Loads of hi fi experiments and which ones work

[@Iamloveingawareness]

My personal favourite tweaking with demonstrable results is speaker positioning; higher, lower, distance apart, distance from the walls, distance to the listening chair. Plus room acoustics: bass traps, mid and high range reflection management. You could do a video about that Kelvin 👍 I'm obsessed! It drives my partner up the wall 😅 "Why have you put them THERE?" "Ooo, let me explain it to you Darling....." Reply: "Don't worry...."

[@peterlarkin762]

A major reason plated connectors or solder joints are used to connect copper wire is that the copper will oxidise and create resistance. If your speaker connectors are made of a ferric metal or are worn out, just get some new ones. Also, thoroughly cleaning and polishing vintage RCA sockets and plugs does much more for the sound then messing with speaker connections.

[@jasonemanuel9070]

Ive learnt so much from you kelvin no snake oil at all. If only the review youtubers were like you the audio world would be a better place.Your a different breed, thank you so much.

[@CNDUK-q8r]

Came for the Hi-Fi experiments, stayed for the English eccentricity.

[@bigblueocean]

Kelvin is an enthusiast. Nothing eccentric about that.

[@CNDUK-q8r]

@@bigblueocean Obviously I'm using 'eccentric' in the traditional way - it is not a pejorative per se.

[@andrewgabbott102]

Great video as always Kelvin. I used to have a Thorens TD150 MK2. It was a great turntable.

[@johnvincent4048]

I found a pair of Klipsch Forte ii on my local Craigslist for a low price. Removed the black paint and surrounded the mid horn and tweeter with dynamat extreme sound deadening mat. Also added some to the inside sides. Wow! They sound incredible! after my modifications.

[@paulwhite1109]

Good stuff Kelvin. I've done loads of tweeking over the years. Made my own power cables from shielded mains cable. Put sound deadening in my turntable (this is excellent if you get the right amount). Used various rubber based isolating implements on different parts of my turntable. Tried different turntable mats and feet and supports. I put weights, dumbell weights, on kit, speakers, amps, turntable phono stage, power supplies, dacs, works on some kit better than others. One bit of kit that likes being powered up all the time is my turntable phono stage sounds much better. I use washing machine dampening feet/pads under the spikes on my speakers with a 2 pence piece and some hardboard in between to protect it, this is one of the best tweeks.

[@stereoreviewx]

yes I heard about these feet ....sound like a bargain cheers K

[@ryansmith7974]

Kelvin, I've got the Thorens TD160 that I grew up with, I took it in for a service but its not really inspiring me to play my old records. Have you done a Thorens specific video? I'd like to make it sing if possible.

[@ianstreeter5291]

Great vid again Kelvin ! Brilliant 😊

[@philipknight3270]

Thanks Kelvin you're a gem, you're like a more affable Pete Townshend. I'm an ex-pat Brit about your age and fettered with hifi since the 80s as my Dad had a Garrard 401 with the Leak stereo 20. Have so enjoyed the journey from budget Amstrad to the much better gear I'm lucky to have today. My fundamentals are now sound, but I love trying different cables between the gear I swap around. All the best mate

[@TonyCottrell-iv2qv]

Fascinating as always! Mate of mine embedded his speakers in concrete back in the 1970s- it wasn't an improvement. Also made it impossible to move them about! Still, there are lots of different specs of concrete to experiment with!

[@stereoreviewx]

intersting

[@willwill5595]

Love all the good ideas. 🎉❤

[@philwalker2265]

Another great video Kelvin - i have also done similar over the years. Some tweeks do work and the bonus is they are free.

[@danielking1850]

You're the best guy out there for this stuff, keep it up, please!

[@stereoreviewx]

Thanks, will do!

[@frankvanhelvert6231]

as always a very clear and relaxed presentation ! thanks kelvin !!

[@budgetaudiophilelife-long5461]

THANKS KELVIN ,🧐 for sharing your experience, thankful you were a curious person 🤗💚💚💚

[@MrRichymil]

I re-plinthed my turntable using horizontal 18mm plywood about 5 layers and then glueing slate about 1inch thick around it. After adding 3 spikes for feet and re-enforcing the unit it stood on which was fixed to the wall with re-enforced shelving cantilevers it sounded great, but is very heavy when I have to move it to work on it.

[@zenfishbike]

Fantastic! Love it! Thanks for sharing Kelvin!

[@stereoreviewx]

My pleasure!

