I have not read any of this thread...too long. But when a tweak post gets this long....there is usually a host of insults.
New Tweak --- Its Fantastic
THE NEW TWEAK
Over the good part of this past year I’ve been beta testing a new tweak, the name of which is "Total Contact." Its a hi-bred graphene contact enhancer that is different from all other contact enhancers that have come and gone for one reason or another. I’m not new to these contact enhancers, having had quite a bit of experience with a product developed by the late Brian Kyle and his "Quick Silver" contact enhancer. The "Total Contact" is different ... a LOT different.
"Total Contact" is graphene based and is not a vibration control. It eliminates micro-arching between two contacts. Micro-arching, much like Micro-vibration smears the sound in our stereo systems. Its the type of distortion that we don’t know is there .... until we eliminate it. There is no break-in as we know it. The sound is improved right off the bat, but what you hear is only a smidgen of what’s to come.
I tested three generations of "TC," each of which was an improvement over the previous incarnation. The final mix was cryogenitically treated and made for a more effective, much smoother application. It comes in a large hypodermic needle type plunger containing 1.5 ml of product and includes a instructional DVD and an application brush.
The application should be applied with a very thin coat to all of your electrical connections .... from your cartridge pins to your power cords. I did my entire system, including the ends of my fuses.
Upon initial application, you will notice an improvement in clarity, correctness of tonal balance and a more overall organic sound. But ... that is just scratching the surface of what this magic paste does. As it cures, the improvements become more apparent. Much more!
There are two real break-through events that happen almost to the day with "Total Contact," one at four weeks and another at eight weeks . At four weeks, you’ll get a real jump in clarity and overall improvement. That’s only a taste though of what’s to come at eight weeks. At eight weeks your system’s focus will make a jump in SQ that is so real - its surreal.
After 40 years in the hobby, and a total tweak nut, I have never heard anything that does what this graphene paste does. The see-through clarity at eight weeks becomes simply amazing. The "paste" eventually cures into a kind of polymer plastic and it seems that the sound improves with each listening session. So, its important that you leave your contacts alone for the duration. If you’re the type of person that continually switches wires in and out, you’ll have to re paste until enough time has elapsed to get "the cure."
The only problem I had was with the first batch and that had to do with shorting out a tube pin in the line stage. Use the "TC" very sparingly on tube pins, if at all. I only had problems with the line stage tube pins. The Amp, CD Player and Phono Stage has had no tube pin problems at all.
Tim Mrock, one of our fellow A’goners, is the developer of the product. Its taken Tim 15 years and several patents to get it right. Tim has "pasted" every electrical contact he can find in his audio system, all of the switches in his circuit breaker box, every contact in his car ... and has used it in commercial applications such as hospital circuit breakers, surgical lights ... and other places where efficiency and long life of electrical components are deemed important.
This product is highly recommended to anyone who truly wants to get the most out of his/her audio systems. There’s enough product in each tube to do at least two audio systems as it just takes a very thin coat on each application to be effective. The last tube was enough to do my system twice and then a friend’s system this past weekend.
Frank
PS: There were a couple of other A’goner beta testers of this product as well. Hopefully, they will chime in here with their experiences for comparison. I "pasted" both of Steve Fleschler’s systems a few days ago, perhaps he will comment on his results too. We forgot to paste Steve’s power cords though, so there’s a lot more to be had from Steve’s two fantastic systems.
Frank
Over the good part of this past year I’ve been beta testing a new tweak, the name of which is "Total Contact." Its a hi-bred graphene contact enhancer that is different from all other contact enhancers that have come and gone for one reason or another. I’m not new to these contact enhancers, having had quite a bit of experience with a product developed by the late Brian Kyle and his "Quick Silver" contact enhancer. The "Total Contact" is different ... a LOT different.
"Total Contact" is graphene based and is not a vibration control. It eliminates micro-arching between two contacts. Micro-arching, much like Micro-vibration smears the sound in our stereo systems. Its the type of distortion that we don’t know is there .... until we eliminate it. There is no break-in as we know it. The sound is improved right off the bat, but what you hear is only a smidgen of what’s to come.
I tested three generations of "TC," each of which was an improvement over the previous incarnation. The final mix was cryogenitically treated and made for a more effective, much smoother application. It comes in a large hypodermic needle type plunger containing 1.5 ml of product and includes a instructional DVD and an application brush.
