Fas42’s Stereo ‘Magic’

[Audiophile Neuroscience]

1 hour ago, Summit said:

When it comes to Frank's magic tweaks, we cannot even find out what he actually does that miraculously makes his devices suddenly sound much better than 99% of all hifi systems.

1+

 

[pkane2001]

3 minutes ago, Audiophile Neuroscience said:

 

You have that backwards.

No, I got it straight. Personal attacks are against the TOS here, by the way.

[Audiophile Neuroscience]

8 minutes ago, pkane2001 said:

Personal attacks are against the TOS here, by the way.

 

I agree...is there a point ?

[fas42]

1 hour ago, Summit said:

 

When it comes to Frank's magic tweaks, we cannot even find out what he actually does that miraculously makes his devices suddenly sound much better than 99% of all hifi systems.

 

You're seeing in real time what I doing, in the Edifying Journey thread - many of you would listen to how it sounds now, and pick holes left, right, and centre, and tell me I'm wasting my time. And miss completely what's going on - I'm listening to what's it getting right, and reacting to where it's not up to scratch ... I keep applying my step by step surgery approach, because at some point it should fully blossom - it's no more complicated than that, but you keep wanting something mystical beyond those steps.

 

A person who is certain that it's impossible to clear a high jump will crash into it every time; the one that worked out a slight variation of his jumping action, and fluked it once, now knows he can do it; so, refines his technique - and now regularly clears it. There are no more mysteries than that ...

 

[fas42]

1 hour ago, Confused said:

 

And Frank, maybe it is time to stop generalising about what "all audiophiles" are doing and thinking?  From I can see that is quite a broad spectrum of thinking and ideas these days, and long may this continue.

 

If ever there was a group of people who generalised more than audiophiles, I would like to meet them ... the pattern starts, and it sticks, like a wad of chewing gum to the sole of a shoe ... what's wrong with digital, what's wrong with digital ??! Hey, what about this jitter stuff, then ... Aaaahhhh!! Righto, it's jitter, jitter, jitter, jitter, jitter, jitter, jitter, jitter, ad nauseum ...year after year 😝

 

Luckily, I skipped the whole jitter craze ... to this day I couldn't give a stuff about jitter numbers - and that hasn't got in the way of the SQ I look for.

[Confused]

10 minutes ago, fas42 said:

 

If ever there was a group of people who generalised more than audiophiles, I would like to meet them ... the pattern starts, and it sticks, like a wad of chewing gum to the sole of a shoe ... what's wrong with digital, what's wrong with digital ??! Hey, what about this jitter stuff, then ... Aaaahhhh!! Righto, it's jitter, jitter, jitter, jitter, jitter, jitter, jitter, jitter, ad nauseum ...year after year 😝

 

Luckily, I skipped the whole jitter craze ... to this day I couldn't give a stuff about jitter numbers - and that hasn't got in the way of the SQ I look for.

Yes, thinking about it, generalising in this thread is fine. 

 

Plus, I think I am giving up on audiophilia and focusing more on my new hobby, collecting generalisations, the more I get here the better! 🙂

 

By the way, it is a much cheaper hobby.

[fas42]

How about, most audiophiles are collectors at heart ...

[Summit]

38 minutes ago, fas42 said:

 

You're seeing in real time what I doing, in the Edifying Journey thread - many of you would listen to how it sounds now, and pick holes left, right, and centre, and tell me I'm wasting my time. And miss completely what's going on - I'm listening to what's it getting right, and reacting to where it's not up to scratch ... I keep applying my step by step surgery approach, because at some point it should fully blossom - it's no more complicated than that, but you keep wanting something mystical beyond those steps.

 

A person who is certain that it's impossible to clear a high jump will crash into it every time; the one that worked out a slight variation of his jumping action, and fluked it once, now knows he can do it; so, refines his technique - and now regularly clears it. There are no more mysteries than that ...

 

 

I know about your “step by step surgery approach”, I just don’t get what you do and have asked you the same question over and over again.