[@BritProgJazz]

Kelvin, I do love your videos! This one's a cracker 👌

[@The-Spotlight-Kid]

Love the oil matt concept, if not the possibility of my fave' & esp' some practically irreplaceble for sensible money L.P.'s of original early pressings getting oiled-up in the groove. Ive tried 5 or six 200g new pressings of old classics of blues, rock, funk & some clasical, they sound good with a quiet background of the typical vinyl-roar sound (heard if on high volume between tracks) & 2 of which i've long had the original vinyl pressings of, but are rare to find now, but the original pressings are are more alive & dynamic, clearer to hear into i.m.firm.o. Funkadelic's 1'st & 2'nd albums (1967'ish) were most noticablely so, the original pressings are clearer, more dynamic & all-round "more alive" i expected them to be at least = to my old bought 47'ish year old s/h originals pressings, played to death over the years & you still dont notice a tick or a pop, maybe if you concentrated hard enough you'd catch very few, but they dont intrude or even get noticed, they still sound like new. As for CD's ... I've had at least 5 or 6 now, i.e. stored well but they just started skipping all-a-sudden like, or taking longer in failing to have their T.O.C. list read, & hence not playable. The foil layer that is glued stuck on the other side of their thin paper C.D. labels can be subject to oxidisation on the cheaper made(?) CD's, i assumed. Phillips' of Holland original red-book CD design remit was the data-holding foil layer to be sandwiched between 2 thin polycarbonate discs & edge-sealed with touch heat but come manufacturing time, besn counters decided indtesd to save £'tons because they finally used 1 poly' disc per CD, & slapped it's wafer thin data-foil layer on the reverse side of the CD's paper label, the laser reading up through its clear unlabeled side, scratch a duff CD's label side lighly with a sharp pin, & you'll wuicklu see clear daylight through the new window msde by destroying & removing it's uber-thin data' foil-backed paper. Better brands just did a better varnishing job over the foil & lsbel, ive many Tellark, Louseau-Aire, Naim, Decca, RCA & other similarly good brands in mudic hsd their C.D.s last since the 80's, but 5'ish% of my total 40'ish C.D.s, (i mostly bought stuff rare, exoensive s/h or near unobtainable on L.P. Apart from thin rubber awful record mats with concentric circular high ridges for loadsa airspace underneath your LPs, as on old cheap Amstrad rack system T/tsbles & new Crossley £49.99 all-in jobs(?) the mat that made the biggest noticeable difference by far, was a very sponge-like holey aireated light grey foam matt, it's sleeve's propaganda spoke of great isolation, superb physical decoupling & hence the best sound possible, (opposite of a record clamp then!) - i kept that very light grey foam matt for many years only to show anyone who visited saying "all matts sound the same" ..just how gruesomely bad a mat can make music sound, made by try-it-on hi-fi periphery entrepreneur sellers when hi-fi shops were plentyfull

[@Ian-wh8ut]

That was a bunch of fun man.Thanks!

[@stereoreviewx]

Any time!

[@festersuncle6298]

I just discovered you're mad as a speeding lorry. Did you smoke a Bob Marley before you thought of moving the tweeter around? Hahaha. Always insightful vids.

[@stevesmyth4982]

The Quad ESL 57 tweeter/HF panel has a bass panel on each side which helps to make the sound more coherent, the Quads can also be stacked to good effect because all the drivers form vertical lines. I use four each side, thay hang on chains attached to the 10' high ceiling and are wired in series parallel. A turntable works best when mounted on a suitable wall bracket that uses four support points beneath the turntable. If your amplifier is robust and has ample heatsinking you can increase the quiescent current through the output devices so as to give the first few Watts in class A - be careful if you attempt this.

[@stereoreviewx]

foru quads from the ceiling sounds great

[@johnkendrick7304]

I never thought of that before but it would make complete sense, high viscosity engine oil would probably last forever and be the best. It just makes sense

[@slowpawstevet3676]

Hi Kelvin, funnily enough I have recently acquired a very good used pair of B&W CDM1 NT speakers which have the tweeters actually mounted on the top of very unusually shaped cabinets, paired with my NAD 3130 and Linn LP12 at last so far i have found the best sound i've ever heard in my home system, well pleased (-:

[@stereoreviewx]

nice

[@davislar1]

This was entertaining - but - electrical hazards exist - equipment in US (at least) designed for reliable safety. "Learning experience" only if you survive the experiment. Turntables - just aligning cartridges can take infinity. The oil-filled mat - HA! I did take the original Thorens mat off and replaced with a carbon-fiber/felt which seemed to improve the feedback aspect. Bearing oil - some engineers work quite a long while testing low-speed versus high-speed/pressure/heat vehicle lubricants - not to mention the corrosive aspects of different formulas. The isolation of turntables - yep. Same for speakers. Connection quality at the low-voltage junctions - I use Craig treatment to delay oxidation. You touched on the resonant plinth - and the leveling of table, and arm. I've used circular bubble levels, and mirrors, with such to set up cartridges. Concrete - the classic concrete block and wood plank shelving of my college days - now I use DIY panel boxes loaded with records or books. Thanks - and I look forward to your next experiment reports.

