any funny hifi tips

[admin_exported]

does any one remember the flat earth society of of the 80s hi fi fraternity,,
and some of the silliest things things the hifi press said would bring improvements in sound,
so if you think the hdmi debates going on is getting nowhere try this from 80s hifi mags.
1 was dont wear a watch with a battery in it as this and remote controls were bad for sound.
2 stick small black triangle things to your cds to improve sound
3 dont have any other speakers except main ones in your room as they will radiate in sympathy with them
thus deteriorating the sound
4 use green pen around the outer edge of your cds to improve the sound
5 put 2 cds into the cd player one on top of the other as this can help improve the sound of cd,

so i had a good laugh at what i used to read in hifi press
of yester year i found in the attic the other day
does anyone remember practical hifi----hifi answers----popular hifi---
all from 1970s and 80s

 

[chebby]

I think Linn also used to recommend moving the television out of the same room as the hifi (as you mentioned regarding other speakers). I don't know for sure when they ceased this recommendation, but I suspect it was not long after they went into AV/Home theatre systems.

Directionality of speaker cables. This still persists and is claimed by reputable (cable) manufacturers. I don't buy it. Signals to speakers are AC so any 'directionality' is only correct 50 percent of the time.

I am without 'credentials' in this matter so I am borrowing the authority of Douglas Self the designer behind so many 5 star reviewed Cambridge Audio products when he says...

"Audio signals are AC. Cables cannot be directional any more than 2 + 2 can equal 5. Anyone prepared to believe this nonsense won't be capable of designing amplifiers, so there seems no point in further comment."

http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/ampins/pseudo/subjectv.htm#5

 

[Anonymous]

The TV between the speakers was probably due to CRT emitting large amounts of RFI.

Funny one was freezing your CDs and anything by Peter belt.

 

[Anonymous]

I remember the freezing the cd's one.

 

[Anonymous]

I once had a teacher who swore by the green pen around the edge trick. He'd go on for hours about his hi-fi system to a bunch of 12 year olds who really didn't care. He said his hearing was so good, he simply had to have a system costing probably £20,000 in today's money otherwise he'd have a nervous breakdown. He then took his system to a shop for a minor repair, but they sold it as a second hand set to someone else by mistake! lol.

He was nuts.

 

[Anonymous]

I bet he wass raging! Did he get it back?

 

[Anonymous]

silly:The TV between the speakers was probably due to CRT emitting large amounts of RFI.

Funny one was freezing your CDs

I thought everyone does this???

 

[Andrew Everard]

tractorboy:
I thought everyone does this???

And not just CDs...

 

[Anonymous]

Phew. Just for a second there I thought I might have been wasting my time. Not sure my freezer goes quite that low though...

 

[the record spot]

LOL - that's a good line in marketing chat from the Tannoy guys there then. Obviously it wasn't just the speakers that were well lacquered when it came to putting them out for sale...

 

[seasiders rock]

heres one that does work. if you have rubbish floor boards and suffer from a boomy bass try this.

take 4 1" pozi drive screws, screw directly into floor boards ( if you have carpet wait till her indoors is well out the way ) sit spikes of stands or speaker spikes into cups of screws.

sit back amazed, it will work on your rack to...

 

[idc]

When freezing a CD, how long does it stay in the freezer, how long does it take to defrost and would you put it into a freezer bag or just lay it carefully ontop of the peas?

 

[Anonymous]

idc:just lay it carefully ontop of the peas?

No, no, no! Amateurs!

 

[Andrew Everard]

tractorboy:No, no, no! Amateurs!

Try going into your local out of town electrical shed and asking if they have any cryogenic freezers...

 

[chebby]

Or if you know anyone at Birdseye ask them to run your crossovers through the frozen broccoli machine.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Nah, still not cold enough...

 

[Anonymous]

and in 10 years time which current beliefs do you think people will be making fun of on the internet?

'Yeah i heard they used some copper and silver string to connect things'

 

[Anonymous]

I recall one of the reviewers a good few years ago (could well have been Alan Sircom) telling everyone to ensure that the screws on the casing of any unit should all be tightened so that they were facing the same way (ie all lines in the screw head face up/down etc)!

 

[Andrew Everard]

Wonder if Alan (if it was he) will still be suggesting that now he's gone over to the Plush side?

JMH used to write that it was vital to have the screw-head slots inside your mains plugs aligned.

But then he also suggested that having a sheet of paper under one leg of your chair, and drinking a glass of distilled (or was it Peter Belt-treated?) water before listening, would make your music sound better.

 

[True Blue]

fast eddie:and in 10 years time which current beliefs do you think people will be making fun of on the internet?

'Yeah i heard they used some copper and silver string to connect things'

I bet they will still be discussing cheap HDMI / expensive HDMI

oh and mains conditioning

 

[ElectroMan]

Don't Townsend supply cables that have been deep frozen? And isn't there some science behind it, about changes to molecular structure. or something, at really low temperatures (not that that proves it makes things sound better)?

JMH used to swear by Peter Belt's methods (screw-alignment, turning up the corners of curtains, rugs etc), but a few years later turned totally against him. And didn't he also use to advocate removing all stuffing from speakers, and even turning them around so that the drive units pointed away from you?

One other tip I remember, is that hi-fi systems always sound better when you hear them from outside the room!

 

[Anonymous]

nice one electroman all of what you have said rings a bell with me..
i do think some mags hifi ones, just put these so called tips in their magazines
to fill the things up
or just to have a laugh at us trying them out myself included how sad is that.

 

[Andrew Everard]

No, I think they really used to believe in them, and AFAIK JMH still uses his speakers back to front, firing at the wall.

The bet thing you can say about most of this stuff is that it's harmless, costs little (or is free) to try, and is easily reversible.

 

[matthewpiano]

I remember trying the speakers facing the wrong way round at the time in my bedroom at Mum and Dad's. I was probably about 14 or 15 and had a pair of Mordaunt-Short MS15 IIs at the time. 24 hours later I repositioned them the right way round because my A-Ha LP didn't sound right.

Like Andrew says, all harmless fun really.

 

[Anonymous]

ElectroMan:
Don't Townsend supply cables that have been deep frozen? And isn't there some science behind it, about changes to molecular structure. or something, at really low temperatures (not that that proves it makes things sound better)?

JMH used to swear by Peter Belt's methods (screw-alignment, turning up the corners of curtains, rugs etc), but a few years later turned totally against him. And didn't he also use to advocate removing all stuffing from speakers, and even turning them around so that the drive units pointed away from you?

One other tip I remember, is that hi-fi systems always sound better when you hear them from outside the room!

Certain metals turn into superconductors at extremely low temperatures (like -200*C) which means the have zero electrical resistance, so there is some science to it, whether or not it would make a difference is another matter.