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I've done the quarters on the speakers, etc. Using rope caulk to damp an inexpensive CD player works great.

If any tweak cannot be explained by physics/electronics, then it has no sense on the audio result. However, if somebody insists that putting a Holy Book on the same rack with your CDs will make them blessed and they will sound better, you might as well give it a try (since it is free of charge if you have the book). You can clean your system with Holy water dampened cloth, you can call someone to bless your system periodically, you could ... .

A fool and his (or her) money are soon parted!

If it's cheap enough and it doesn't do any damage, I'll give it a try.

I've never paid for a tweak. I've only used materials I can get for free. I love trying things out, but if something free doesn't work, it irks me a lot less than if I'd actually shelled out for it.

It is the reinvention of the classical placebo effect. One hears what one expects to hear. If one expects to hear a difference, there will definitely be a difference. Since perception (both sight and sound) is selective, an average person will hear a difference or an improvement of the pereceived sound because of self fulfilling prophecies or expectations. There is a school of thought that basically says that psychoacoustic is a predominant factor in perceived sound. Of course some tweaks may really work. But at the end of the day, one must be careful not to fall into the classical "placebo" trap. As the mind works subconsciously, one is unlikely to know its effect. In the end, after years as audiophiles, we realise that there are many segments of these peculiar people: the sane, the in-between, and the downright insane. Ultimately hi-fi is an entertainment system for one to enjoy music. Why the hustle? Just enjoy your music.

I tried a painted Ikea Lack endtable top under my turntable and the result was incredibly good, for a whoping $13. I also found a dictionary on top of my cheap CD transport to be very beneficial. I haven't tried the audiophile stuff, because it is often insultingly over priced.

I once told David Magnan, as respectfully as I could, that I'd never spend what he was asking for his upper range cables. When I added much better cables and got much better sound, that all changed. I really bought in to the whole cleaner power equals cleaner sound phenomenon. I once tried sticking little green and white dots to my components' power supplies, the cones of my speakers, and the windows in the room. No payback there or with room treatments as my room has wildly irregular, beneficial dimensions. Now I've started down the slippery slope of tube rolling in my preamp. Even with all that and the good stands the components sit on, I don't consider myself a major tweaker. Those guys are nuts.

As Mr. Greenspan would say. "If the fundamentals are in place, then there is no reason to intervene with respect to unproven and, at present, unsubstantiated claims that superfluous extraneous outside sources will aid in the reproduction of music."

You said it right..."defy common sense and laws of physics". And I would add ..."a fool and his money are soon parted".

Get serious, people: if a stock high-end audio component doesn't sound good enough for someone, nothing will sound good enough for that person.

Cheap, cheap, cheap.

What is a future for?

I've tried a good number of tweaks, including, but not limited to, the Sims CD enhancement rings, the Bedini Ultra Clarifier, Room Tunes, and Magic Bricks. Except for the rings, I still have these tweaks incoroprated in my stystem. The very best tweak I know of, and still have in place, is the circa-1970s Dynaco/Hafler ambience retrevial hook up. It's cheap and it works and I highly recommend it. Perhaps Stereophile can revisit this tweak. It's an extremely effective alternative to today's crazy expensive, and often annoying, "surround sound."

The moment I even dream of trying Shun Mook, put me out of my misery.

I understand physics and it never fails me. Common sense is overrated. If I'm offered an idea that's unusual, I'll probably think about it. If it's completely contrary to science it's filtered out right after the eardrum.

I'm willing to bet that if I try it and hear no difference, then I'm to blame for lack of hearing acuity or that my system isn't good enough (<$50K?) to realize the difference. Neither of which can be proven of course.

Defy common sense and or the laws of physics? Come on now, if that is not a definition of wasting time, I don

Not very likely. But I love hearing about these oddball tweaks, cause they are often very humorous. And what's even funnier is that some of the so called golden ears really buy into much of this stuff. Makes you really wonder about the self-proclaimed experts in this hobby. I often think that if they spend the money, they damn well sure are going to claim an improvement in their system, to justify the expenditure. I say, let's pass around the green CD Ink pens to all, and put a couple Shakti stones on our heads and enjoy a cold one. Ah! Now the tunes are really jammin'. Long live the eccentrics!

If it's free or cheap, what the hell? If I can convince myself it works, all the better.

That's the only way to know if it really works.

How about an answer of "some of the time." That would best suit me better than your five choices.

Good engineering ain't usually cheap. But sometimes, something really inexpensive can make a big difference. Like cleaning your listening room and tightening the windows, so nothing shakes or rattles when the tympani hits!

I have tweaked my system with proven tweak products. Never the wild stuff.

Or if I can duplicate it with similar items (like .05 cent spike instead of a $20 cone).

Depends how wild and expensive it is. I draw the line at sacrificing chickens, using magic crystals, or singing mantras

I do use tweaks if feel they have some sense to them and will not cost a arm and a leg.

I'll try it if I can get my money back. Why not? There are still people who think they know what will work without auditioning. At one time, everyone in this industry knew all amps sounded the same and the gauge of speaker wire didn't make a difference once it was thicker than 24 AWG. I don't have to know how something works to appreciate what it does. Can someone even tell me what electricty is, let alone what laws of physics I'm breaking? They say it's mathematically impossible for a bumblebee to fly, but it does. The bee isn't doing anything impossible, it's just your math that's wrong.

Free is good!

I have an open mind, but I will not support these cheats with one cent of my money.