The application should be applied with a very thin coat to all of your electrical connections .... from your cartridge pins to your power cords. I did my entire system, including the ends of my fuses.
Upon initial application, you will notice an improvement in clarity, correctness of tonal balance and a more overall organic sound. But ... that is just scratching the surface of what this magic paste does. As it cures, the improvements become more apparent. Much more!
There are two real break-through events that happen almost to the day with "Total Contact," one at four weeks and another at eight weeks . At four weeks, you’ll get a real jump in clarity and overall improvement. That’s only a taste though of what’s to come at eight weeks. At eight weeks your system’s focus will make a jump in SQ that is so real - its surreal.
After 40 years in the hobby, and a total tweak nut, I have never heard anything that does what this graphene paste does. The see-through clarity at eight weeks becomes simply amazing. The "paste" eventually cures into a kind of polymer plastic and it seems that the sound improves with each listening session. So, its important that you leave your contacts alone for the duration. If you’re the type of person that continually switches wires in and out, you’ll have to re paste until enough time has elapsed to get "the cure."
The only problem I had was with the first batch and that had to do with shorting out a tube pin in the line stage. Use the "TC" very sparingly on tube pins, if at all. I only had problems with the line stage tube pins. The Amp, CD Player and Phono Stage has had no tube pin problems at all.
Tim Mrock, one of our fellow A’goners, is the developer of the product. Its taken Tim 15 years and several patents to get it right. Tim has "pasted" every electrical contact he can find in his audio system, all of the switches in his circuit breaker box, every contact in his car ... and has used it in commercial applications such as hospital circuit breakers, surgical lights ... and other places where efficiency and long life of electrical components are deemed important.
This product is highly recommended to anyone who truly wants to get the most out of his/her audio systems. There’s enough product in each tube to do at least two audio systems as it just takes a very thin coat on each application to be effective. The last tube was enough to do my system twice and then a friend’s system this past weekend.
Frank
PS: There were a couple of other A’goner beta testers of this product as well. Hopefully, they will chime in here with their experiences for comparison. I "pasted" both of Steve Fleschler’s systems a few days ago, perhaps he will comment on his results too. We forgot to paste Steve’s power cords though, so there’s a lot more to be had from Steve’s two fantastic systems.
Frank
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cleeds Now that the name-calling and veiled insults on this thread have been halted by the moderators, I’ll weigh in on this tweak. >>>>Not to mention the unveiled insults. 😀 cleeds First, the notion that the absence of a money-back guarantee on this product should arouse suspicion is just a red herring. Many things are sold without a money back guarantee. If you want to buy a house, a new car or a phono cartridge, you’ll have to conduct your due diligence, and then be willing to assume some element of risk. (Although, in the heyday of the LP era, my audio dealer did offer money-back on phono cartridges. But those days are long gone, I think.) >>>>Most audiophile products actually DO have a money back guarantee. But I’m not sure this product won’t. Did someone confirm that? In any case, I think it would be a good idea, as Brian with Quicksilver Gold fame, to offer an even smaller amount for half the price. cleeds This not a tweak I’m inclined to try. It’s not the cost, which is less than a set of tubes for my tube amplifier. It’s that I prefer connections to be clean and tight and - obviously - this goop would violate that. And if I tried it and didn’t like the result - then what? How do I get the goop off of those connections? >>>>But think of how good your tubes would sound after treating the tube pins. I’m not hot doggin ya. 🌭 All of the similar silver or silver and gold products, as does this one, improve the connection contact. Apparently, if you need to remove it, it’s easily removed. Chill. cleeds Does this goop work? I have no idea but I wouldn’t dismiss it without some first-hand experience. There are some who believe that their knowledge of physics or electronics, or who put faith in what they read in magazines or online forums, allow them to divine the sound of something without listening. I claim no such clairvoyant power. >>>>>Audiophile Contact Enhancers have been around like forever and have been well received. I’m sure Google is your friend for anyone interested in reviews on-line of Silclear, Quicksilver Gold, whatever. So, we know the basic idea is sound. Chill. ❄️ |
I read here on this thread that the new product is easy to remove. I’m not talking about other products, although I have had Silclear and Quicksilver and Quicksilver Gold, which your humble scribe found easy to remove, well, not terrible anyway. I may not have tried to remove Quicksilver Gold, you know, back when I had actual electrical connections, I would have left it in place. Looks like nice shiny silver, like silver plate. The trick is not to apply too much or go too far down a tube pin or down the male pin of an RCA plug, you know, since it’s highly conductive. |
