Hi-Fi Upgrades That Cost Almost Nothing

[admin_exported]

Hi People,

I know it sounds crazy but could wrapping tin foil around cheap/generic power cables cut out the RFI interference and improve the sound or picture quality? When it comes to specially made hifi power cables are they simply cutting out the RFI or are they doing something more?

Because if all the expensive cables are doing is cutting out RFI, couldn't one simply use tin foil to acheive the same result?

Also, is it true that placing a brick or heavy object ontop of ones dvd/blu ray player can cut down vibrations? I have tried putting cheap isolation feet under my player which certainly makes a difference to the picture and sound.

 

[the record spot]

If you want to try that kind of thing, fill your boots. The brick on CD player relates more to isolation than anything else and reducing unwanted vibration, however, it's a fad that came and went with the running of a green pen around the perimeter of a CD somewhere around the mid-90s.

Your electronics already have circuitry onboard that handle electrical interference, so the addition of tin foil to minimise this is unlikely to have any impact on the sound you hear. IMO, though I won't be surprised if someone tells you tin foil's a no-go but clingfilm will work wonders...!

 

[matthewpiano]

Just make sure you buy 'Hi-Fi Tuning' tin-foil which is a special audiophile grade product and costs £30 a square metre. Just using bog standard tin-foil really won't do!

 

[shooter]

matthewpiano:Just make sure you buy 'Hi-Fi Tuning' tin-foil which is a special audiophile grade product and costs £30 a square metre. Just using bog standard tin-foil really won't do!

Blimey Matthew!

The cheapest upgrade wouldn't be Tuning fuses (or foil @ £30!) at £25 a pop.

Speaker placement doesn't cost a penny and if you get it right will tighten things up nicely. Make sure the speakers are stable either on stands or the floor. Clean all connections.

 

[matthewpiano]

Shooter69, I'm being sarcastic in light of some of last night's goings-on. Sorry, I couldn't help it!!

shooter69 is, of course, absolutely correct. No.1 upgrade is getting the positioning of your speakers right. All it needs is time and patience and it can make an incredible difference to your enjoyment of the hi-fi.

I'm all for free and cheap tweaking. I've used cork-backed place-mats turned upside down underneath my turntable feet and it gave the deck a much more secure footing on the top of my glass hi-fi stand. Tightened the sound up too.

 

[Anonymous]

Going to the doctors and getting your ears cleaned out, free and gives a huge difference!

 

[Craig M.]

replace your speakers jumper plates, if they have them, with a short piece of speaker wire.

tidy up cabling, seperating power leads and interconnects.

make sure your cdp is completely level.

listen to a cheap, all in one system. yours will sound great afterwards.

 

[roger06]

I find a glass or two of a nice red Burgundy helps...

 

[Anonymous]

A tipple of singla malt I find does it for me too

 

[roger06]

matthewpiano:

The cheapest upgrade wouldn't be Tuning fuses (or foil @ £30!) at £25 a pop.

... or removing the fuses altogether. I did an experiment with this and the results were amazing.

But, could I sleep at night knowing that, in the most unlikely scenario, my house was to burn down and the insurance wouldn't cough up as I'd removed the fuses and I left my family homeless ?

No, I could not! So despite a recently rewired house, dedicated spur with modern circuit breaker and the fact that we're the only country in the world to have fused plugs - I put them back in a replaced them with Russ Andrews ones which, to be fair, didn't really make a difference over standard ones.

 

[Clare Newsome]

Isolating components is key. The amount of people who have their separates stacked directly on top of each other.........

 

[Anonymous]

I know that isolation is important but where does that leave active kit, where components are in the speaker cabinet or sub cabinet?

 

[Clare Newsome]

If they're well designed, they'll be isolated within the enclosure.

 

[JohnnyV111]

potboyslim:Going to the doctors and getting your ears cleaned out, free and gives a huge difference!

