Fess Up To Your Foo!!!

Bonzo says I need to choose a foo. I'm not that up on foo. So please give me some ideas for successful foo that you either own or have experience off.

This foo MUST make no scientific sense. Else is can't be foo, right?

Thanks for your contributions in advance

My favorite has always been Machina Dynamica's Teleportation Tweak.

Slightly more fun than lighting $60 on fire, if only because of the entertaining endorsements.

NB: If you click on the MD Home page link, you can find other invaluable MD products, including the Cryo Baby Prometheans (allegedly better than Shun Mook - my wife said so!), Particle Accelerator Ion Gun etc..

All foos make scientific sense Justin, with your clause I can't recommend you anything now.

For some reason people think tweaks are foos. For me, foos are
1. Box speakers priced over 2k
2. 90% of High priced cables (connectors probably work)
3. Cheap isolation, where people think basic stuff is ok instead of having to buy expensive isolators
4. A lot of high priced transports/dacs which don't do anything different - there are of course some that do

In the link I posted that day, you will find that Peter Breuninger says Synergistic Research HFTs were almost like adding new speakers. Frank Tchangs Acoustic Resonators are selling like hot cakes and are considered the ultimate tweak, people have sold ASC tube traps to add these resonators.

All these accessories will work to some extent (http://www.hifi-advice.com/reviews-Accessories.html ) , whether they do well or not in one's system can only be said after trial. That said, I would recommend anyone the shun mook giant diamond resonators (the large wooden footers, not the mpingo discs) below their pre and cd/dac before upgrading any component.

Also, the new thing is crystals - google Alan Maher crystals. Haven't tried them yet. Crystals have a lot of properties used to clean power, and some say using them properly is better than putting in a PS Audio thingy at a much cheaper price. Quartz and other crystals are used in a lot of components like cables etc. Shun Mook Mpingo uses some crystal under the ebony disc (ebony again is used for instruments), so there is some science in all of this. You might want to reword your clause as "This foo's science must not be something understood by the recommender"

Hmmmm! Wrong thread....I thought you said "Fool", so I was going to say that I'm a reformed audiofool.

Kedar, you said above, "That said, I would recommend anyone the shun mook giant diamond resonators (the large wooden footers, not the mpingo discs)...."

Are you now saying that you do not recommend the Mpingo disks?

Bernard said:

Hmmmm! Wrong thread....I thought you said "Fool", so I was going to say that I'm a reformed audiofool.

Kedar, you said above, "That said, I would recommend anyone the shun mook giant diamond resonators (the large wooden footers, not the mpingo discs)...."

Are you now saying that you do not recommend the Mpingo disks?

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No, that was not my point. My point was to clarify that the resonators meant the footers and not the Mpingos, as some people here might be confused with the terminology given the thread that ran focused on the Mpingo discs. The resonators are a big massive difference. They also retail at 1800 for a set of 3, and even if you try to source them cheaper you will struggle in the used market, a distributor might give you around 1200.

The Mpingo discs have a totally different utility, they are cheaper tweaks for tuning and for fun, the amount of value they add is nowhere that of the resonators. The guy who sold me the discs told me that though they make a difference, he preferred them around his room rather than on the components. I lent mine after Justin to a friend who is also a reviewer, he said that same thing. The guy who sold me the Mpingos also says that he prefers Synergistic now as they more neutral, while the Mpingos are warm (I had mentioned this on my SM thread).

Back to the resonators. I now struggle to demo other systems without the resonators, because all systems have a flatness that only the resonators can rid off. You might have read that I like the Analysis Audio Omega - apart from that being a good speaker, the dealer has one of the best systems I have heard, and he is the most 'musical' dealer I have met who has tuned his system not to sell, but just become a distributor of components he likes and has tuned it mainly for classical music. Well, I saw the mpingos first in his system (he doesn't sell them), and the second thing I realized was that his system did something that I had not seen anywhere else - the violins were really flying at the top and around the speakers in some mesmerizing way. He had spent a lot on isolation, created his own rack himself at 5k, and added some isolators. I knew that this staging was either because of his amps, or the isolators, or both. With the shun mook resonators I was able to get a lot of that soundstaging in my system, without a rack. The pictures of these resonators are in my system thread. They are massive, and have a crystal at the tip, not sure if it is a diamond or not. Thing is, they are expensive

What about dots?

amey01 said:

What about dots?

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You know those small, dot like stickers? You can stick them on a fuse. The brighter the colour, the warmer the sound - haven't done it, but heard that from a few, at which you will call me dotty.

I have changed fuses though. Much more dynamic over the stock fuse with furutechs in my power, pre and dac. I plan to get Audio Horizons fuses sometime later. Those who want a cheap but quality upgrade replace stock fuses with AMR fuses.

Heh heh! Kedar, my comment was tongue in cheek (I was teasing); I know your thoughts on Mpingos. Those diamond resonators are way too pricey for me.