I am responding to a couple of questions or concerns and answering with my own observations. At a friend's home this past week before we boxed up his Dahlquist DQ 20s for shipment to resell, we listened to these speakers one last time. I took the Total Contact to his place for him to audition. Because many have asked about treating exotic fuses and myself using magnets I thought it be nice to treat his stock fuses. They are a 3amp on the bass and a .75 amp on the mid and tweet. This took maybe 10 minutes to do at the most . Treated the inside of the removable fuse caps for both values in both speakers as well as the end caps of all the fuses. The volume had been on mute as was the same cd selection used. Return to play at the same volume showed a noticeable change in sound from the midbass and down to the lowest notes that could be played from these speakers into this room space. Much better definition in that area of frequencies. My friend and I had upgraded these speakers several years ago and listened too in 4 different homes. My total exposure of time to this last hurrah was limited but left my friend and I saying yep..quick and noticeable improvement. My second observation is that with my use of Total Contact is that a little can go a long way. I have treated most everything including some bulbs..I have probably 80% of the original container left to use. I want to go deeper into my system and remove the lids and covers and reach for basic circuit connections.. Many of you may not want to go that far so maybe there could be a group buy among friends to treat a couple or several complete systems ..all of their exterior connections. Among my audio friends one container would enhance 4 or 5 singled wired or bi wired stereo systems. As a group purchase the investment in the product may be cut by 2/3's or even more depending on the system complexity and how many friends shared. I remember when record cleaners first arrived some were sold as a group buy to friends in an area to use the cleaner amongst themselves. As I said at the beginning a little can go a long way. Tom |
"in which your humble scribe" Is this meant as a slight or a off-brand reference to any past issues, or a way to inspire others to react??? If I'm out of line, it could had not been a question if you had inserted "the OP" instead of "your humble scribe". "and that's all I got to say about thayt" ..... (Forrest Gump) |
Guyz ... Just for clarification: The Total Contact has been referred to "goop" a few times here. That’s not an accurate description at all. Its not a "liquid" ... its more like a powder in suspension. You’ll most probably get a little on your fingers during the application. It has the appearance as though you rubbed very soft pencil lead on your fingers. Same for the contacts that you paste. You end up with a dull looking grey material that completely covers the shiny connectors. No "goop." That’s what the other guys have. :-) How hard is it to take off? Rubbing alcohol and a cotton swab or Q-tip will do the job in short order. My friend Robert came over for dinner and a listening session last night. We hit the 8-week point during the session. One recording really stood out ... It was an early stereo LP of Rosemary Clooney singing good old American ballads. There was that super clarity again ... a see-through presentation with RC's voice sounding more articulate than ever. The Total Contact is truly good stuff. Dinner? Trout, mashed potatoEs and string beans. :-) Frank |
In 1981 or so when I was in a techno pop band in Hawaii, I played rhythm ukulele on a version of "Come Onna My House" we borrowed from Rosemary Clooney, and it was released as a 45rpm single in Japan. Great song…our singer did one side in Japanese and the other in English. Love Rosemary Clooney, and I often play the 45 for people as it's a great drunken dancing song…it has a drum solo (!) that I doubt was on the original version, although I don't remember the original. |
Perhaps this observation has been made; connectors are shafts and blades that fit snugly into tubes and sheaths and also are spades clamped down onto surfaces, all being metal that has been either drawn through dies, cast or machined and then surfaced with gold, rhodium, etc. Just how perfectly round is the shaft or the tube that receives it? How smooth are the surfaces? Under electron microscopy, you may just see there is little contact made along these mated surfaces relative to their total area, and that there are large peaks and valleys along the way. A contact enhancer that has some conductive property and the ability to conform to the irregularities mentioned would make up much of the area not contacted by the imperfectly made materials. Is this product so unbelievable as many would claim? Not if you think about what it may achieve.....I imagine it acts something like solder in a different form......... |
Jafreeman I can see how this product can fill the metal void on connectors and contacts. I try to cover with minimal amount, it spreads far and wide. I am in trial with connections and surfaces that have a mutual boundary and share some motion and energy flow. Hope to hear a positive result with a very thin application.Tom |
