

AlanS
08-08-2011, 08:58
So magic Alex which version of plug are you using, 3 pin?

worthingpagan
08-08-2011, 11:27
Andre, how many bloody cars have you got :lol:

Rare Bird
08-08-2011, 11:43
I wish, i can't even drive :D

Ali Tait
08-08-2011, 12:06
Just a guess, perhaps the four-prong sockets are used for high-current things like cookers, in the same way we have dedicated fused switches or sockets for.

Macca
08-08-2011, 12:09
Just a guess, perhaps the four-prong sockets are used for high-current things like cookers, in the same way we have dedicated fused switches or sockets for.

That was my assumption also...

Folkboy
08-08-2011, 12:30
I was just about to meaningfully contribute to this thread when there was a knock on the door...
I was wondering at what point this thread would take a turn, nay, a swan dive with a 3/4 twist and face plant for the surreal, and this was that point.

magiccarpetride
15-08-2011, 20:00
So magic Alex which version of plug are you using, 3 pin?

3 pin.