[@stereoreviewx]

funny thing is she headshell is not good thrones mat not good linn oil not good they can all get something wrong

[@steveoszman8746]

😂 Has I spend the week adding foam rubber to the feet on my ancient Toshiba turntable. Finding the heaviest felt mat to lay them LPs on. Buying elliptical stylus to squeeze that tiny bit more sound. Mr Kel comes around and points out how to rock that table. Great vid thanks and God Bless You and yours.

[@stereoreviewx]

rock on

[@anderssvensson4554]

Nice one! Thanks! B t w it would have been interesting to hear your take on Carlsson speakers of the 70s or 80s. I had OA-12s for a long time, they had something special. Small box, close to the wall placement, great bass, easily sounding as good as speakers triple the price if restored correctly.

[@mddawson1]

My c2000 Vaf DCX speakers had time aligned tweeters that were recessed into the front baffle. Vaf stuck foam pieces around the tweeters to absorb reflections.

[@andrewgillis8572]

Still have a PC board crossover - but removing things lke slip on connectors and tiny input lugs has helped. EG no ressistors now n what are 975 Philps 3-way kits 12 inch woof, dome mid & (now) single tweeter. Had volume controls for mids and his, and a second tweeter - these are gone and how the speaker cable is soldered and hangs out the back - a granny knot provides the strain relief inside the box - a bezel and dab of silicone does it. Next removal is of rear passive radiator - it is 12 or 14 inch IE expecting an 8 or 10 inch driver.

[@nsw9154]

Kelvin i use Castrol Fully Synthetic Motorbike oil in my Thorens TD166MkII and my AR Legend Turntables because i have a Motorbike 😊🏍 almost forgot to mention that i had a Dual 704 with a plastic headshell carier so i packed it with Bluetack and what a difference it made

[@jeromemurphy2572]

I put mine on top of a solid piano. It works well and it is very high and it is easy to get to.

[@318ishonk]

Few people seem to actually use features like parametric EQ and room correction that these days are available in products like Wiim streamers. You can achieve such crazy sound changes/improvements with them, and all for free.

[@JK-rt2jj]

What I have learned from fettling around with this and that is to recognise the point that your sound system performs well enough. When you’re there, try to leave it alone as long as possible and for even longer the next time. I prefer to invest time and money in the exploration of music, classical music and jazz in my case.

[@audiofool4u]

Here’s a wacky experiment which I suppose you could call the poor relation of bi-amping, and that is using two integrated amps, one for each channel. I have lots of hi-fi equipment, non of it up market, and I tried this for fun and I think the result was positive: left channel to one amp, right channel to the other. You have complete control independently of each channel and I don’t even necessarily use a matching pair of speakers: maybe kef for left channel and celestion for right and so on and so fourth. It’s a bit of fun but I do think you squeeze out a smidgeon more sound quality by doing this. Why not get yourself mildly inebriated and give it a go. P.S. You picture quality is excellent.

[@andygee8716]

Hi Kelvin. Check out the GOS concrete speakers designed by Christoph Pesch of Pesch Concrete. they are really stunning looking. All the best, mate.

[@sosonic12000]

What are your thoughts on Klipsch (horn) speakers folks? I had a little wonder into Richer sounds next to Southgate tube- as you do! And they were sampling a set of these for a potential buyer… WOW ….the sound was mind blowing guys! It evoked an a word I’m not going to repeat but suffice to say the human spirit was lifted exponentially!! And my friend is not a hifi buff at all and he looked at me and and no words were exchanged but we both smiled and shook our heads in amazement- almost like an alien telepathy moment 👽… Anyways - klipsch tower reference speakers …. Amp a Marantz pm8006. ❤

[@georgecoles7220]

Thanks and I have a 317 still working . Yes now I got my turntables on a wall It helps .

[@generalfactotum8342]

Hi Kelvin, thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences in the HiFi world. Just to add a couple of my own little bits; I used to wall mount turntables myself but in the end moved to a house built on a concrete raft which made spiked stand mounting (heavy) viable for me. Back in the day used a pair of Sennheiser open back headphones which came supplied with leads terminated with DIN SPEAKER plugs but as you say amps weren't quite so super watted then. Oh, and they were 2,000 Ohm jobbies which obviously made a difference.

