The following is a selection of Free sound improving techniques for you to try.
Plain piece of paper under one of four feet.
Place a plain piece of paper under any ONE of the four feet of a piece of equipment. This applies to any piece of equipment, even if it is not an item of audio equipment. Listen to some music for a short time, then remove the piece of paper and see if you can listen to the same music with the same pleasure – without the plain piece of paper in position !!
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Pinning back one corner of a curtain.
Pin back ONE of the four corners of all curtains in the listening room with a safety pin.. Listen to some music for a short time, then remove the safety pins and see if you can listen to the same music with the same pleasure – without the corner of the curtain pinned back !!
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Plain piece of Blue paper under any vase of flowers or any pot plant in the listening room.
If you have a vase of flowers or a pot in a plant pot in the listening room, stand the vase or the plant pot on a plain piece of BLUE paper. Listen to some music for a short time, then remove the piece of Blue paper and see if you can listen to the same music with the same pleasure – without the piece of Blue paper in position !!
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Tying a Reef knot.
If you have two adjacent power cords or two adjacent interconnects, unplug the power cords from their socket, tie a reef knot in them, replace the plugs back in their sockets and listen for a short time to some music. Then untie the reef knot and see if you can listen with the same pleasure !! If you have no adjacent cables, you can tie a Reef knot in only one cable by forming the cable into a U shape, giving you two parallel sides of wire with which to make a Reef knot. If you find that you have experienced better sound from making only one Reef Knot in one cable, then tie one Reef knot in as many other cables (power or interconnect) as you can. This applies to ANY cable belonging to ANY equipment – not just to audio equipment.
No other knots should be used. Only a Reef knot (I think it might be called a Square knot in the USA). Two links are given below as visual descriptions. Just make sure you do not make a Granny knot by mistake !!h
http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/knots/reef.htm
Or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reef_knot
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Freezing using a domestic deep freezer.
Try the freezing experiment using a CD first – they are usually the easiest object to hand. If you have two identical CDs all the better as you can keep one CD as the control (no treatment) and put the other CD through the freezing/slow defrost process.
Place one CD in a plain plastic bag and place this bag in the domestic deep freezer overnight. When you remove the CD from the freezer, allow it to return to room temperature very, very slowly. You can achieve a slow defrost quite easily by wrapping it in a towel or blanket. Listen to the CD which has been through the freezing process first and then see if you can listen to the other (unfrozen) CD with the same pleasure !! Putting the previously frozen CD through the freezing/slow defrost process a second time gives you a further improvement in the sound.
If you have success with freezing a CD, then try putting an interconnect or an AC power cord through the freezing/slow defrost process also.
Also experiment by applying the same freezing/slow defrost process to such as batteries. Again have identical batteries. For experimental purposes the batteries used in remote controls are an ideal battery to use. If the remote control takes two batteries, then you require four identical batteries – two to be put through the freezing/slow defrost process, and the other two to be left as the control ones (non treated). After freezing two batteries, insert them into the remote control and listen to some music for a short time. Then replace the (treated) batteries with the untreated batteries and see if you can listen to the same music with the same pleasure as before !!
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Although we do not specifically encourage people to put their audio equipment through the freezing/slow defrost procedure some of our customers have done this procedure with success. So, we would like to add a few words of caution for anyone wishing to attempt to freeze their equipment.
If you DO decide to put any of your audio equipment through this freezing/slow defrost procedure, using your own domestic deep freezer, make sure that the item of equipment is sealed in a plastic bag when placed in the deep freezer. After freezing make sure that the equipment is defrosted very, very slowly by wrapping it in a towel or a blanket for at least a day or two. This will minimise the chance of condensation getting into the equipment. Before connecting the equipment to the AC supply make absolutely sure that the equipment is thoroughly dry – i.e. no moisture or condensation inside or on the equipment.
One specific word of warning.
Any item of equipment which has such as a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) may not be suitable for putting in a deep freezer, as LCD’s are not good at low temperature
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Pieces of quarter round wooden doweling in all right angles.
Human beings do not like right angles and there are numerous right angles in any room. Such as book cases, shelves, a door architrave etc.
Obtain a length of the quarter round wooden doweling and cut it into small pieces approx 5 cms – (2 inches) and place one piece in any right angle. You can use a removable adhesive such as Blu Tack to attach the piece temporarily for experimental purposes. Listen to some music for some time, then remove the piece of doweling and see if you can listen to the same music with the same pleasure.
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Aligning the slots in screw heads.
Align the slots in all screw heads so that the slots are parallel to the earth’s surface. ALL screws – screws fastening light switches to the wall, screws fastening AC power sockets to the wall, screws fastening shelves to the wall etc. Listen to some music for a short time and then move any of the screw slots away from being parallel to the earth’s surface and see if you can listen to the same music with the same pleasure !!
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