Any Accessories or Tweaks Worth Considering?

A Chord GroundArray on your Lumin, DAC or router/switch.

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I’m sure it’s good, but at a price that is almost the same as my amp, it’s a bit overbudget…

shunyata denali

Big difference between US and Uk prices. Like Naim in the US :kissing:

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Not trying to persuade you, but some treatments toabsorb or diffuse sound at higher frequencies need not be intrusive nor look like ‘professional’ treatment: e.g. small wall-hanging carpet, or a mineral wool filled absorption panel with fabric covering printed with your choice of art or photograph, to all intents and purposes looking just like a canvas print if a bit deeper, or a repositioned open bookcase. if your first reflection points at the sides are hard reflective surfaces, any of these could give a noticeable improvement in clarity if the reflection points are hard reflective surfaces, especially if not far to the side. Ceiling is harder to do unobtrusively.

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Recently, following forum ‘advice’ I have bought for a few quid the Bussmann fuses and the ethernet DeLock 62619.

Not sure yet if they make a difference.

The Gaia speaker isolation feet and the Music Works Reflex Ultra G3 power block made a noticeable improvement to the sound.

Did make me think of the gods of tweak Jimmy Hughes and Peter Belt, the former had me making a trip to Payless DIY or was it Texas Homecare to buy some solid core mains cable to replace my QED speaker cable.

I wonder if substituting 13amp B&Q mains cable for Superlumina speaker cable would sound better?

Who between them were a prime cause of my ceasing to read the hifi press!

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:joy: I hope not, but bell wire - now there’s a thought.

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To be fair, a lot of these “non professional” treatments, adding a thicker rug, wall hanging carpet, drapes etc, don’t have much/any impact on the frequencies that are typically causing the most issues. All these do is roll off the higher frequencies, making the room sound dead if you add too many of them & not make any actual improvements where most will need it. If you want a real improvement you need acoustic panels at least 4" deep & thicker is better. Now a number of companies will do digital printing on their acoustic panels, so if possible this would be a good option.

I was referring specifically to near/first reflections, where, I think I am right in saying, frequencies towards the top end are most significant in muddying the sound. Of course, the more broadband you make the absorbers or diffusers the better, but I was trying to suggest something useful but at the same time meeting the OP’s requirements. I was not suggesting adding a lot to deaden the room, but focussing on the problematic near reflection points, so easily treated yet so often ignored.

I’ll second the EtherRegen suggestion. I ran mine with a high quality linear PSU and with a standard wall wart and didn’t notice a difference as Uptone say themselves. Adding an AfterDark clock gave the EtherRegen a bit of a boost though.
Adding a linear PSU to your Lumin will bring a noticeable improvement. The only surgery needed is to cut one wire soldered to the IEC inlet. If you cut it right at the solder point it should be easy to re-solder if you want to later on.

That may be better then nothing at all, but in my experience the impact is still significantly less then properly treating (ie broadband) all the first reflection points (& by this I ideally mean all 5 walls (4 walls +ceiling), with both 1st reflection points of each speaker on each side wall (so two spots on each side wall).

I don’t disagree at all, but read the OP’s requirements!

I did read his requirements, was more so just a general reply, in that, while by no means am I an acoustic expert, from what I’ve read & from what I’ve experienced, just reducing a bit of the upper frequencies at first reflection points will just give you a small fraction of what proper room treatments will.

Yes, adding a rug, some curtains, a bookshelf, a plant, wall tapestry, etc is better then doing nothing but some audiophiles are wrongly lead to believe doing these things nets them far better performance then what they actually will.

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Agreed.
Luckily, I never fell for any of the whitchcraft.
I was stunned when one journalist (?JH) advocated turning the 'speakers around.

Wasn’t it turning your listening position around, so that the ‘speakers were behind you?

Equally batty of course.

G

…or maybe it was both, hoping for the effects to be cancelling.
In which case, batty squared!

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The biggest snake oil audio tweak I encountered was in the late 90’s. It was advertised in a lot of french audio magazines in that time. It was called “ OSH “, an anti MIS component.

The goal was to purify the air and then ameliorate the sound quality.
“ MIS1 (Surface Micro Inductions) are electromagnetic micro energies that are found on all the surfaces of your cables, your electronics, both those of the components and those of the covers, also those of the membranes of your loudspeakers and the box of the speaker. speaker… They cover all the surfaces of each element of your audio system. No need to be plugged in, all the objects around you, even inert ones, are covered with them (your CDs, the walls of your living room, the floor… The nature of these MIS energies is intermediate between static electricity and ordinary, that is to say that they are energies capable of moving”

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Let’s get Mulder and Scully onto that one!

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The truth is out there.

Just don’t tell the hifi geeks. :joy:

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I recall that (at least I think it was that, as opposed to behind him). Also getting expensive speakers, on which the manufacturer had spent probably months of trial and error research (in those days without any computer modelling), with copious measurements and listening tests, only for JH to open up, rip out the sound absorbant/panel deadening “stuffing”, and declare it sounded much better. I soon learnt that his ears were in no way a meaningful measure in my quest for hifi progress.

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