Okay, Furniture location works for me too. I hate to change it even though some furniture is arranged in most un-orthodox fashion in the family room. $1.20 tweak on both main L-R and rear Surround works for me ( You know I am not really sure but all I got to spare is $2.40). The other day I finally tried partially inflated 12" bicylce tube like on of the post suggested ( I tried to go back to the post to report my findings, but could not find it since the Audigon regrouping), but did not work for MY CD player.The sound was forward, lost focus somewhat and background noise slightly increased. Not to mention, the cd drawer kept getting stuck for a while, after the tube removal. This WOULD work for some CD player and won't for some. It all depends on thier natureal freq modes and its excitation with the internal mech induced random vibaration in addition to airborne pressure induced vibration. The natural freq modes of two set ups ( as stock and as used with tube) are diffrent. I think, assuming if the mfr has designed it right, the spikes generated due to random vib enviroment falling at lower freq modes are remote (the body stiffened accordingly). The tube in the middle supported differently would have now have diffrent natural modes which MAY BE GOOD OR BAD and therefore vary from brand to brand. But best thing is to NOT fiddle with the CD player support. Best option is have the shelf very thick(stiff), held such way that it has high fixity at the ends( again for same reason: you wanna keep the the shelf natural freq modes as high as possible not to interact with CD Player system modes) and CD player top should have shelf right on top panel, not touching but as to kill/block acoustic pressure caused by sound pressure. Weighing down top panel, I have not tried, but once again MAY WORK OR NOT.Therfore I doubt very much the usefulness of the Black diamond racing cones and similar products. It may or may not work. TRY FIRST IF YOU HAVE AN OPTION.
Snake oil and tweaks that work!
This is in no way intended to bring out argument but discussion of tweaks people have tried and have found success with. I know there are at least 50% of you out there that think everything in audio is snake oil, and you are initialed to those opinions. Please don't make this your battle field! If you want to start an opposing thread calling us nuts and getting in arguments please do, it might be fun to have both going. I want this one to be an informational for people who want to try things. I for one have tried a lot of the recommendations in Stereophile each month, most don't work for me, but I have found a few things that do work. #1 tweak: Speaker location. Even a 1/16" can make all the difference. I try to play with this about every six months. A dedicated circuit from the panel with 10ga. wire had a very noticeable improvement. Cables and wires matter, some have been good for my system, some real bad. We have plenty of threads covering this so lets no go there. The "Bedini Ultra Clarifier" works amazingly well for me, I know it's crazy but it works! The Cardas caps I got for X-mas really worked, they produced a more quite background, go figure. Black Diamond Racing "the Puck and the Shelf " have been great improvements, all the different cones I've tried change the sound, I haven't found one I would recommend. The Audio Prism Quiteline filters work great, but power conditioners and RFI/EMI ferrets did nothing. The last thing that has helped me is furniture location, I find if I move something only an inch it can help or hurt. I look forward to hearing others experiences.