Tuning Tip #2
Here’s another no-cost tip. Though, be warned it can work both ways: when it works well it does a fine job but when it doesn’t it will actually worsen the sound of your system. As a result it is easy to decide whether it works in any particular circumstance.
All hi-fi components need proper support. There is no room for discussion about this. Sometimes, though, the support that works wonders for ten pieces of equipment just doesn’t work for another. This is where this hint may come in useful.
All my equipment sits on Quadraspire Sunoko Vent racks and works exceptionally well on them but before the SVs were installed I used a Hutter system. Every component bar my pre-amplifier was happy sitting on the Hutter. The solution to this problem was simple: I took four empty CD cases and placed one under each foot of the pre-amplifier. This restored the music’s rhythmic bounce and vitality and made the sound that fraction more transparent – it became easier to listen into dense mixes.
Then I had another source component in for review and tried the same measure with it, more out of curiosity than anything else: the result was very disappointing. The presentation thickened and the sound became rhythmically leaden. It robbed musicians of all semblance of life and energy.
My pet theory about this – not that theories matter when tweaks are concerned – was that the cases worked when the equipment they were supporting had hard feet and did not when the feet were soft or there was any sort of de-coupling built into the component.
If you want to try this tweak you may care to experiment with where you place the equipment foot with respect to the case area: you might try placing the foot centrally to gain the maximum ‘give’ from the case or you might park the foot on the more rigid spine area
Give it a go and let me know how you fare.
