The biggest "tweak" of all

[---MIKE---]

A lot of you are convinced that the sound of your systems are effected
by such things as green pens, "hockey pucks", exotic cables etc. These
MAY have a slight effect but you should consider the things that have
the biggest influence on how your system sounds. I refer to such things
as: Temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, how many windows are
open (big effect on bass), How many people in the room, mood, fatigue,
how much alcohol has been consumed, time of the day (fatigue again).
Basically, I am saying that the environment has a bigger effect than any
hardware tweaks you can make.

-MIKE

[Nousaine]

(---MIKE---) wrote:

>A lot of you are convinced that the sound of your systems are effected
>by such things as green pens, "hockey pucks", exotic cables etc. These
>MAY have a slight effect but you should consider the things that have
>the biggest influence on how your system sounds. I refer to such things
>as: Temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, how many windows are
>open (big effect on bass), How many people in the room, mood, fatigue,
>how much alcohol has been consumed, time of the day (fatigue again).
>Basically, I am saying that the environment has a bigger effect than any
>hardware tweaks you can make.
>
> -MIKE

Great point. However, one should also be aware of the natural human bias
mechanisms that exist. One big one is the tendency to confuse small changes in
loudness as changes in quality. Another is the strong human tendency to report
two or more identical sound presentations as differing in quality. And, of
course, there's the tendency to make quality judgements when other conditions
did not remain constant.

[TChelvam]

(---MIKE---) wrote in message news:<K5FSa.107798$ye4.80306@sccrnsc01>...
> A lot of you are convinced that the sound of your systems are effected
> by such things as green pens, "hockey pucks", exotic cables etc. These
> MAY have a slight effect but you should consider the things that have
> the biggest influence on how your system sounds.

High End is all about hearing the little difference. However, as
Nousine pointed out - whetehr the difference can be translated to a
better musical experince is another question. But if you ask me - yes,
tweaks do help but limited though and that too depends on your
equipments.

[Wylie Williams]

Mike, you are right, but I don't get the point of the post. Because I am
subject to many environmental influences I should give up and get a boom
box?

"---MIKE---" > wrote in message
news:K5FSa.107798$ye4.80306@sccrnsc01...
> A lot of you are convinced that the sound of your systems are effected
> by such things as green pens, "hockey pucks", exotic cables etc. These
> MAY have a slight effect but you should consider the things that have
> the biggest influence on how your system sounds. I refer to such things
> as: Temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, how many windows are
> open (big effect on bass), How many people in the room, mood, fatigue,
> how much alcohol has been consumed, time of the day (fatigue again).
> Basically, I am saying that the environment has a bigger effect than any
> hardware tweaks you can make.
>
> -MIKE
>
>

[---MIKE---]

Wylie, That's a little extreme. My point is that the sound of a system
will be in a constant state of flux because of environmental conditions.
The value of many tweaks would be hard to determine because of this. A
good system will sound good MOST of the time but probably not all of the
time.

-MIKE

[Wylie Williams]

"tim" <said
> my favourite free tweak is to cup my hands behind my ears - this
> eliminates alot of the room's infuences, - you get a lot more detailed
sound and
> a lot more treble, if in fact.

Strange you should say that. Several years ago someone marketed a pair of
clip on ears for audiophiles. Leather, I think, made for this very purpose.
I think it's probably a good idea and worth trying. But every time I think
of trying on a pair of "Ears" I suddenly visualize my wife's reaction at
the latest manifestation of audiophilia. I can only get as far as to see
her blinking rapidly as she works at maintaining a supportive wifely
expression before I banish the thought.
Wylie Williams

[michael Mueller]

Good point about environmental influences. I played the violin for 15
years and loved how much fuller it would sound when it was raining
outside. That extra moisture added to the warmth to the instrument. We
would add humidification sticks to our instruments to get that fuller ,
warmer sound during the dry days of summer.
Mike M