Yo ! Hope this video was helpful to you and if it was let me know (by commenting and liking the video). I left some stuff out because the video was getting too long but can't wait to share more with you guys ! Have an awesome Saturday ! 0:00 The Blue monster! 3:50 Turntable Accessories/tweaks 11:26 Speaker binding post tweaks! 14:35 Best HiFi Isolation that works for me 18:45 The Coin that saves your floors
Didn’t know you could still get Bluetack. Someone told me they stopped making it years ago. If you are going to add isoacoustic pucks under components do you remove the existing feet?
Tip for removing record from sleeve- put your hand in the sleeve, fingertips on label thumb on outer edge. My heart skipped beat when you grabbed it by the edge. lol Less chance of dropping it as well.
Yep, that is a definite 'No No' for sure. Funny how many 'Audiophile' RU-vidrs grab their records that way. I think maybe in Jay's case, he just might not really listen to THAT much vinyl, so I'm guessing he's just out of practice : )
The tac , when used to connect speakers to a stand do the exact opposite of what you stated. These little pieces are sometimes called isolaters. They are used to decouple the speaker from the stand, resulting in a sound free of vibration. As usual great video!!
Cool tips! I used bluetac on some posters a few years ago, and It slowly leaked oil into the posters. So I feel some caution should be taken with wood surfaces that will be visible in the future.
@@Carinae108 it was not blue, it was white/grey. So probably not the brand bluetac. It also took several years to leak the oils out. It may common among all of them, just be careful, many things can readily stain wood.
Hi Jay. The biggest single tweak i made was to bolt the top plate of the speaker stand to the base of the speaker so there is absolutely no front and back movement of the speaker. The speakers are sitting on 3 metal cones to further isolate them. The base of the speaker stand has 4 spikes which only make 4 tiny holes in the carpet. I have used the metal discs to prevent holes in the carpet but there is very slight movement . So i prefer spikes that penetrate the carpet where there is absolutely no movement. The final thing i did was to place 4 house bricks wrapped in black heavy duty cloth tape inside the stand at the bottom. This adds even more weight to the stand preventing even the slightest movement. The improvement in sound quality is amazing.
Isolation stuff can be snake a while except with turntables. I use an acoustical ceiling tile beneath my speakers so I can slide it around. Cost about three dollars each. Works wonderfully.
I assume you mean "snake oil"? After being skeptical for a while I changed the spikes on my Linn 242 speakers to Gaia 2 and the difference is quite unbelievable. Considering I was orignally thinking the price is extreme, for the improvement I've actually seen I honestly think they are worth the money. I assume these gains will differ across rooms and different hi fi setups. After trying them, the last thing I would describe the Gaia's would be snake oil.
+1 If you're one that knows the difference, you'll encounter this everywhere! Even individuals that should truly know the difference, misuse the term. Hell I'd wager it's likely the most misused term in audio. Granted, it's not a big deal, and many don't care, ... however it's 𝙙𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜... irregardless its not are problem, its there problem. Besides, it may not effect there grammar, accept it may be a blessing in the skys. Mute point, because its a doggy dog world. ;)
I also totally agree the IsoAcoustics products work. I was a big skeptic on cables and isolation products. IsoAcoustics are not inexpensive but I find I get good value in the amount of improvement vs. the cost. I have them on my CD deck, integrated amplifier, and phonostage. Have plans to try them on my turntable and perhaps speakers as well. You only need three devices on most gear. Look up the weight of your equipment and select the appropriate model.
Ah yes, good old blu-tack. Ripped the vinyl from the bottom of two pairs of loudspeakers, Mission 760i & Tannoy Mercury M1, when I went to remove them from the stands and that was with me being careful too. Just a warning to others when using this stuff between speakers and stands. P.S. It also tends to leave stubborn marks on the bottom of the speakers too if they've been in situ for a long time. I'm not sure about white tack though.
I own an Okki Nokki RCM and I also noticed how there can be dust or build up on the platter while cleaning. A work around I have is simply using a lint roller on the platter before I put a clean side down and it seems to work pretty good. Loved the video.
