Home » Audio » General » A Really Inexpensive Tweak
A Really Inexpensive Tweak [message #941] Thu, 07 October 2004 16:27 Go to next message
FredT is currently offline  FredT
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Line the underside and inside the top cover of your CD player or other component with $1.50 vinyl floor tiles from Home Depot. They damp the resonances just as well as the $10 sheets you can buy from the audio parts houses. Be careful not to cover any ventilation holes.

What problem does that fix? [message #942 is a reply to message #941] Thu, 07 October 2004 16:46 Go to previous messageGo to next message
wunhuanglo is currently offline  wunhuanglo
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nt

Re: What problem does that fix? [message #943 is a reply to message #942] Thu, 07 October 2004 19:20 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Manualblock is currently offline  Manualblock
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Boredom?

Re: What problem does that fix? [message #945 is a reply to message #942] Fri, 08 October 2004 06:06 Go to previous messageGo to next message
FredT is currently offline  FredT
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Reduced panel resonances.

Re: What problem does that fix? [message #947 is a reply to message #945] Tue, 12 October 2004 11:29 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Dean Kukral is currently offline  Dean Kukral
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Are the cover screws working loose or something? If there isn't a screw loose somewhere, then I don't see why anyone would care about panel resonances on a cd player.

Re: What problem does that fix? [message #948 is a reply to message #947] Tue, 12 October 2004 13:59 Go to previous messageGo to next message
FredT is currently offline  FredT
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Some believe panel resonances translate to vibration, which could compromise the player's ability to accurately reproduce low-level detail. For example, Marantz used to offer the standard CD67 player and an upgrade version, the CD67-SE. In additon to better quality caps in the audio section, the CD67-SE had a double bottom chassis plus a cross brace over the top for vibration control. But you may be correct, in which case I am the one with a loose screw, having frittered away three whole dollars of my hard earned money.

Re: What problem does that fix? [message #949 is a reply to message #947] Tue, 12 October 2004 15:21 Go to previous messageGo to next message
GarMan is currently offline  GarMan
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I'm on Fred's side that damping can improve the performance of a CD player. Especially when you consider how a laser in a CDP reads information off a CD.

I'd also though that CD being a digital media would have its content read digitally (ie. reading 1's and 0's off the disk). But that's not true at all. The track on a CD consists of pits of various lengths and the laser reads the distance between the lips of each pit, which then is converted into a digital signal. To repeat, it does not COUNT and READ a series of 1's and 0's, but rather a physical distance between markers on a disk.

Considering how cheap the laser and plastic lens are in a typical CDP, it makes you question how accurate CDP reads content on a CD. Any unnecessary vibration has the potential to mess up this reading process to create a playback that is even lower in resolution.

Gar.

Re: What problem does that fix? [message #950 is a reply to message #949] Tue, 12 October 2004 15:49 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Dean Kukral is currently offline  Dean Kukral
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I don't know how serious miniscule resonant vibrations of the side panels might be as far introducing tracking errors to a spinning disk. I suppose that somebody has researched vibration vis-a-vis tracking errors, because it is important for portable cd players that joggers and others wear.

I suspect, however, that it is pretty minor. "Tweak" would be the appropriate term.

I do know that over 40% (it may be more - I forget) of the data on a cd is sophisticated error correction code (of various levels). So, there is quite a bit of room for correctable errors.

Re: What problem does that fix? [message #951 is a reply to message #948] Tue, 12 October 2004 15:54 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Dean Kukral is currently offline  Dean Kukral
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Join the club. I hate to think how much money I have wasted trying to improve my sound!! At least it was only three bucks, not three thousand bucks for silver cables! :)

Loose screws? [message #952 is a reply to message #948] Tue, 12 October 2004 16:18 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
colinhester is currently offline  colinhester
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I've seen tweeks go so far as to change out the screws on the components in order to improve sound (no kidding.) The debate, if I recall correctly, was which screw material (various metal, nylon, etc....) sounded better. You can't make this stuff up.

As for your inital post on dampening, I think it's a great idea. Almost as cheap as my 100# slate isolation table top (free from counter top mfg. dumpster) and my 1.5" wooded balls ($1/4 at craft store) that hold up my CDP.....Colin

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