Bernard said:

Heh heh! Kedar, my comment was tongue in cheek (I was teasing); I know your thoughts on Mpingos. Those diamond resonators are way too pricey for me.

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Pricey compared to what - fine as long as you are not upgrading your pre or power. Also, they have 4 sizes, I gave you the biggest and the most expensive. Isolation is important, and most of it doesn't work and is foo. So I decided there was no point wasting compromise money on this, like Black Ravioli, other sorbothane etc stuff, or even what was considered SOTA, Stillpoints

I think I'm liking fuse foo best. It sounds nice and cheap. Mind you I hope the AMR fuses sound better than their DP777 DAC did

I honestly expect to hear zero difference, confirming its true foo status. But nevertheless I will have adopted a foo.

Result Hold on, I haven't actually checked the price of the fuses yet.. :ROFL: But when they arrive assuming they really are cheap I'll keep you posted on this thread.

User211 said:

I think I'm liking fuse foo best. It sounds nice and cheap. Mind you I hope the AMR fuses sound better than their DP777 DAC did

I honestly expect to hear zero difference, confirming its true foo status. But nevertheless I will have adopted a foo.

Result Hold on, I haven't actually checked the price of the fuses yet.. :ROFL: But when they arrive assuming they really are cheap I'll keep you posted on this thread.

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I hope your new speakers are worth another visit, because then you will hear a big SM difference.

Btw, Greg, Mark Colesly etc recommend that the first upgrade to the Lampi dac and transport is the fuse. Peter also has all AMR fuses all over his house. So far mine were Furutech in Pre, Po, Dac

amey01 said:

What about dots?

Click to expand...

The bonz is too new to realise the true significance of that post:ROFL:

bonzo said:

Back to the resonators. I now struggle to demo other systems without the resonators, because all systems have a flatness that only the resonators can rid off. You might have read that I like the Analysis Audio Omega - apart from that being a good speaker, the dealer has one of the best systems I have heard, and he is the most 'musical' dealer I have met who has tuned his system not to sell, but just become a distributor of components he likes and has tuned it mainly for classical music. Well, I saw the mpingos first in his system (he doesn't sell them), and the second thing I realized was that his system did something that I had not seen anywhere else - the violins were really flying at the top and around the speakers in some mesmerizing way. He had spent a lot on isolation, created his own rack himself at 5k, and added some isolators. I knew that this staging was either because of his amps, or the isolators, or both. With the shun mook resonators I was able to get a lot of that soundstaging in my system, without a rack. The pictures of these resonators are in my system thread. They are massive, and have a crystal at the tip, not sure if it is a diamond or not. Thing is, they are expensive

Click to expand...

Did Peter play Improvisation by Jim Keltner from the Usher Audio Be There Volume 1 CD? It is a long drum solo. When I heard that at the Bristol show on the Omegas, I was amazed. I then tried it with the 450 Watts+ into 4 Ohms A21 and it blew my mind. You need to hear it and remind me to play it if you come round again.

Nope, he played more classical. Btw, the fuse foo, unlike other foos, is not possible to A/B. You just have to change the fuses and then over an extended term decide if you heard a difference or not.

I will ask him to play it, I need to do a visit there again. What's the thing about dots?

bonzo said:

What's the thing about dots?

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Evening reading:

http://www.martinloganowners.com/fo...-but-they-(magic-dots)-work!&highlight=marigo


It got so out of hand the thread is missing about half the posts that were deleted and it was finally closed/locked.

Oh, and reading that thread above - anyone remember the GSIC? That has got to be my all-time "favourite".

I have no doubt Marigos work, the guys who have been using them have moved to either of Mpingo/Synergistic/Frank Tchang/Zilplex type thingys.

So Ethan doesn't post here any more? According to him nothing works until you add as much bass traps to the room as required - he says there is no way you can make a room dead. Real traps are so expensive, and I would any day bet these small thingys do a way more effective job in treating rooms. Sure no one here is going to believe that. People who have been using these have been selling off their ASC traps etc. Do some googling. Somehow people just expect traps to solve their problems and then spend months with the microphone and traps and diffusors trying to get their rooms right and never completely succeed. Anyway that's what I intend to find out over next year.

Actually, I forgot to mention before. Most of the rooms in Munich were bad and had bass issues - most of them were treated with loads of traps and were not solving problems. Not sure if Justin remembers the Rockport room, that had these kinds of treatment (I forget the brand). That actually had much less bass issue. Also the Avantgarde trio room had Stillpoint Panels, which are supposed to be better for sound and more WAF. Not much to go by, but these guys wouldn't have been using these in such horrid rooms if they were crazy.

amey01 said:

Evening reading:

http://www.martinloganowners.com/fo...-but-they-(magic-dots)-work!&highlight=marigo


It got so out of hand the thread is missing about half the posts that were deleted and it was finally closed/locked.

Click to expand...