 

I have not followed the Edifying Journey thread and thought you had keep them in “raw form”. Can you please tell me what you have done to them and which SQ affects you have gained?

[Audiophile Neuroscience]

16 minutes ago, Confused said:

 

Plus, I think I am giving up on audiophilia and focusing more on my new hobby, collecting generalisations, 

 

 

You will never ever never find happiness in collecting generalizations 😏

[Confused]

14 minutes ago, fas42 said:

How about, most audiophiles are collectors at heart ...

 

Nah, spoilt by the term "most".  I am a purist, and prefer my generalisations in the "all" form.

[fas42]

23 minutes ago, Summit said:

 

I know about your “step by step surgery approach”, I just don’t get what you do and have asked you the same question over and over again.

 

I have not followed the Edifying Journey thread and thought you had keep them in “raw form”. Can you please tell me what you have done to them and which SQ affects you have gained?

 

Well, it would be a good start to read through it ... 😉

 

To summarise, I have done quite a bit to add significant effective mass to them, they now weigh of the order of a large Wilson, say, in the sense that when I push on them, that's the sort of mass it feels like - but still could be better ... not coupled to the floor well enough yet. This has tamed the bass, which was too much, and too loose.

 

All cables stabilised by damping material, and carefully dressed in the route they take. I worry about static effects, and take extreme care in making sure that anything that part of the rig touches is not causing an issue - the "silliest things" can make a major difference; take nothing for granted.

 

Biggest issue at the moment is that electrical activity in the house degrades the sound; two stages of mains filtering still not good enough - so I'm working on that right now.

 

The system goes loud, sounds clean, good tonality - what it lacks is low level detail resolution, so soundstage is not up to standard. I may need to go inside to improve this, on the ToDo list ...

[Summit]

1 hour ago, pkane2001 said:

And yet, magical thinking pervades this site, well outside this thread, especially now that Chris banished all objective thinking folks.
 

I get the frustration with Frank, I’ve gone a few rounds with him myself  Whatever you think of him or his posts or his methods, he doesn’t deserve to be singled out and personally attacked in a way exhibited here lately.
 

Interesting things can happen when you engage Frank in a civil conversation unrelated to his ‘magic’: he has a depth of knowledge and understanding of audio that may really surprise you. 

 

When you say that magical thinking pervades this site and that Chris has banished all objective thinking folks you make it clear what you think about me and most other people on this cite. Seriously, I have no desire to discuss anything with someone that believes the above to be true. Yes Frank have much to share and have told him so before. I just can’t get what is his tweaks is and what they are supposed to do (and am not alone).

 

I have not seen anyone forcing anyone to get audiophile fuse, audio grade AC cord or grounding box full of rocks. I have only seen people sharing their own experience (or theory) with these, nothing more. I use audio grade power cords as well as IC and USB and think that they “sound” better than the generic ones. I can’t understand people that can’t hear the difference between good and bad cables in a good sorted audio system. Which cable that fit the good and the bad is of course it's up to everyone to decide.

[Summit]

14 minutes ago, fas42 said:

 

Well, it would be a good start to read through it ... 😉

 

To summarise, I have done quite a bit to add significant effective mass to them, they now weigh of the order of a large Wilson, say, in the sense that when I push on them, that's the sort of mass it feels like - but still could be better ... not coupled to the floor well enough yet. This has tamed the bass, which was too much, and too loose.

 

All cables stabilised by damping material, and carefully dressed in the route they take. I worry about static effects, and take extreme care in making sure that anything that part of the rig touches is not causing an issue - the "silliest things" can make a major difference; take nothing for granted.

 

Biggest issue at the moment is that electrical activity in the house degrades the sound; two stages of mains filtering still not good enough - so I'm working on that right now.

 

The system goes loud, sounds clean, good tonality - what it lacks is low level detail resolution, so soundstage is not up to standard. I may need to go inside to improve this, on the ToDo list ...

 

That is more like it 🙂. Please can you provide some pics of them with the tweaks in place.

