Unplugging cables every 6 months?

Yes… on the cables , not only ot cleans off the static but also clean the cables off it’s dust layer which I hate that when I touch the cables :grimacing:

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Just wanted to point this out since wrong fluid on connectors and its metal surface is bad stuff :slight_smile:

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Totally agreed :+1:

Bahahaha. Not the technical concept but the choice of words. Yes, it is “insidious” and the work of demons from the underworld. They are sitting on your cables purposefully working their ill will against you.

:sweat_smile:

I don’t keep a record of when I do it, so I can’t say at what frequency I do a full system breakdown. It’s probably closer to annually rather than every six months, but is mainly determined by dust build up. I do like to polish the Fraim shelves to remove the marks left by rubber feet. I also polish the ball bearings and ‘squeak’ them when placing them back on the mounts (it’s something I was advised to do by my local retailer). I only unplug plugs when doing a full system breakdown simply because it’s not possible to reach them unless I’m going down the stacks one shelf at a time. In fact, some burndies are so tight that it’s impossible to remove them unless the shelf is fully exposed. Having just sent the 552 and PS for service has given the perfect excuse for a full system breakdown. I’ll probably do the same again when it comes back (OCD!).

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Not a chance! Not me.

I like to think that I break down the system and clean up and check the tightness of the Fraims and re-do all the cables every 6 months or so. In reality, it can sometimes be a year or even more. However, I do unplug the speaker connectors (at both amp and speaker end) more often, and this does seem to make quite an appreciable difference.

There are some pitfalls though. Just last month I re-did everything and also refreshed the belts and changed the cartridge on the Rega RP10. I reassembled everything and all seemed fine. However, playing a few familiar LPs, while the sound was very good there was something not quite right. There was a slight sense of phasiness with the central image and depth seemed curtailed. At the same time, while rhythms were at times mesmerising, there was a sort of slight sense of thickness to the sound that had me spending an hour making tiny VTF adjustments, but to no real avail.

The following day, and with the light of day, the penny dropped. I noticed that I had not routed the power cable correctly to the motor. Normally I run it off to the right side (as the stack holding the speed box is located to the right) right down the centre of the turntable and completely avoiding the tonearm cabling. However, somehow I had it outside of the rear foot so it was running right under the tonearm cabling. A small thing, that would seem pretty insignificant, but fixing it fixed all the issues I had heard the previous evening. Slightly off-topic, but thought it fascinating enough to share here.

Here’s everything post cleaning, rebuild and cable replugging.

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If you don’t mind me asking, what is your Hicap powering? Thanks :pray:

The HICAP is not in the picture (powers a Headline), but I think you’re referring to the Superline underneath the NAC552 head unit.

I also unplug the more easy going cables now and then like speaker cables and signal cables but never Burndy. Is there a recommendation and positive effect to unplug/plug Burndy too now and then?

Aha! Yes I thought that was a Hicap. Sorry!

Yes - this is the very reason why I prefer to leave well alone, even though I know I could potentially get some benefits by dismantling / unplugging. When it’s all sounding so good I really don’t want to risk upsetting the apple cart.

With a very revealing system sometimes it can be hell trying to track down the source of some malady. And it can indeed be something seemingly very innocuous.

No doubt I’ll have a go at some point, but for now I’ll just enjoy things as they are.

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All my cables get unplugged as part of the annual complete room spring clean.
Vacuum all over and under, dust and polish the rack and ‘Glass & Tile’ clean all the boxes and wires.
Does it sound better, who knows, but the sit back and relax after all that effort does make it all sound the sweeter.

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One thing that is often overlooked is re-tensioning the floorboard securing screws.

The micro vibrations transmitted through the Fraim to the floorboards will cause fretting between the boards and joists necessitating re-tightening.

Unless upgrading something I strip down annually and dust and tidy it all including cleaning my plugs. :+1:t2:

I’ll throw in as well that with the strip down comes complete power off, total discharge of capacitors, which I’ve found can oddly revitalise a system .

We have a suspended wooden floor and I personally would never spike anything directly into it. To me it sounds noticeably coloured. I would at the least use spike shoes - but my Quadraspire SVT rack is spiked to Herbie Labs sound absorbing gliders that sit on top of the carpet. This seems to work best for me.

No doubt it’s all room / system dependant and what’s best will vary from installation to installation.

Then I hope you keep the curtains closed!

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You asked for it. :wink:

IMG_0466

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