Pointless hifi accessory purchases

[drummerman]

I already have ferrite clamps on most cables, in some cases even within components but that didn't prevent me to bid for and subsequently win a lovely new old stock TDK clamp filter kit

Not cheap, arguably over-priced (20 quid) but luvely, it came in an oversize, foam lined VHS type of case consisting of different sized Ferrite clamp sets (8 and a half pairs ... don't ask) with a foil cover stating their respective types.

I am a sucker for things like that.

Have you recently bought any hifi related tweak stuff?

 

[Infiniteloop]

Drummerman, you're openly inviting an attack of the Foo Fighters......

*shok*

 

[Vladimir]

Most good USB cables I have come prefitted with ferrite clamps. They have a use with the right application. Add one to your plumbing, it wont make water taste better.

I recently bought two things. Bostik Blu-Tack, as well as copper and aluminium cooling blocks with sticky heat pads for mounting on ICs.

 

[Al ears]

I already have ferrite clamps on most cables, in some cases even within components but that didn't prevent me to bid for and subsequently win a lovely new old stock TDK clamp filter kit

Not cheap, arguably over-priced (20 quid) but luvely, it came in an oversize, foam lined VHS type of case consisting of different sized Ferrite clamp sets (8 and a half pairs ... don't ask) with a foil cover stating their respective types.

I am a sucker for things like that.

Have you recently bought any hifi related tweak stuff?

Not recently no. My tweaking days are long gone.

I have however been casting envious glances at Townshend Seismic isolation podiums for my speakers and trying not to look at the price of the things at the same time.

 

[Big Aura]

Amazon recently told me I should buy an Audioquest Jitterbug. It's only £39....

 

[MeanandGreen]

Have been the purchase of two Pro-Ject coloured felt slip mats, one each for the turntables in my two systems.

One blue and one green, no reason other than I thought they looked funky! *dirol*

 

[chebby]

Van Damme 4mm jumpers because the 'bridges' supplied with my speakers were so flimsy they threatened to deform under their own weight!

One of these ...

... because the supplied mains lead - although safe i'm sure - was an affront to the physical quality I expect of decent mains plugs (like MK or Duraplug for instance). Highly discounted, on-the-spot offer straight from the socket in a shop's dem room for £35. Sound better? No, I don't think so, but I didn't really expect it to.

Van Damme UP LC-OFC 4mm2 speaker cables ...

Big improvement over some ancient, thin QED efforts i'd been using for years. Good quality copper and lot's of it. Simples.

AudioQuest Forest 0.75m Mini-Optical to Toslink cable (between Quad Vena and Airport Express) ...

Exactly the right length (0.75m) and exactly the right connections (without any clunky adaptors), exactly the right flexibility or 'drape' and thin too. Virtually invisible in use. Overpriced? A bit, yes, but it was precisely what I wanted visually and ergonomically. Sound better? No, it can't. It's an optical digital cable.

 

[drummerman]

Most good USB cables I have come prefitted with ferrite clamps. They have a use with the right application. Add one to your plumbing, it wont make water taste better.

I recently bought two things. Bostik Blu-Tack, as well as copper and aluminium cooling blocks with sticky heat pads for mounting on ICs.

Pointless as in that I already have ferrites. Not in a nice matching set mind

 

[Andrewjvt]

Posh usb cable to covert my flac files into a better sound

 

[Vladimir]

Posh usb cable to covert my flac files into a better sound

SATA or get your coat. If you're gonna do it, do it proper.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

a cheap one for you clean the pins on your plugs with brasso its meant to inprove the sound of your hifi it came out of the what hifi mag in the early 1990s time as a tip .

 

[chebby]

Mugs I had printed up (by photobox) with the tuning scale from an old valve radio * that I downloaded to them ...

* at a much larger size obviously.

 

[stevee1966]

A Schitt Magni headphone amp. Bought and connected to my amp a couple of years ago, then never ever used.

 

[drummerman]

Mugs I had printed up (by photobox) with the tuning scale from an old valve radio * that I downloaded to them ...

* at a much larger size obviously.

brilliant

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

A Schitt Magni headphone amp.

Is that the manufacturer or a comment on it's quality, or both? *smile*

 

[steve_1979]

I bought a Epiphany Acoustics DAC/headphone amp for £200 which sits there unused gathering dust because the Sennehiser HD700 headphones are so easy to drive that they sound identical when they're just plugged straight into a portable MP3 player.

I also recently bought two pairs of shielded RCA cables for my Technics turntable then realised that it already has an RCA cable hardwired into it.

 

[matt49]

I have however been casting envious glances at Townshend Seismic isolation podiums for my speakers and trying not to look at the price of the things at the same time.

I have the Townshend Seismic Bars under my Martin Logans. They do a great job of isolating the speaker from the floor, which cuts out some unwanted resonances and means I disturb my neighbours less. (I hadn't foreseen this would be an upside of the Seismic Bars, but it has been a great boon.)