Good video as always Jay! My record doctor did ruin many of my records with micro scratches and had uneven hand pressure & vacuum pressure when using. I did have an older version than yours however. Yes my Okki Nokki blew it away & still does! I'm glad to see the new version is an upgrade. To avoid flipping the record onto a dirty surface, I simply use a silicone roller to prep it for the other side. You covered a great variety of tweaks for different topics in our hobby. I too used the audio hacks shown here at my past audio stores. A well thought out and perfectly done video as always. 😉👌🎼✨✅🏆
Two tweaks to add to two of yours; KAB GLIDING PLATTER PLUS roller bearing assisted replacement platter kit for the Disc Doctor. Keeps the record stable while rotating it. Furniture glides on wooden floors to replace the spikes on speaker and equipment racks. I use the large threaded ones from Shephard (#9444 ) made from a phenolic resin, kind of like Bakelite on equipment racks and speaker stands with large diameter stems (5/16" )threads and smaller ( #9450 ) 1/4" stem metal ones. Trying to move the speaker stands, then having to realign the cups, pennies, etc. is a pain in the a**! Not to mention 175 lb. racks of equipment.
yoooo, I've done that for so long. And it does work really well, but I've just moved away from that since I just get the onzow once and can keep re-using it, I've had this for like 3 plus years !
@@Jayiyagi Yes, the Onzow is definitely the best I’ve ever had for pulling gunk off of a stylus. It was $40 but I don’t regret spending the money at all, and it lasts forever.
Basic mathematics from elementary school: a plane is defined by three points. And you put 6 under the record player? Bluetack will eliminate "mechanical vibrations" on the speaker terminals? How will you eliminate the vibration of the wires inside the box? Or the vibration of the fuse on the device? The more expensive the equipment, the stupider the tweaks.
I use a small 1.5 or 2 horsepower wet dry vac to clean my records ( the first time). Spray the entire records with cleaner ( I use Phoenix) , put a lint free blue rag ( bought in bag of fifty) at Cosco. Food it once and place over the vacuum tube end and work from center out. Then I run a felt brush with distilled water over the surface and done. It sounds clunky but it’s fast and the suction is powerful.
I use Isoacoustics Gaia III's with my Von Schweikert E3 Mark II's. It was a stupid ridiculous improvement in sound when I installed them. And it stopped a lot of resonance in the room as well. Also have their turntable platform - significant reduction in noise floor. Their products are great.
Are you sure you aren't just benefiting from raising speakers by the same amount? I make sure all my main drivers whether tweeters or subwoofer is about 2-6 inches above by ears and that alone made a nice difference. Rarely do speakers rely on ground reflection and among like the that I can think of are only passing resonance into the floor to msjd thing seem more powerful but ultimately wound worse. It's kinda similar to mono bridging a stereo Amp, 2 audiosource 20s sound way better just playing standard 2 channel mode than when bridge into mono blocks. Sure they had double ability to roar and screech much louder but they ended up sounding no better the class d.
Thanks Jay for sharing some useful tips! I had the same IsoAcoustics Aperta 200 as yours for my active speakers, definitely considering the Orea for amplifier in the future. Cheers and keep the good contents coming in!
I have used a similar method to the 5c between spike and carpet; I used a number of 2 pence copper coins (UK) which are about 1 inch in diameter, I bonded each coin to the other with a blutac interface and used 4 coins per speaker foot. I drilled a small countersunk indentation in the center surface of the top coin in order to locate the spike and used iso acoustics carpet spikes under the 2p coins. The isoacoustics spikes go right through the carpet with a stack of copper/blutac 'isolators' to the speaker spikes. I have noticed an all round improvement and a tighter and more controlled bass.
That bubble level looks pretty sweet. I mainly have been using a cheap level and balancing it on my measurement mics when doing room correction/measurements but that looks like it would be a lot easier!
I highly rate the Mobile Fidelity sleeves, all my fave L.P.'s have them & many are still waiting to get them. Taking your vinyl in & out of thin cardboard or paper sleeves charges them with static & then your vinyl becomes a veritable magnet for airborn or other dust & partucles, i once saw a tiny (1 x 2 ml) fleck of paper jump over a foot from a shelf & onto a vinyl record i had just taken out of a paper sleeve, that was my turning point to buy into antistatic sleeves. Mo Fi are the best i found that are easily available. One day, all my vinyl shall be encased by them
I agree that isoacoustics stands can make a big difference. Especially on my desk where everything is coupled by the table, iso stands are quite useful and bring the speakers on ear level. They're are quite expensive and I would probably get different isolation pucks than those Gaia but the stands are worth the 110€ imo since there aren't any good alternatives afaik.