[@Ricky-cl5bu]

Hello kelvin keep up the good work 😊

[@gazztracker]

my tweek was to paint wood glue on the drivers, it dries clear, and makes the cone rigid so it doesnt distort.

[@stereoreviewx]

yeah they did that a lot in the past they called in doped

[@gino3286]

hi i like very much your experimental approach I think it could provide very interesting information about speaker behaviour I think that an important detail with the tweeter placed above the cabinet is how do you treat the contact point A woofer is the vibes generator that are transmitted to the cabinet The goal would be to minimize the transfer of these vibes to the tweeter in some way Small movement of the tweeter plate can induce distortion on the tweeter emission A complete decoupling of the tweeter cabinet from the woofer cabinet it is a very challenging goal But it could lead to a better definition of high frequencies and better soundstage rendition It is a very challenging task

[@stevengagnon4777]

The main problem is the distance from the tweeter to the woofer becomes greater in his example with the woofer in the center of the baffle and is often the case. So the woofer needs to be at the extreme end and tweeter above it. But then if you move the tweeter usually back from the front of the baffle it will have audible changes in phase relationships at the cross over. But now you have an edge diffraction issue to deal with and solve. I believe there is some merit too it and will probably experiment again. I hade a pair of speakers that instead the woofer was mounted on a snorkel extending it outward and a tweeter with a relatively flat and wide wave guide. It just had a single cap on the tweeter and played over the 5 1/4 inch woofer ( full range) they were part of a large multi speaker system in a big space . The vocals from that particular speaker were fantastic.

[@The-Spotlight-Kid]

Fully agree with: "The best plugs & sockets... (for passing on your 2 stereo signals between your equipment) ...are no plugs & sockets" Except for reviewers perhaps, changes in our main stereo's equipment don't come along often enough to ignore that better sounding concept, i.m.o. otherwise for me, a much used & cheap "butane lighter-gas refillable" gas- powered soldering iron has sorted all my solder jobs with enough adjustable heat for big & small components &/or areas around them & a multifaceted tip, it was £15 or £20'ish tops back then, upto (15 or maybe nearer 20"yrs? back) i recommend those still coloured on 😢red..) eBay gas irons, an inch shorter but otherwise 'Cuban cigar-proportioned'. I have electric ones but the gas ones are so neat, easy, quick & reliable + no leads to dangle from. Soldering directly to the x/over, also bypasses the 2 extra sets of stereo soldered joints, so touch contact alone & 2 stereo soldered joints Vs no touch-only-contact area & just 1 good stereo joint to pass the signal on & replace "the inferior plug/socket touch-contact only" concept. The purest of conducting metal at room temperature... (bar Radio telescope's metal receptors liquid hydrogen cooled to 0.001 of a degree above "absolute zero degrees Kelvin") ..."5-nines Silver" solder is surprisingly cheap in half & 1 metre length on eBay & purely conductive unlike standard solder's 80% lesser contact due to it's lead content, Silver solder is fully conductive, v.light & 1 thin metre is loads of jobs. I've been on the same 1'st 1'meter length for very many years now, originally bojght esp' for the "m.c. phono low-level signal paths" from tonearm wires into the phono stage before the preamp, advice that this guy once mentioned is a win - win. Gold, silver, etc ain't the cheapest plugs but worse is that there's some plugs & sockets sold separately at hi-fi shows or high-end shops made from (i 4get) ..maybe Palladium or Deuterium or whatever crystals Scotty from StarTreck is always needing to go warp 10 with ..but special exotic metals or alloys of(?) or whatever elemental metal?, all claiming to be so & so many microns flatter or smoother (for a claimed greater "touch to touch contact area" (Well, "whoop-de-bloody-doo" ...when they can all be made totally pointless & irrelevant by just 2 direct solder joints... (saving a fortune on unnecessary useless metal exotica) Coincidentally, it was a Thorens TD 150 / SME 3009 at first, followed by same with an Alphason Xenon 'arm l8r (well made decks but all made with ultra light, super-thin & flimsy plinths) that "strengthening" it gob-smacked me into learning the massive whole system's improvement of all parameters of sound quality via same cart' & t/table minus original plinth but by strengthening it😢 alone, it's still the greatest improvement I can recall from 1 single component's costless upgrade, bass moved into a previously unheard quality I never knew was possible from the gear with that TD'150, high treble bells glistened & rolled off naturally like never before, all & everything was better, easily possible if the deck's potential is there. TD'150 main bearing was fabulously engineered, a 50 yr'old one took 4, 5 maybe more(?) minutes for it's heavy platter's spindle to drop fully into it's well after renewing it's bearing oil with a few drops, after settling in n via hrs gravity's effect, it took minutes to stop after a light touched dpin with belt not attached. (luckily, I thought it was damaged to take so long for the platter spindle to fully fall to its end point in the sub-chassis spindle well. Dropping & screwing down that 150, (original plinth discarded) into a jig-sawed cut-out huge thick lump of wood was the start. but placing that deck on a Target t/table shelf screwed into a load-bearing wall lifted the quality up again. I reckon a TD150, strengthened up, wall-shelved would beat a £700 new turntable, with the same tonearm & cart easily'. With a better than 1960's original plinth

