One of the rules of successful cooking is the addition of spices and salts. When properly applied these flavor enhancers transform ordinary ingredients into works of art.
We can say the same about the tweaks and upgrades we often lavish upon our audio equipment. Everything from aftermarket fuses, vibration controls, shelving, room acoustic enhancements…even setup.
I find the similarities to be helpful. For one thing, we know it's typically a bad idea to overdue food enhancements. Too much of this or that overpowers the meal. Too little and we risk eating bland.
And the same can be true for our systems. Too much toe in to enhance center image fill results in a loss of soundstage width. The wrong cables accentuate what we don't want and obfuscate what we're hoping to magnify.
In the end, a touch of spice makes the meal.
Too much or too little is where we don't want to be.
