Cheap tweaks...What would YOU reccomend?

Go to the local hardward store and buy a rubber mat for a couple of bucks. Trace a CD around and include the spindle hole. Take a good pair of scissors and cut it out. Put it atop a CD when you pop it in the deck. If the player "fusses" a bit, cut a small wedge (approx 1 mm) from the edge of the "disc" to the center. The reduction in weight should make it more "palatable" and acceptable.

Result: Instant anti-vibration mat for CD.

Improves lower end's coherence and assertiveness as well as overall presentation.

Works with my Marantz. So far, so good....

The first part of this tweak is not cheap but the second part definitely is. I placed my CDP and amp on top of 2x3 bolts of gabon black ebony. This transformed the sound from hard digital to relaxed analogue. The bass became deep and true. Ebony is not cheap. After that I placed rubber squash balls under the feet of my CDP, sitting on the ebony. This brought out upper frequency dynamics and micro details. A "veil" on the upper frequency was take away. Cost $16 from Wal Mart. After 1 1/2 years, I am finally hearing what my Wilson Sophia 2s are capable of.

The cheapest tweak is to rotate your RCA jacks about a quarter of a turn and back each day, especially if you have not treated the contacts. Note it also works if you have gold plated plugs and jacks.

Auricauricle, I currently have six different mats and can recall another 5 or 6. I would be worried that your wedge cutout would imbalance the disc are the rpms it is turning.

I have found only one mat that really has much of an effect, but it is hardly cheap. It is the Millennium CD mat and costs $119.

After you turn on the CDP/CDT, hit the pause button. This is supposed to re-center the laser improving the sound.

That's a good thought, Tbg; so far I have not perceived any ill effect on speed or stability. Now and then, the player refuses to read, but sonically there seems to be an appreciable difference.

Again, this was done as a spur-of-the-moment experiment that has not been subject to quantitative analysis etc.

In the meantime, I'll rotate the jacks....

Thanks for the caveat, nevertheless!