[@stereoreviewx]

great stuff K

[@chrispike5773]

Remembering all the Peter Belt stuff. Never knew whether it worked or not.

[@christophermaley6822]

As approved by Chris Frankland I believe.

[@adrianinnavan3910]

Glass turntable mat, record clamp, magnesium alloy Audio Technica headshell, Singer sewing machine oil for the spindle. Worked for me.

[@stereoreviewx]

Nice work!

[@martinscase3904]

Great stuff Kelvin. On the Thorens 150 - I was recommended gearbox oil many years ago EP80W - a bit thicker than engine oil I guess - works a treat. I found damping the underside took a lot of the life out of the Thorens, and, according to what record I'm playing, actually find the original 'ridged' platter mat to sound better than some expensive alternatives. Definitely a big improvement in completely removing the flimsy bottom cover too. And, from what I've heard, replacing the lightweight plinth with a heavy Linn style one seems to take a lot of the magic out of that brilliant Thorens design! Re concrete speaker cabinets - I heard a design back in the early 90s- very fast detailed sound but kinda 'tiny' if you know what I mean. Best wishes to you!

[@stereoreviewx]

thanks for the info K

[@h0ll0wm9n]

Great experiments, Kelvin! I think designers these days are mostly computer modelling, and concentrating on measurements that look pretty. There is no reason vintage designs and can't be put out today, even Made In China like some tube amps (Prima Luna) and other decent Chinese knock-offs. The market is definitely there for vintage. About headphones ... many vintage amps/receivers with 'phones jacks are wired to same speaker outputs BUT they have 220-330 ohm 2-3 watt resistors in series with phones jack. So If you use very high quality metal resistors, you can mostly safely run headphones. The ideal headphones to run with speaker amps (with those R's) are ones with high impedance (280-600 ohm).

[@turokforever007]

I have seen a lot of KZbin people just plug things in to an oscilloscope, then do the review.

[@h0ll0wm9n]

​@@turokforever007 Yup. And Amir from ASR , in his KZbin videos, has that weird nervous laugh which he broadcasts like a 500,000 Watt AM Transmitter , just waiting for body language experts to bring to our attn. Kelvin never laughs!

[@bermuda747]

Wonderfully succinct !!

[@stereoreviewx]

part 2 coming soon 😇

[@Ian-wh8ut]

So that vta feature is hard to find in a t t that is affordable to me today. Thanks for the tip.

[@stereoreviewx]

thrones can be got for 175 in uk with original arm which is not so bad at all

[@Justin-fy7xk]

Another good one

[@johnnytoobad7785]

That looks like a Thornes "inner platter" in the background !

[@djgibby1301]

Although I never heard any of them, I do remember the Leak 3000 range of loudspeakers, 3030, 3050 & 3080 having the tweeter set back from the bass/mid drivers baffle.

[@stereoreviewx]

yes and some technics and kef 105

[@Drackleyrva]

Great video, Kelvin! Have you ever done any experiments with cable risers/elevators?

[@stereoreviewx]

no these days too much gear changing

[@slippinjimmy4455]

535 / 5.000 Hi Kelvin, this is Christian from Munich. I really like your videos about old hi-fi. I had exactly these speakers and was impressed by the mids. You could practically touch the voices. The crossover is very simple, with two parts next to the coil. So I swapped both components for much more detail. As a result, the mids suffered a little. Unfortunately, the speakers no longer had that impressive voice reproduction. Maybe sometimes you shouldn't change too much.

[@stereoreviewx]

changing tweeters is a exact science you do learn a lot

[@LifterplusLTD]

hello Kelvin, thank you for sharing to us your amazing experience 🙏🏻, I have question about speackers and there wooden box, Please share to us your experience about best sounding wood material for speakers? what are this differences between wood it self as box for speakers, For example what do you think if the box is same size and if we use same drivers, how they would sound in maple, walnut, oak or any other kind of tree wood, Which one you think is good for us vintage/Sansui lovers 😂 ?