Yes, for sure that'd help if they're waxed up. It's best to clean them daily with cotton buds or a specialist ear cleaning product such as Audiclean, but that takes a bit longer. The difference in sound when you have properly clean ears is immense...much more so than.buying more expensive components IMO. Perhaps What Hi-fi could make an entertaining feature on the subject, if you can find a few audiophiles with waxy ears, or Hi-fi buffs willing not to clean their inside their ears for a few weeks and report the difference when they're cleaned..

 

[matthewpiano]

Can I just point out the dangers of sticking anything long and hard like cotton buds into you ears without due care?

It is very easy to go too far and end up damaging the ear drum, so anybody using this method to clean ears needs to be very careful indeed.

 

[gwynne61]

matthewpiano:Can I just point out the dangers of sticking anything long and hard like cotton buds into you ears without due care?

It is very easy to go too far and end up damaging the ear drum, so anybody using this method to clean ears needs to be very careful indeed.

Good advice Matthew, Doctors advise putting nothing smaller than your elbow in your ear.

 

[JohnnyV111]

matthewpiano:Can I just point out the dangers of sticking anything long and hard like cotton buds into you ears without due care?It is very easy to go too far and end up damaging the ear drum, so anybody using this method to clean ears needs to be very careful indeed.

Yes, you have to be very careful indeed - if in doubt use Audiclean instead, it just takes a long time and makes a horrible gurgling noise. From the tone of the above I'm guessing your ears might be a bit waxy? Perhaps you could get them cleaned and report back...

 

[idc]

1 - Anything that puts you in a better mood. I recently had a problem with my laptop and whilst I was trying to sort it my music sounded terrible. As soon as it was fixed, the music improved no end.

2 - Play with the volume. Most volume controls are not that great, but somewhere you will a sweet spot where the dynamics and details are there, but it is not too loud. I have lots of headphones and know the sweet spot for all of them and have to adjust the volume for each one. Find your sweet spot for 'loud' and 'quiet' listening sessions and then you have your range of volume to play with. Be more prepared to adjust the volume depending on the music you are playing as I find some tracks sound quieter than others.

 

[Anonymous]

Ok so i guess i was asking for it lol to start a topic asking if tin foil over hifi cables could improve the sound or picture. But seriously though what do the expensive cables do, are they simply blocking out the RFI interference or are they doing something more?

 

[vinod_david]

Check if the screws that holds the plinth and speakers (FS) are tight fit. On casual inspection, after almost 1.5 years of usage, I found the screws were all loose and needed very deep tightening. And the result? - bass became very tight and overall improvement in SQ!

 

[drummerman]

the record spot:

... The brick on CD player relates more to isolation than anything else and reducing unwanted vibration, however, it's a fad that came and went ...

Yes I wonder why that never caught on ...

 

[Anonymous]

I've put this on other forums and some people put me on their xmas card list . It sound daft and I found it by accident and sometimes it makes it worse , sometimes better, but it always makes a change.
If you listen with the room door shut , Open it .Try wide open, try
half open. Try it vica versa. Shut it if its open !
Got muddy bass ? Open tne door dude . Oh , and it's free.
TA DAH !

 

[Anonymous]

I've put this on other forums and some people put me on their xmas card list . It sound daft and I found it by accident and sometimes it makes it worse , sometimes better, but it always makes a change.
If you listen with the room door shut , Open it .Try wide open, try
half open. Try it vica versa. Shut it if its open !
Got muddy bass ? Open tne door dude . Oh , and it's free.
TA DAH !
I got more through years of being an anorak also.

 

[drummerman]

ivoreng:

... I got more through years of being an anorak also.

Never ...

Joking aside, there's probably substance in your suggestion. Problem is, once you've reached the point of having to resort to these sort of things you're probably better off looking for an other hobby altogether.

 

[idc]

quantum:Ok so i guess i was asking for it lol to start a topic asking if tin foil over hifi cables could improve the sound or picture. But seriously though what do the expensive cables do, are they simply blocking out the RFI interference or are they doing something more?

Blind testing strongly suggests that the differences between cables are down to placebo, expectation and psychoacoustics. The only physical effect is to vary the volume as caused by different resistances.