Very good. Those isolation devices look good, great idea using them on your hifi separates. When the septates have better heat dissipation, they run cooler, and this takes stress off of various components inside. This longer life without repairs. I like the binding post connectors, may well try that myself. Thanks!
Love you, love your channel!!!! I do however have a weird pet peeve. I'm also a car guy so I get it twofold, its DAMPING, not DAMPENING. We're not trying to get anything wet here lol other than that, great video as usual!
Jay you should try the AudioDesk Systeme vinyl cleaner. Fully auto wash and dry with fluid and ultrasonics. Not cheap but has amazing results. German engineering too.
Speaker decoupling works better for my simple setup I also have the Isoacoustics feets and very happy buying it quite expansive though, nice information thanks for sharing
I remember you reviewed a floorstander that comes with an nice isolation feet other than Gaia. I've dug deep into your channel and cant find the video😅 cant get it out of my head
My Man... you talk and tell about the Penny under Stands. If you Ever did that you would start to see the Spike pussing Into & through as you would say. The """ 1 Yen coin "" But keep up the fine work. And you can buy all these products at your workplace. Right !!
I’m using earthquake rubber matt from 1-2 dollar store like Da!so. For the isolation, I cut half of rubber ball or tennis ball depends on the size or need of your equipments and cover it with tube containers or bowl. The container need to be larger and shorter than the half cut ball.
Jay you have to review Stack Audio's Auva speaker isolation feet, they seem to be trending know and killing the competition. If you can you should try the Auva 50, 70 and 100 , the price differences are substantial between the three. It would be nice to know first how good they are overall and secondly how they compare to each other. They have a 30 day money back return policy. Every review I have seen they beat out the isoacoustics easily. Isoacoustics uses decoupling and Stacks Audio uses absorbtion, dissipates vibration through tungstun beads that are dissipated as heat. I think this would be a hot review for you right now :O)
That was a really nicely done video, man! Great job. I'm a major tweaker so this was right up my alley, too. I also use blue tack on my stands but have recently started using about a dozen or so pieces of tack instead of four pieces in each corner which couples the speaker to the stand even better and have noted hearing a tiny bit more of a cleaner sound. Good call on the crappy jumpers that come with speakers, too. I have a custom set of jumpers as well. I also use a mix of spikes, Cardas Cuboids, Vibrapods and custom made MDF platters under all my gear which makes a really big difference. Another good tweak is to put a weight on top of components to dampen chassis vibration but you don't want to use too much weight as it can affect the sound negatively (not kidding). If you are into voiding warranties like I am I also replace the binding posts on my speakers and amps with high quality copper materials and it makes a HUGE difference. I also DIY my power cords and the difference between typical brass connectors and high quality copper connectors is once again HUGE.
Good ideas here. Looking forward to trying some. I would have been helpful if you elaborated a bit more on what the acoustic isolation pads/pucks do - how it makes the sound better. For speakers, I can see floor standers might benefit from decoupling from the floor to clean up the sound. Likewise, without isolation the turntable could pick up the vibration in your home from your rocking speakers, or even an appliance like washing machine, and convey that to the amplification. We are talking about small things here, but it all adds up. Thanks for all the tips and reviews.
Great vid Jay! Never tried the Isoacoustic products,been having great results with Townshend stuff for years. Black Ravioli feet under anything with a transformer works wonders too. Cheers from Sunny Scotland.
yeap... I even add liquid sometimes to clean is thoroughly... I think the added step of needing to clean the platter is not so bad but record doctor at half the price does a better job imho
It would be interesting to see a comparison review on e.g. the quite expensive products from Gaia Isoacustics and Townshend Seismic Podiums, and then some cheaper stuff, and also to see a dive into the theories behind, as the importance of the resonance frequency of the support materialsand what that means in real life. (I picked up other places that rubber and the likes (sorbothane etc.) should not be used in hifi setups due to this matter).
I use washing machine feet dampeners. I figure if they can isolate a shaking and spinning washing machine they are good enough for my components. They cost about $2 each. I have my turntable and stand on them. I can jump on my hardwood floors and nothing gets transmitted through the stylus. Same if I knock on the cabinet surface.
