Are tweaks a necessity?

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I love to tweak the system as much as anyone (perhaps more). It's the instant gratification that attracts me. Like sweet syrup atop strawberries. But here's the weird thing. With one or two exceptions, I haven't any tweaks remaining: dots, bells, green pens, enhancers, felt mats, low-frequency resonators, hundred dollar fuses, potions, and cable lifts are all gone. I bring one in and listen to it and get excited. Some stay, most leave after a period of time. I wonder why that is? Part of me is so focused on purity that I don't appreciate appendages that make the system feel "violated." For the most part, I use tweaky improvements as guideposts. Once I know how far I can go for better sound, I find other ways of achieving it without violating the system's pure simplicity. Other additions have a way of staying in the system. They are the rare keepers. I once considered room conditioning as a tweak. Systems should work in any room. That mentality turned out to be patently false, and thus, diffusers and other additions to the basics remain integral to the experience. If I were asked for advice, I would suggest you try everything of interest that comes along, then throw most of it out, keeping only what works over extended listening. I think you'll find there's not much that stays in the system.
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Paul McGowan

Founder & CEO

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