Do Any Audio Accessories Actually Work?

[Sparkeychase]

Hello Fellow Spendthrifts,

Once we have spent all our hard earned on fabulous equipment.

Are there any audio accessories that are actually worth spending time investigating that can be proven to influence the sound we hear?

Looking through reviews here they all seem to get slaughtered, but surely there must be some 'science' behind Jitterbugs, USB Purifiers, Mains Conditioners et al that relates to HiFi equipment.

Or are they all really just trying to scare us into solving a problem that does not exist with well made products?

 

[Purité Audio]

Record brush almost works ( vinyl record cleaning brush)
Keith

 

[JeremyFife]

New music: CDs, Records ... playing vinyl (even occasionally) seems to need a record brush, stylus cleaner, record cleaning stuff ... I wonder why I bother sometimes

Speaker stands / mounting, but just to get the speakers properly aligned - nothing fancy

Acoustic treatment, although that's a minefield and well outside my ken, seems to be a candidate

 

[Apesbrain]

Don't have much use for my turntable these days, but I always found a record clamp to be beneficial.

 

[kelesh]

I have four identical solid aluminium LP record weights. They work perfectly as standoffs underneath the four corners of my desk, which needed to be raised by two inches to allow clearance for equipment racks.

 

[DVDdoug]

re there any audio accessories that are actually worth spending time investigating that can be proven to influence the sound we hear?

An equalizer (which can be software, sometimes free, if your audio source is a computer) or a surround up-mixer (usually built-into an AVR).

but surely there must be some 'science' behind Jitterbugs, USB Purifiers, Mains Conditioners et al that relates to HiFi equipment.

Usually there is some "theory" or "science" that doesn't apply to real-world audio. And "audiophiles" often hear an improvement that only exists in their imagination or when there is no problem to begin with.

Sometimes these things can help if you have a particular problem. For for example, you can filter noise out of the power line but ALL audio equipment has a built-in filter (part of the power supply that converts AC to low-voltage DC). If that noise is actually getting into the audio and you're hearing it, filtering the power might help. Or, since noise is highly variable, it may not filter-out the particular noise in your situation.

See Audiophoolery and What is a blind ABX test?

 

[Curvature]

What's an accessory?

In my current setup I use a universal remote, I have a bunch of measurement gear, I have angled speaker risers. I guess velcro straps, too, for organizing wiring a little. Lots of audio books.

I think that's it. They are all useful things.

 

[Basic Channel]

I'd say accessories do work when they are related to the stuff we listen to (speakers or headphones). Speaker port plugs or headphone earpads and various things like that do work and make a difference.

Depends how you define accessory I suppose. But EQ and acoustic treatment would be up there too if you can class them as such.

 

[Jim Taylor]

... surely there must be some 'science' behind Jitterbugs, USB Purifiers, Mains Conditioners et al that relates to HiFi equipment.

Scam artists are so successful because they instill that attitude in customers' minds. Reasonable, honest people tend to believe that other people are reasonable and honest, too.

That's the only toehold that scam artists need.

Jim

 

[Sparkeychase]

I suppose I was thinking more along the line of any after market gadget that you either plug your existing equipment into (power conditioner?) or plug into your existing equipment (Jitterbug anyone?).

From responses so far, no one is jumping to the defence of Russ Andrews and his mates

Room correction is one area I do need to look into, assume there is already an open discussion somewhere about that.

 

[OldHvyMec]

Accessories are accessories.

Room treatment
Equalizers
AC cleaners and maintainers
TT weights
Speaker Stands
Record cleaners
Decoupling equipment
Coupling equipment

and there is a whole lot more I don't consider things accessories if they are part of a setup, a maintenance function or protection.

A plastic dust cover only because you can use a silk to cover a TT instead.
A custom made cover vs a silk cover or not covered at all.
An equipment rack, because you can use the floor, a table, bricks, etc.
Cable lifters (for cleaning)
Your custom chair
Head Phone racks
Mcintosh Clocks
Posters
Disco Balls
Accessory lighting
Stripper poles

Are accessories.

One is to set up a system, one is to accessorize much like pretty armor on cable or Shiny Rhodium terminal ends for looks.
There may be some practical value using cable armor for real situational needs like bouncing around in a car/boat/airplane
and various equipment.

