An interesting use of tweeks

[mgrabow]

I have employed some tweaks over the years and there are some that have become part of any good speaker. Spikes for example... Most high end floor standers come with them. But in researching my Sonus project I came across an interesting mix. I was particularly impressed by this HiFi shop that takes a $23000 pair is speakers and places them on carpet. Rather than letting the spikes do their job and "couple" the speakers to the floor underneath (Thats right I said couple, not Isolate), they placed them on some expensive looking pucks that are probably made for use on Hardwood floors... So they have basically made a speaker bounce around on top of the carpet. Then to compensate for this, they placed some heavy sand filled leather rats on top of the speakers. Just what I want on my $23000 speakers. A couple of sacks of sand...

Now the sand bags probably work well, but if they would have just used the spikes correctly they would be able to enjoy the speakers without the leather rats.

[evilskillit]

Re: An interesting use of tweeks

Squeak squeak.

Now I refuse any pair of speakers that doesn't employ a pair of black leather sand filled rats in some fashion. Because obviously, thats what the people with money use.

[cpcarter]

Re: An interesting use of tweeks

And the industry wonders why " high-end " stores are closing down at an alarming rate.

[Æ]

Re: An interesting use of tweeks

And the industry wonders why " high-end " stores are closing down at an alarming rate.

It's just symptomatic of the economy in general. Lots and lots of businesses are closing down in all industries.

[mgrabow]

Re: An interesting use of tweeks

I wonder where they got them. I kind of like them... I wonder if I can get bunnies...Is that audiophile grade sand?

[Paul Carmody]

Re: An interesting use of tweeks

Those are the stupidest speaker cables I've ever seen.

[tombond]

Re: An interesting use of tweeks

Those are the stupidest speaker cables I've ever seen.

Those are not cables, those are speaker snakes.....

[badman]

Re: An interesting use of tweeks

Those are Kimber Select. They may not be your thing but they take some doing to make- there's serious value-added, unlike much cable "manufacturing".

I've seen the machines and materials and production of these and quite a bit goes into them. Sure, high end speaker cables aren't for the DIY crowd, but we don't see your typical high end speaker (apart from extreme examples) taking the same heat. We can make both for less, with a lot of elbow grease.

[kornphlake]

Re: An interesting use of tweeks

Those are the stupidest speaker cables I've ever seen.

They may be stupid, but they look cool. How many speaker cables have you seen that have a machined aluminum do-hickie? It looks like something that belongs attached to a high end speaker as opposed to an ugly wire.

[curt_c]

How about a REAL connetor?

Some of your old lab rats may remember these...

Now if someone wanted to build an improved speaker connector, not some boutique fluff design, they would do well to emulate the old General Radio 'GR' connector. (Shown on left in pic below -Note the quarter next to them for scale) Yes, these were pretty substantial.

The GR was hermaphroditic, or non-sexed, connector and was practically indestructible in use. It utilized 8 leaves (4 inner and 4 outer) to provide plenty of material and surface area for high current applications, although its main function was an RF connector for test equipment. Much better than bananas or spades that fall out, short, or come loose. If you needed a longer cable, simply plug two together. How we have had this 'technology' around for 50 years, yet still use bananas or spades for high end speaker connections is beyond me...

Or alternatively, the connector on the right: The C connector is a big brother to the ubiquitous BNC connector currently utilized on most all test equipment. It uses a bayonet mount to allow a quick locking connection.
-That gold center pin is probably equivalent to about a 14 gauge wire.

[Paul Carmody]

Re: An interesting use of tweeks

Those are not cables, those are speaker snakes.....

Those are Kimber Select. They may not be your thing but they take some doing to make- there's serious value-added, unlike much cable "manufacturing".

I've seen the machines and materials and production of these and quite a bit goes into them. Sure, high end speaker cables aren't for the DIY crowd, but we don't see your typical high end speaker (apart from extreme examples) taking the same heat. We can make both for less, with a lot of elbow grease.

They may be stupid, but they look cool. How many speaker cables have you seen that have a machined aluminum do-hickie? It looks like something that belongs attached to a high end speaker as opposed to an ugly wire.

I look at that and all I can think of is the massive 3-phase mains cable we used to use when I was a stagehand. We referred to the cable/connector as "the horse c*ck"

[fish-24_7]

Re: An interesting use of tweeks

...We referred to the cable/connector as "the horse c*ck.

Why, Paul? ;):eek:

[MagicO309d]

Re: An interesting use of tweeks

I have employed some tweaks over the years and there are some that have become part of any good speaker. Spikes for example... Most high end floor standers come with them. But in researching my Sonus project I came across an interesting mix. I was particularly impressed by this HiFi shop that takes a $23000 pair is speakers and places them on carpet. Rather than letting the spikes do their job and "couple" the speakers to the floor underneath (Thats right I said couple, not Isolate), they placed them on some expensive looking pucks that are probably made for use on Hardwood floors... So they have basically made a speaker bounce around on top of the carpet. Then to compensate for this, they placed some heavy sand filled leather rats on top of the speakers. Just what I want on my $23000 speakers. A couple of sacks of sand...

Now the sand bags probably work well, but if they would have just used the spikes correctly they would be able to enjoy the speakers without the leather rats.

Why not just lagbolt the speakers down to the floor?

[dcibel]

Re: An interesting use of tweeks

That's a mean cable. I haven't worked with 3-phase since school, but when I was in school we didn't use connectors that looked like that. They were these:

[rogoll]

Re: An interesting use of tweeks

I may be wrong, but if you look closely at the picture it appears to me that those are rugs laying on finished hardwood floors (not actually carpet as we generally use it "wall-to-wall"). So, they may not have wanted the spikes to go through the rug to the finished hardwood floor.