[MarkusBarkus]

...yes, that is more like it. And photos help. Hell, if I can post a photo of a "smokestack" attached to a eRG for heat dissipation, you can at least send cable dressing pickies. 
 

I don't care if some folks think the "new guy" (me) is a nutter. It's a fun hobby and I am a tweaker since boyhood. I had a dragster parachute on my Stingray bike. Even at 12 yrs old, I knew it didn't really slow me down, but it's fun, right? 
 

But if I sold the parachute as a product to help slow your bike, that's another matter.

 

So howze about those photos, Mr. fas42?

[Allan F]

1 hour ago, Audiophile Neuroscience said:

 

You will never ever never find happiness in collecting generalizations 😏

 

That's generally true for most people. 🙂

 

[pkane2001]

1 hour ago, Summit said:

 

When you say that magical thinking pervades this site and that Chris has banished all objective thinking folks you make it clear what you think about me and most other people on this cite. Seriously, I have no desire to discuss anything with someone that believes the above to be true. Yes Frank have much to share and have told him so before. I just can’t get what is his tweaks is and what they are supposed to do (and am not alone).

 

I have not seen anyone forcing anyone to get audiophile fuse, audio grade AC cord or grounding box full of rocks. I have only seen people sharing their own experience (or theory) with these, nothing more. I use audio grade power cords as well as IC and USB and think that they “sound” better than the generic ones. I can’t understand people that can’t hear the difference between good and bad cables in a good sorted audio system. Which cable that fit the good and the bad is of course it's up to everyone to decide.

I try to state what I think in an unambiguous way, so if you’ve read anything I posted before, you should not be surprised by what I think.
 

Chris banished all objective posts to a sub forum. That’s not an opinion, that’s a fact. As the result a large number of objectivists either left under protest or were banned. Also a fact. 

Frank isn’t forcing anyone to solder interconnects. So he repeats his mantra way too often. But recently that’s been confined to just a few threads. Why is it that you can state that you hear differences between AC cords, while Frank can’t state that he hears differences between soldered Interconnects and RCA connectors or bypassed volume pots?
 

[kumakuma]

4 hours ago, fas42 said:

 

I keep applying my step by step surgery approach, because at some point it should fully blossom - it's no more complicated than that, but you keep wanting something mystical beyond those steps.

 

 

I think you've hit on why folks here are frustrated by your posts.

 

It's your bait and switch nomenclature.

 

Calling something a "step by step surgery approach" implies that there are practical steps that others can use to improve their systems.

 

Surely you can see how people would feel cheated when they find that your "steps" are:

 

1. Listen to bad recordings to find problems

2. Fix those problems

 

 

 

 

 

[kumakuma]

2 hours ago, pkane2001 said:

 

Frank isn’t forcing anyone to solder interconnects. So he repeats his mantra way too often. But recently that’s been confined to just a few threads. 
 

 

I agree that things have improved but he continues to spam other threads with useless, fortune cookie, jibba jabba like this winner from yesterday:

 

Quote

an everyday audio system is like walking along an embankment which is not too high, pretty wide, and gently curved to where it falls away ...easy, peasy to wander along. But as the walker gets more adventurous, and tackles more "interesting" paths, the embankment gets higher, it narrows, and the sides start to drop away at alarming angles ... get it a tiny bit wrong, and you tumble. But if you can nail the technique for maintaining the balance, then you are up so high - and the vistas you can scan are amazing

 

[Summit]

2 hours ago, pkane2001 said:

I try to state what I think in an unambiguous way, so if you’ve read anything I posted before, you should not be surprised by what I think.
 

Chris banished all objective posts to a sub forum. That’s not an opinion, that’s a fact. As the result a large number of objectivists either left under protest or were banned. Also a fact. 

Frank isn’t forcing anyone to solder interconnects. So he repeats his mantra way too often. But recently that’s been confined to just a few threads. Why is it that you can state that you hear differences between AC cords, while Frank can’t state that he hears differences between soldered Interconnects and RCA connectors or bypassed volume pots?
 