Then there is total BS and there is a lot in that category that just defies logic and any kind of common since;

Minerals that transform the sound
Boxes that somehow ground better
Fancy Fuses vs solid copper or silver or both

BUT I will say if you buy the stuff and they offer a money back guarantee if you're not happy and you don't return it, that is on
them for not using a little common since and paying a little better attention in class to begin with.

No one sells me anything, I buy what I like, period.

Regards

 

[Dunring]

The only recent discovery I've had really good results is going to an Optical USB cable into a powered hub. Noise floor dropped to zero and putting the hub nearby I can use shorter USB cables for best performance and locate the hub away from all interference. Running currently on a Topping A70Pro and E70 9028Pro DAC in 5 volt mode and literally couldn't ask for anything better.

 

[Timcognito]

My tablet controls gear in three rooms, each playing different or all the same content, with Roon and BluOS apps.

 

[Speedskater]

I use Sorbothane Hemisphere Rubber Bumpers under components that have:
a] CD/DVD players
b] Hard drives
c] fans
They reduce the shelf from acting as a sound board.

 

[Purité Audio]

I suppose I was thinking more along the line of any after market gadget that you either plug your existing equipment into (power conditioner?) or plug into your existing equipment (Jitterbug anyone?).

From responses so far, no one is jumping to the defence of Russ Andrews and his mates

Room correction is one area I do need to look into, assume there is already an open discussion somewhere about that.

We know you were thinking of that ( Russ Andrews) but we are not going to indulge you.
Edit room correction really does work, probably the single biggest improvement you can make.
Keith

 

[DJBonoBobo]

Hello Fellow Spendthrifts,

Once we have spent all our hard earned on fabulous equipment.

Are there any audio accessories that are actually worth spending time investigating that can be proven to influence the sound we hear?

Looking through reviews here they all seem to get slaughtered, but surely there must be some 'science' behind Jitterbugs, USB Purifiers, Mains Conditioners et al that relates to HiFi equipment.

Or are they all really just trying to scare us into solving a problem that does not exist with well made products?

A USB isolator can be useful IF you have a problem with a ground loop (very clearly audible noise). If not, you don't need one, of course.

Sorbothan or Sylomer feet can be useful for some components or speakers/subwoofers.

 

[Killingbeans]

Looking through reviews here they all seem to get slaughtered, but surely there must be some 'science' behind Jitterbugs, USB Purifiers, Mains Conditioners et al that relates to HiFi equipment.

Those are all just simple passive filters. Problem is, they all have a resonance frequency that you don't want to be the same as the frequency of the noise you're trying to eliminate. The gadget manufacturers never really tell you what specific frequencies their filters target, and they certainly never give you a graph showing impedance vs frequency. It's all just mumbo-jumbo talk about some undefined "bad stuff" being removed. In other words; it's a complete crapshoot whether or not they do anything useful in a specific use case.

Galvanic isolation is a much more effective approach if you're having problems with ground loops. Intona Model 7054 for instance.

But then again, you'd get the same result by switching to a toslink connection

 

[Sparkeychase]

We know you were thinking of that ( Russ Andrews) but we are not going to indulge you.
Edit room correction really does work, probably the single biggest improvement you can make.
Keith

If not Russ Andrews how about Peter Belt?

But seriously, yeah room correction is probably what I will look into.

 

[Sparkeychase]

Those are all just simple passive filters. Problem is, they all have a resonance frequency that you don't want to be the same as the frequency of the noise you're trying to eliminate. The gadget manufacturers never really tell you what specific frequencies their filters target, and they certainly never give you a graph showing impedance vs frequency. It's all just mumbo-jumbo talk about some undefined "bad stuff" being removed. In other words; it's a complete crapshoot whether or not they do anything useful in a specific use case.

Galvanic isolation is a much more effective approach if you're having problems with ground loops. Intona Model 7054 for instance.

But then again, you'd get the same result by switching to a toslink connection

I guess what you, and others, are saying is that unless I know that I have a problem that needs to be fixed, I will be rolling the dice trying various accessories.

At least asking the question has saved me money and more importantly...time.

Cheers

 

[Multicore]

Are there any audio accessories that are actually worth spending time investigating that can be proven to influence the sound we hear?

A glass of wine or a G&T can do that for me.