[@stereoreviewx]

well when they made LS35A THEY CAME UP WITH BIRCH PLY I THINK 7 /8 MM its got some bounce in it I think oak would be too rigid like concrete

[@turokforever007]

The first part about the tweeter. Company's have to make something that is user-friendly. So we end up with something that is not the best sounding

[@dimachesebastian6407]

hi Kevin. which speakers/amp will you recomend for low level music listening? i'm sure it is a vintage one. no questions about this.:)

[@stereoreviewx]

well for low level I would say big drivers maybe three and light paper cones jbls if you can afford them

[@mervyndale7169]

I believe the turntables on. Radio Caroline used to float on oil and they worked very well except in very bad ( force 8) gales, when the DJ’s had to resort to tapes.

[@turokforever007]

I have been in the broadcasting room on the ship and from what I remember it was just springs. Someone might have tried oil at one point, though.

[@TheKimgower]

Hi Kelvin, I have 2 large powerful Jamo speakers but only a small music centre, any suggestions on what I would need to buy s/h to be able to enjoy them.

[@bernardsmith152]

Hi Kelvin, recently found your channel, and got back into vinyl. I'm just restoring a Thorens TD150 mk2 I bought off a friend for £25 back in 2005. Anyway, I would like your thoughts on tuning systems to suit the hearing of older listeners ( I will be 70 this year , and I know I have lost a bit of upper frequencies ) Should I choose " Bright " speakers ? Or other components to compensate for my slight loss of upper registers. ?

[@stereoreviewx]

try and get big midrange and or big interesting bass Jbl l100 would be ideal but expensive . you want a midrange driver I would say

[@djgibby1301]

Was that an ADC magnesium headshell by any chance? I remember using one on my Rega Planar 3 with the 's' shaped tonearm. Was recommended by a few people as it had better rigidity than the original. Long time ago now and I can't remember if it made a difference to the sound or not.

[@stereoreviewx]

yes adc so superior to the sme headshell

[@paulstubbs7678]

The thing that gets me with amps and speakers, they promote all these huge cables for minimal loss etc, yet inside the amp and speaker are way thinner.

[@stereoreviewx]

shhhoosh

[@oddbjrnbendiksen4771]

Kelvin the mad scientist ;)

[@nickaustin8334]

Had a Systemdek 11X and encased the bearing with plasticine. Much better bass.

[@stereoreviewx]

yes .....

[@gordthor5351]

Kelvin, why do you think a concrete speaker box would sound dead? Ideally, the speaker box should be inert , thus making no (muddy) sound of it's own. Concrete or granite make for great boxes, but it's typically not practical for marketing due to the weight and cost. A driver actually gains output if it's mass loaded. As your brilliant scientist (Newton) discovered. For every action there is an equal reaction. Consider throwing a shotput standing on ice or a skateboard, compared to a solid surface. The same law applies to speaker drivers throwing air forwards. This is why people use solid sand filled speaker stands and spikes. A resonating and/or moving speaker box is always a big detriment to sound quality.

[@stereoreviewx]

Well, firstly theory is good, but it’s not the same as reality One thing is, I have not heard of a great pair of concrete speakers ever Also, there are deliberate thin wall speakers granted made of ply not MDF I am actually thinking of putting one Speaker into concrete and keeping one normal just for fun. See what happens.

[@Ricky-cl5bu]

Brilliant

[@paulmurray6071]

What about jumper cables pre / power

[@SuperMcgenius]

Slate has a great damping effect.

[@stereoreviewx]

yeah I bet it does

[@ford1546]

This 7 "Ellemen is exactly the same factory as the Technics SB-C65 uses. The treble is similar to VIFA. Is that right?

[@djwindhoek]

Johnnie Neilson of Audio Origami makes his own oil that's widely regarded as being much better than the Linn stuff. That said, what brand of car oil are you using? Oh, speakers in concrete was recently tackled by Rega as their Aya speakers are a concrete compound of something like that. I haven't heard them so no idea whether it's likely to be an idea worth pursuing.

[@andygee8716]

Kelvin, if you really want to see some truly beautiful looking hifi components, check out Metaxas and Sins. Their gear is other-worldly!

[@pietromanno8916]

BRINGING BACK THE GOOD OLD DAYS!!✌️❤️🎼🎶🎵🎶🎵🎶🎶🎶🎵🎶🎵🎵🎶👍👍✌️❤️✨✨

[@turokforever007]

I made so many mods when was younger. To be honest, if I had the space, I would still be doing it.

