Cheap upgrades

[idc]

In these troubled economic times, has anyone one got any cheap suggestions for upgrades or cheap products that punch way above their weight? Maplins seem to feature as a company that sells cable and PSUs that have gained recommendations. My own is the mighty.....................

used between speaker and stand to reduce vibration and help stop the speaker being damaged by being knocked off.

 

[matthewpiano]

Spending less time on here and more time listening to music.

Reading fewer hi-fi magazines.

Buying second hand vinyl.

Blu-tac is great. I use it between my Quad 11Ls and Atacama stands.

 

[aliEnRIK]

Blu Tack is excellent

 

[idc]

Chiefbrody's post here about a £2.99 Maplins speaker cable was the inspiration. Tacima is another is another example of a company that gets good ratings for its relatively cheap mains products.

 

[Anonymous]

Yep BluTac gets the vote but heres another to try. If you have biwired or 2 pairs of cables going to the speakers, pull the pairs apart so you have 4 separate wires and then do a 4 wire plait. Easy to do (once you have worked out how) but take a bit of time depending on length. Made a huge diference to my ears. Best of all.....didnt cost a penny just an hour or so of my time.

 

[idc]

To confirm Raym87, do you mean peel apart cable such as this.........................................

and then plait it back together? Does that not damage the plastic sheething?

 

[Anonymous]

raym87:Yep BluTac gets the vote but heres another to try. If you have biwired or 2 pairs of cables going to the speakers, pull the pairs apart so you have 4 separate wires and then do a 4 wire plait. Easy to do (once you have worked out how) but take a bit of time depending on length. Made a huge diference to my ears. Best of all.....didnt cost a penny just an hour or so of my time.

ÿ

How does that work , does the signal somehow change ?ÿ

 

[matthewpiano]

QED stuff, particularly Silver Anniversary is awful for the sheething becoming easily damaged. I'd recommend anyone who uses this cable to steer away from trying to peel it apart and plait it. You'll probably end up with short circuits somewhere along the line.

With my Chord Rumour 2, you can't do it anyway because of the construction of the cable.

 

[Anonymous]

Thats the stuff. Didnt damage mine, it came apart easy....you will have to test. Dont forget though you will need 4 lengths.

Have a look on RA..there are a couple of pics there on how its done. One other point...you will loose about 10% of the length after its done as well.....worth mentioning just in case you are at your limits.

 

[Anonymous]

drumlins4ever:
raym87:Yep BluTac gets the vote but heres another to try. If you have biwired or 2 pairs of cables going to the speakers, pull the pairs apart so you have 4 separate wires and then do a 4 wire plait. Easy to do (once you have worked out how) but take a bit of time depending on length. Made a huge diference to my ears. Best of all.....didnt cost a penny just an hour or so of my time.

How does that work , does the signal somehow change ?

Have a look at RA site....explainations abound......

 

[Anonymous]

This upgrade should make no audible difference , i don't see how it could , do the laws of physics somehow change when it is done?

 

[Anonymous]

Have a look here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/raym87/

 

[Anonymous]

drumlins4ever:This upgrade should make no audible difference , i don't see how it could , do the laws of physics somehow change when it is done?

Dont know anything that can change the laws of physics but it does effect with regard to rfi and noise pickup and cancellation etc.