Good day! This is Tim Mrock developer of the new Total Contact. I have spent most of my spare time the last 15 or so years playing with contact enhancement. Early on after trying several, I tried Quicksilver Gold, top of the class for sure, actually cutting edge. The real genius in Brian's product was the binder. He was taken back with what I was enhancing. I had nothing to do with his product development! I was the art guy, or creative applications. I also became the money guy as well for the patent pursuit. Took MY SWEAT EQUITY out of my home to go for the patents. The problem with Quicksilver was to much binder and the fact you had to mix it. It does not take a rocket scientist to realize with that set up, that it is impossible to control the quality of the product. I never experienced degradation with it, but I poured most of the binder out before mixing. I have very intimate knowledge with all available contact enhancers. Could go on and on, however that is not what this thread is about. Total Contact is a engineered product. If you think it is as simple as A+B+C, and a little Cryo, and bingo, it is not, and by a long shot. I also saw it put out there that TC cost nothing to make, oh really? You are welcome to contact me, come over and show me how its done! I cant wait! I have loved Audio and Music since I was little kid, I hate snake oil as much as anyone. Tweaks they have to make big improvements for me or well, a no go. I also see TC is being called goo, actually the correct terminology would be Cold Plating Compound. Goo would migrate, TC does not. I also suspect goo would not clean up or remove easily, again not the case with TC. What happens after it has fully polymerized, and you want to remove it? Alcohol will easily break it down for removal. If a connection is broke after it has polymerized if the connection is put back together exactly the same ,like a XLR or power plug it will self repair, at least once, I have not tried multiple times. As far as the amount vs price, all I can say is less is more with this product it just goes on and on, like the testers have said. More than enough to do a really big system. If TC is anything less than what has been claimed sonic-ally, It will be done within a month or less after the first tubes are sent out,that's a fact. The only drawback with this new product is shelf life, 6 months for sure. Longer not sure. If the product is well received I will invest in a special mixer that will air-rate the compound that will dramatically increase shelf life. I will before product launch load our system in virtual systems just to show we do have real skin in the game. I will also make the room available by appointment to anyone who would like to hear what music sounds like without micro arcing all the way to the electric meter, over 1000 connections in our case. We live 25 minutes to Manchester International Airport. Its worth the trip! I honestly cannot be anymore transparent, or genuine then what I have posted. The launch of TC will be exclusively through Audiogon & their Express checkout. The 9th is in 3 days not going to happen, confident I can make it by the 15th or close to it. As a member of this community meeting the expectations of fellow audio, music lovers is more important to me than anything else! I would like to thank everyone for their interest! |
@maplegrovemusic Yes, and thank you for the question. On the connections as log as its left on. The base metal under the connection will not oxidize either. Yes 6 months and counting because that's the most time I have had with the 3rd revision. eventually it will harden. That's the number I feel comfortable with. Air-rating would improve longevity. Keeping it in the freezer will slow it, vacuum sealer to store it in would extend it the most. |
Here's a little treat for those who love Hammond b3's ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra4kYAYCdeI |
More on the Furutech product that, and I don’t like casting dispersions, appears to be a copy of Quicksilver Gold, with some familiar sounding innovations, I.e. cryo and “electromagnetic field processing.” I trust the translation is not exact as the Furutech product almost certainly uses pure silver not sterling silver particles. Gee, one wonders if Furutech is following this thread. 🙄 From the US eBay seller, ”Gold and silver nanoparticles will do at the same time stalwart of the unevenness of the contact surface. A mixture of pure gold and sterling silver of ultra-fine particles of a maximum diameter of 8 nanometers (8 / 1000000mm) by high concentration dispersed in squalane oil. Furutekku α (Alpha) Process processing subjected to (minus 196 ℃ ultra-low temperature processing and a special electromagnetic field processing), pure gold and further up sufficiently demonstrated by conducting the advantages of sterling silver.” |