[@fchampd4512]

Never heard of this experiment before 🤔😂

[@paulf.5261]

Just zoomed in to see what model your Sansui is.... mine I the AU 417 💜😍

[@stereoreviewx]

317 my one

[@paulf.5261]

@stereoreviewx Yeah, I noticed that yours looked familiar, so I zoomed in and read the number. 😉😁

[@vidtech2630]

I have no issues, whatever with using apropiete viscosity sythetic engine oil to lubricate , cassette deck capstan shaft, for instance , when I rejuvenate a cassette deck. Most people won't realise how many grades of engine oil , there is out there! Let alone what can be used, in a specific application.

[@mikesearle1649]

HI, ever tried quad 11L left channel Technics sbf1 right channel? I had a laugh, but low level listening improved, never cranked it up so i cant comment.

[@turokforever007]

I have tried a turntable on strings but it just made it echo very boxy

[@stereoreviewx]

yeah the doesn't work well

[@SeriousMist]

« different is not always better » : that’s the clue ! Our brain always notices what our ears gain but forgets what they loose in the trade. Especially when critically listening to well known records because a little now revealed detail is striking but the memory fills the gap left by the lost one. Hope this means something …

[@stereoreviewx]

I know what you meanies true

[@Lacking_something]

Which sansui amp is that at 07:00?

[@gilesfarmer5953]

AU 317

[@stereoreviewx]

correct

[@Lacking_something]

@@stereoreviewx crikey Kelvin's in the comments. Good to see you sir!

[@michaelvincent8306]

I've been using singer sewing machine oil in turntables for years dealers make a fortune from spares linn lp12 belts are 60 quid and they don't make them 😮

[@sidesup8286]

Enjoyed the video Kelvin. But you might have just touched the surface on improving sound by tweaks. You can literally triple your sound quality with enough little tricks; and by the end of the year, I'll probably be saying "Quadruple" with all the creative ideas I'm bound to still get. I think a 15% improvement is easily noticeable and a 30% improvement is a whole new listening experience. So you can imagine what nearly 10 times "a whole new experience" would be like. In my countless mods I have used materials so mundane and non mundane as string, clothespins, horse hide, rubber (there are around 40 different kinds of rubber), organic material from animals from meat sections of super markets, tape, crystals and much more. Those U shaped metal things that plug into integrateds with pre out, main in connections should be put aside and replaced with quality cable jumpers or longer cables. Much difference if the jumpers or cables are good enough. Also some of those integrateds have power amp sections so good you wouldn't believe it. Real sleepers. Going straight into the power amp, sometimes produces amazingly better results. The preamp and power amp of an integrated are often completely different animals; sound quality wise. And also there is the benefit of bypassing circuitry.

[@stereoreviewx]

highly agree about power amp sections being the best now im gonna compare Sansui au 317 power amp section with the modern power amp s Heed and NAIM

[@joeyjustin6895]

15:45. 3 IN 1 OIL IS 5/20 ENGINE OIL

[@stereoreviewx]

I wouldn't use 3in 1 too thin

[@jhuc2869]

Go with manufacturers recommendations for sintered bearings. It may be a repackaged cheaply available oil sold at a vastly inflated price. If so, avoid the manufacturers products in the first place.

[@robdw42]

I really don't think twiddling wires together will do. Works nicely for a bit, but then the copper corrodes and the resistance increases.

[@stereoreviewx]

I ts fine

[@emeerhof]

The reason you shouldn't connect most headphones to most speaker amps is not only the power mismatch but even more the impedance mismatch. Headphones have 4 to 8 times tha impedance of speakers.....which most amps don't like.

[@karelvandervelden8819]

How about having standmount speakers hanging with fishingline from the ceiling ? No resonations, low tech and cheap. Plus you win floorspace. And its safer against cats and todlers.

[@stereoreviewx]

not sure I could relax 😅 but try it

[@karelvandervelden8819]

@@stereoreviewx Its safer. The heavier gage line is immense strong. Look at the breaking numbers. And divided by 4 lines.

[@TonyCottrell-iv2qv]

​@@karelvandervelden8819It's the ceiling, not the line!

[@eliasroque2397]

Well, that's not a very good 7:33 transformer, and i have 70s Sansuis, and the mats I have are made from portuguese cork! The best! Best regards.

[@stereoreviewx]

yeah cork is good I didn't know Portugal had all that cork till went there a couple of years ago

[@joeyjustin6895]

9:29. I Hooked up my kiss PRO4AA Direct Ans Never blew them best headphones in the world.