 

I've never said or suggested that Frank can't say what he hears. I have done the opposite and asked him over and over again to explain what he has done to make his budget equipment sound much better than 99% of all hi-fi systems.

 

As I said in my last post, I have no desire to discuss with anyone who tries to ridicule my choices of devices and who distorts what I write.

[kumakuma]

17 minutes ago, Summit said:

I have no desire to discuss with anyone who tries to ridicule my choices of devices and who distorts what I write.

 

I don't think Frank's attacks on audiophiles were aimed specifically at you.

[daverich4]

2 hours ago, pkane2001 said:

Chris banished all objective posts to a sub forum. That’s not an opinion, that’s a fact. As the result a large number of objectivists either left under protest or were banned. Also a fact. 

As of today, the last post on that sub forum was a week ago. Mission accomplished. 

[sandyk]

5 hours ago, daverich4 said:

As of today, the last post on that sub forum was a week ago. Mission accomplished. 

 

You have already made it abundantly clear by your reactions to many posts that you are an Objectivist, so why not post something in the Objective sub forum that meets the requirements ?

The same applies to Kumakuma, Ajax and others, as Paul is virtually the only member posting there regularly, even though he doesn't offer too much in the way of actual measurements that are definitive as to what can, or can not, be heard by Audiophiles.

 

 BTW, in case you haven't noticed, there are far fewer posts generally since the Covid 19 crisis started, and that applies to quite a few other forums as well.

[gmgraves]

20 hours ago, fas42 said:

 

Because I can't hear what it's doing wrong 😉 ... you see, I'm not hot rodding a perfectly good car; I'm the mechanic who listens to the unpleasant noises that a car with a fault makes. If someone assembled exactly the right combo of the above, and the integrity of the bits used to hook it together were of a good standard, and the mains supply was perfectly behaved - then I might say, what more do you want?

 

I want to know what you COULD do when there is nothing to do with the equipment that hasn’t been already covered. IOW, what possible tweak could you do to improve the SQ of so simple as system? Of course this is about what I expected from you, Frank. This is your usual response when cornered - a non response.

20 hours ago, fas42 said:

Soldering is way poorer than just plugging an RCA into a Jack !!?? ... man, that's so far out there I can't see it through the haze of distance, 😁.

Actually, yes. And it certainly won’t improve the integrity of the connection, and therefore it can’t improve the SQ of the system.

 

[sandyk]

9 hours ago, pkane2001 said:

Why is it that you can state that you hear differences between AC cords, while Frank can’t state that he hears differences between soldered Interconnects and RCA connectors or bypassed volume pots?

 Frank has done this on numerous occasions already,, and I don't doubt that this may in some circumstances improve SQ by a tiny amount as well as improve reliability. Some members have often posted about the perceived improvements heard when replacing IEC Mains plugs and and sockets with expensive higher quality types, and then wired the replaced socket to the main PCB using expensive " Audiophile grade" wiring.

 Why not instead just remove the sockets , fit a blanking plate with a grommet and cable retaining clip, and cut the end off the mains cord and solder it directly to the PCB ???

Yes, I have also  had problems with consumer grade mains plugs and sockets going high resistance both with my DIY DAC, and more recently with my PC where one morning recently it wouldn't even start, although the plugs were a tight fit..

Several reinsertions at both ends of the mains cable got it working again.

 

[gmgraves]

11 hours ago, fas42 said:

 

If ever there was a group of people who generalised more than audiophiles, I would like to meet them ... the pattern starts, and it sticks, like a wad of chewing gum to the sole of a shoe ... what's wrong with digital, what's wrong with digital ??! Hey, what about this jitter stuff, then ... Aaaahhhh!! Righto, it's jitter, jitter, jitter, jitter, jitter, jitter, jitter, jitter, ad nauseum ...year after year 😝

 

My irony meter just exploded! “If ever there was a group of people who generalised more than audiophiles, I would like to meet them...” That’s all Frank ever does is generalize. You ask him a specific question and all he does give vague non-answers. And he talks about other audiophiles “generalizing”!