I've observed that if you plug your speakers cables into the tweeter set of binding posts and let the woofer drive off the jumper plate, the high end sounds better than letting the high end signals go through the coupling plate.
Either one will suffer, either the tweeters or the woofer. Best is to get a good jumper cable (if your stock plates suck to begin with) and - goes into woofer and + into the tweeter.
I noticed that with my JBL Studio 530s. They have a much more lively tweeter with a top post connection. I'm awaiting some WBC jumper cables right now.
Hey man, Tjerk from The Netherlands here. I love your videos and learn a lot from them. I'm into Totem speakers for over 20 years now currently driven by my naim audio setup. I saw your Vynil cleaner and thought: have you ever tried The Okki Nokki? It does the same but you only insert the Vynil and the machine does all the rest :) Hope to see lot's of more content from you! And please visit Audio Excellence every now and then :) I and they miss you over there. Love Tjerk
I'll bet that all of those tweaks together won't be as effective as using room treatments like fiberglass panels on the walls. a bass trap, and finding the sweet spot between the speakers.
Two things that really annoy me about speaker manufacturers. 1) Why do they insist on putting twin binding posts on (entry level) speakers. They should spend the money on things that really matter. Not things that, at best, do nothing and at worst deteriorate sound quality. 2) If they can't help themselves then at least use a decent wire jumper instead of those ridiculous brass bars. How much can a 3'' piece of speaker wire cost?
I always enjoy your enthusiasm for hifi. I would add that the Nagaoka record sleeves are easier to take in and out of the record jackets than mofi. Also why not just bi-wire instead of using a jumper? You can get them with locking banana plugs for less than $160 a pair. It seems peculiar that nearly all reviewers are so adamant about not bi-wiring.
I never experienced a massive difference when bi-wiring... only bi-amping. I don't like the idea of running two pair of speaker cables for something I don't appreciate. haha again, this is what works for me ! cheers
That’s cool, it probably makes less difference than moving speakers a half inch. The only review I’ve seen of my speakers, the Canton Vento Reference 7, the dude thought it made a small difference eight years ago. So I’m just going to go with that, haha. I do like locking interconnects and banana plugs but probably a pain if you’re switching out equipment all the time.
1) Michael Fremer said the Onzow Stylus cleaner is a garbage tweak that can damage the stylus. 2) Blu-tack is the same product as Sticky Tack with blue coloring added and priced accordingly for gullible audiophiles. Both products tend to isolate the vibration rather than transmitting down into the stand. A far superior solution for transmitting vibration to stands (assuming you have good stands) are .2AP.7D Audio Points from Live-Vibe Audio.
Thanks for the video. Which size Isoacoustics did you use between your Holo May power supply and DAC? And did you notice any difference in sound quality aside from the benefits of heat dissipation?
1) Get the weight of your gear from its specifications. 2) Go to the IsoAcoustics website to check the sizing chart. Note: You only need 3 isolation devices per chassis. I hear an improvement in sound quality. It's subtle but it's there. The pucks are available on a returnable basis from most sellers.
Great video! I just learned about the quality of the bridge clips on the speaker binding posts from Brian at Cardas when I asked him why you would want to bi wire speakers (I get bi amping and do for my towers). He said, like you, because of the quality (or lack thereof) of the connectors being typically brass, steel, aluminum etc... thereby reducing detail and dynamics. Made sense and glad to see you reinforce this point as well! I do have one question pertaining to iso acoustic usage, aside from heat dissapation, what benefit would you hear using on components like integrated amps and cd transports?
If you have bi-wirable speakers why would you use cables to disable this? If your amp supports it use it. Also for ultimate speaker stability use crosshead wood screws driven into your floorboards to sit your speaker stands spikes in.
Very interesting tweaks. If you only have a limited number of Isoacoustic devices, which hifi component should be the priority : the source (CD player or stremer), the DAC or the amp ?
I used something like but it was so hard to remove the speaker that when it released it ripped of the vinyl from the bottom of my elac debut. First words out of my mouth - HOLY SH..!!!!!!!!!!!
you know what I do to make my Hi-Fi sound better, smoke a ton of weed. used to be back in the day guys would drink and some still do, I went over to a acquaintances house to discover he was drinking wine as he went to put on some tracks for us to listen to. ThoughI think nowadays weed is where it's at, trust me you smoke about five or six joints and that hifi is going to sound so freaking good.