[@nudebaboon4874]

I think any speaker plug andd socket connection is going to be a damn sight better than wires twisted and taped together, please solder them! As I've seen, and experienced, too many twisted connections become problematic in short time over my 55yrs of being around this sort of stuff! Learn to solder, you won't regret it, and its cheap.

[@stereoreviewx]

I can solder just saying for all people out there

[@Jonhobbs64]

"I got really high today and decided to make a video"

[@stereoreviewx]

who me

[@MustangBoss1973]

Of no real relevance but on the subject of oil as a vibration dampener. Nobody wants a fridge pot with no oil in it. That’s one hell of a noisy fridge.

[@rx4unyc]

By pass the fuse

[@SteveD-m6z]

This is a very silly idea. The fuse is required for electrical safety. It provides thermal protection against the risk of fire.

[@andrewlittleboy8532]

@@SteveD-m6zReally not required if using a dedicated modern radial circuit. The plug fuse is only there to protect the actual cable as the equipment has internal fuses. The fuse was only there as UK homes were wired with radial circuits to save on copper. Obviously preset much the rest of the world don’t have this concern of issue. I use a custom made 8 way mains block with Crabtree 15a round pins plugs. In actual fact this was a recommendation in the 80's in various hifi press at the time. All of my mains lead's are custom made so chances of any damage is very unlikely. This is all protected by dedicated radial circuit. I you think about it for a moment, the lights on my ceiling have no fuse and yet draw more current than my hifi at 400w consumption for 10x 40w halogen bulbs and that’s only one room, another 3 rooms adds on an additional 600w so 1kWh with no fuses whatsoever. Also the heat coming off them is very significant compared to a hifi system. I’d be much more concerned about the cheap no name brand rubbish from the likes of Amazon, eBay etc with very dubious Chinese interpretations of UK plugs and battery technology.

[@The-Chrystalmachine]

Bypass the fuse, and if the amplifier fails and starts a fire, your insurance company can invalidate any claim as you have removed a safety feature that is required by law.

[@SteveD-m6z]

@@andrewlittleboy8532 The equipment must provide thermal protection under single fault conditions. The internal fuse provides overcurrent protection against an internal short-circuit. The fuse rating establishes the maximum current that a fuse can safely carry without blowing (under normal conditions). The breaking capacity (interrupting rating) of a fuse determines the maximum current that a fuse can safely interrupt without being destroyed or causing an electric arc with an unacceptable duration. This is crucial for ensuring that the fuse can handle potential fault currents in the circuit without failing into an unsafe condition. The internal equipment fuse will be a general-purpose glass body, with a low breaking capacity (35A). The fuse in the mains plug is a ceramic body fuse, with a high breaking capacity (6000A). Therefore, bypassing the fuse in the mains plug increases the level of risk.

[@stereoreviewx]

that's one part you shouldn't mess withh😎

[@jozefserf2024]

5:15 Interestingly ironical comment about the 'life' in music. Especially in light of the fact that the recording industry has been progressively increasing the use of compression to kill it completely. Anyone hearing uncompressed music will immediately hear the differences. 14:43 Absolutely agree, the ghastly thick Linn oil is like most of their stuff - overpriced rubbish. Changing the oil for one that reduces friction opens up the sound considerably. You'll lose the 'warm' Linn sound, but that's not a bad thing either.

[@davidthom7127]

I wish you'd explained why you think these tweeks are good. I can't understand why you think there was any possibility of improvement.

[@philwalker2265]

With the turntable tweeks they will be eiyher beneficial or not. Because it's really a microphone. With most things in a hifi system, it's about keeping that signal pure and as short as possible.

[@davidthom7127]

@@philwalker2265 but the way you're describing it, you're not

[@philwalker2265]

@davidthom7127 Not sure what you mean? The turntable not acting like a microphone? Or keeping the signal pure/clean and short as possible?

[@stereoreviewx]

turntables the sensitivity is so insane its hard to describe in scientific terms but the engine oil is such a sound improvement ..space ,accuracy ,lucid bass a win win win for 0.1 pence

[@maxine2798]

@@philwalker2265pure and simple is one solution. As he’s explaining its the hundreds of details can matter. Look at the details that go into a seemingly simple Rega or Lp12 turntable. Are 2 way speakers better than 3 ways? My old ‘Briks have 12 drivers between them and make better music than my Epos 14s with all their simplicity. And louder. And more extended bass

[@andrewarthurmatthews6685]

This man has too much time on his hands and just looking for something to do

[@MrRichymil]

I want to try making concrete stands for bookshelf speakers strapping them onto them.

[@stereoreviewx]

interesting