The only downside is that very low frequency tones can cause the whole speaker to vibrate, which causes some smearing. This isn't an issue with my set-up, as my main speakers are cut off at 100Hz and the lowest stuff is handled by a sub. But it could be an issue with full-range floorstanders.

 

[drummerman]

I bought a Epiphany Acoustics DAC/headphone amp for £200 which sits there unused gathering dust because the Sennehiser HD700 headphones are so easy to drive that they sound identical when they're just plugged straight into a portable MP3 player.

I also recently bought two pairs of shielded RCA cables for my Technics turntable then realised that it already has an RCA cable hardwired into it.

I assume they are the same crxxx RCA cables that usually come free with cheapo stuff. I had a similar one hardwired to my SL7.

I would remove those immediately and solder in something decent/the ones you bought.

 

[steve_1979]

I bought a Epiphany Acoustics DAC/headphone amp for £200 which sits there unused gathering dust because the Sennehiser HD700 headphones are so easy to drive that they sound identical when they're just plugged straight into a portable MP3 player.

I also recently bought two pairs of shielded RCA cables for my Technics turntable then realised that it already has an RCA cable hardwired into it.

I assume they are the same crxxx RCA cables that usually come free with cheapo stuff. I had a similar one hardwired to my SL7.

I would remove those immediately and solder in something decent/the ones you bought.

Yes they look like the cheap ones that you get free with stuff. IMO it was a bad design move by Technics to have cables wired in rather than just using plug in sockets.

 

[Al ears]

I bought a Epiphany Acoustics DAC/headphone amp for £200 which sits there unused gathering dust because the Sennehiser HD700 headphones are so easy to drive that they sound identical when they're just plugged straight into a portable MP3 player.

I also recently bought two pairs of shielded RCA cables for my Technics turntable then realised that it already has an RCA cable hardwired into it.

I assume they are the same crxxx RCA cables that usually come free with cheapo stuff. I had a similar one hardwired to my SL7.

I would remove those immediately and solder in something decent/the ones you bought.

Yes they look like the cheap ones that you get free with stuff. IMO it was a bad design move by Technics to have cables wired in rather than just using plug in sockets.

I am glad to see some manufacturers moving away for the captive cables set-up. Rega were the same. They should be making it easier to upgrade things like this.

 

[chebby]

I bought a Epiphany Acoustics DAC/headphone amp for £200 which sits there unused gathering dust because the Sennehiser HD700 headphones are so easy to drive that they sound identical when they're just plugged straight into a portable MP3 player.

I also recently bought two pairs of shielded RCA cables for my Technics turntable then realised that it already has an RCA cable hardwired into it.

I assume they are the same crxxx RCA cables that usually come free with cheapo stuff. I had a similar one hardwired to my SL7.

I would remove those immediately and solder in something decent/the ones you bought.

Yes they look like the cheap ones that you get free with stuff. IMO it was a bad design move by Technics to have cables wired in rather than just using plug in sockets.

I am glad to see some manufacturers moving away for the captive cables set-up. Rega were the same. They should be making it easier to upgrade things like this.

Or just to be able to choose the correct length of cable.

(Although it's best to use long cables after the phono-preamp in the case of turntables.)

 

[Al ears]

I bought a Epiphany Acoustics DAC/headphone amp for £200 which sits there unused gathering dust because the Sennehiser HD700 headphones are so easy to drive that they sound identical when they're just plugged straight into a portable MP3 player.

I also recently bought two pairs of shielded RCA cables for my Technics turntable then realised that it already has an RCA cable hardwired into it.

I assume they are the same crxxx RCA cables that usually come free with cheapo stuff. I had a similar one hardwired to my SL7.

I would remove those immediately and solder in something decent/the ones you bought.

Yes they look like the cheap ones that you get free with stuff. IMO it was a bad design move by Technics to have cables wired in rather than just using plug in sockets.

I am glad to see some manufacturers moving away for the captive cables set-up. Rega were the same. They should be making it easier to upgrade things like this.

Or just to be able to choose the correct length of cable.

(Although it's best to use long cables after the phono-preamp in the case of turntables.)

Good point. You see a lot of advice about wall-shelf mounting turntables which is a bit tricky if your amp is more than a metre away. Twin shelves with phono preamp underneath is the way to go, then you don't have to worry about captive cable or not unless your amp has an inbuilt phono stage.

 

[Vladimir]

The hardwired RCAs are nothing fancy but far from the rubbish you get free with today's DVD players. Unless they are damaged/worn I wouldn't bother replacing them for listening to electronic music. Same for the tonearm or going too fancy with the cart choice$. For EDM keep it simple and original. If you change a single screw the 1210 drops in price.

 

[Old Dex]

A 2ft x 1ft block of 2 inch thick Lakeland blue slate, £5 from a nearby slate yard.

Cut it in half and I have my Castle floorstanders sitting on them. Well - I think they help, but then - I would!

 

[Al ears]

A 2ft x 1ft block of 2 inch thick Lakeland blue slate, £5 from a nearby slate yard.

Cut it in half and I have my Castle floorstanders sitting on them. Well - I think they help, but then - I would!

That's cheap. Bet it looks nice.