@oregonpapa: Frank wrote: "ps sez: " Meanwhile, I’m gonna order some of Mad Scientist’s graphene- even with shipping it’s a heck of a lot cheaper than the high-priced spread .." Frank said: " Old adage .... "A sucker is born every minute." I have ordered some of Mad Scientist’s graphene contact enhancer and am awaiting delivery. So Frank, does that make me a sucker in your opinion? Frank then wrote: "Another old adage ... "You get what you pay for." Frank, can you assure me that if I were to pay close to 10x more for Total Contact, it would prove to be approximately X times better than what Mad Scientist is selling? I mean this sincerely, because I’m having a tough time understanding contact enhancers in general, and why one product would cost so much more than another, which appears to be quite similar, especially since they both contain graphene suspended in a special solution. I definitely have heard improvements in my stereo rig from cleaning contacts including tube pins with Deoxit and treating with Deoxit Gold, but apparently the graphene contact enhancers are (far) superior. To me, and many other audiophiles, that’s an exciting development! It’s my hope that some brave and qualified audio person(s) will eventually do a comprehensive and rigorous comparison between the best contact enhancers now on the market. Personally, I’d love to learn a lot more about these things. |
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/viewpoint/0312/aa_chapter_148.htm is this the same stuff from 2012, but updated with carbon nano? |
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ps ... If you read this thread carefully, you’ll discover the differences. Its true, in general we do get what we pay for. I’m not here to knock someone else’s products, not at all ... especially when I haven’t tried them in my system. That’s what the looters and the destroyers do. I’d say that if you’re curious, try both products and then do a comparison review. I’ve heard about the Mad Scientist’s enhancer from some who have tried it ... maybe they will chime in here. I find it interesting that they haven’t taken the time to do so already. I have no further comment on the Mad Scientist’s enhancer as I have had no personal experience with it at all. Frank |
ps ... Did you click on the link and read the review? If so, what say you?? And yes, its that good. Maybe even 10x as good. :-) http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/viewpoint/0312/aa_chapter_148.htm Frank |
@oregonpapa: "ps ... Did you click on the link and read the review? If so, what say you?? And yes, its that good. Maybe even 10x as good. :-)" Yes sir, I did. But I'm waiting for the definitive review, one which compares tc to the Mad Scientist's Graphene Contact Enhancer. Meanwhile I am looking forward to trying the Mad Scientist's product, and at no risk since the company offers a 30-day money back warranty (less shipping of course) And I will have invested about a tenth of what Mr. Mrock's stuff costs. |
geoff, That was addressed earlier in this thread. If memory serves, the post mentioned treating virtually every electrical connection in the house including service circuit breakers. The claim was made that the collective improvement in all of those electrical connections led to a reduction in electricity used by the house. Green! |
If this stuff actually does all that is claimed (not just audio connections) and you were slick enough to market it to national/international electrical equipment manufacturers, you could be the next Bill Gates. Only problem is that these manufacturers would actually test the stuff in a scientific way. None of the graphene products heretofore seem to have made any industrial impact. |
The bigger corporations, institutions and industries are always going to be slower to adopt new ideas and technologies, for a variety of reasons. Of course they are going to want extensive testing. Meanwhile, us individuals can try things, and take advantage of those that provide us with benefits, without waiting for all that. |
For folks asking a lotta questions, good on ya mates!, but you guys should really do some due diligence beforehand. You might not appear to be so out of it. You know, Google is your friend. I know what you’re thinking, sob, but I haven’t run across Graphene applications anywhere. 😳 In certain areas of science, audiophiles lead the way. Lead, follow or get out of the way. 5 seconds after a Google inquiry by your friend and humble scribe, the first hit is, “Potential graphene applications include lightweight, thin, flexible, yet durable display screens, electric/photonics circuits, solar cells, and various medical, chemical and industrial processes enhanced or enabled by the use of new graphene materials.[1] In 2008, graphene produced by exfoliation was one of the most expensive materials on Earth, with a sample the area of a cross section of a human hair costing more than $1,000 as of April 2008 (about $100,000,000/cm2).[2] Since then, exfoliation procedures have been scaled up, and now companies sell graphene in large quantities.[3] The price of epitaxial graphene on Silicon carbide is dominated by the substrate price, which was approximately $100/cm2 as of 2009. Hong and his team in South Korea pioneered the synthesis of large-scale graphene films using chemical vapour deposition (CVD) on thin nickel layers, which triggered research on practical applications,[4] with wafer sizes up to 30 inches (760 mm) reported.[5] By 2017, graphene electronics were being manufactured in a commercial fab on a 200 mm line.[6] In 2013, the European Union made a €1 billion grant to be used for research into potential graphene applications.[7] In 2013 the Graphene Flagship consortium formed, including Chalmers University of Technology and seven other European universities and research centers, along with Nokia.[8]” |