A TUNING RATIONALE

Products used to change the sound of an audio system, even though they aren't actually IN the accepted audio signal path, are often called "tweaks." When you "tweak" an audio system, you are actually "tuning" it. The physical nature of every tuning product (tweak) mandates that the resonance response of any system it is used with must change; if it is to be put on, around, under, or over a piece of audio equipment, IT HAS TO CHANGE the RESONANT SIGNATURE of the SYSTEM. Because the resonances have changed, the tonality and therefore the sound of the system must also change.

Resonance tuning is a skill that you can learn. The first step is to trust your ears. You know what you like. The available arsenal for making your system sound better is really quite formidable. Cones, pucks, dots, oils, bricks, platforms, and a host of other tuning products are readily obtainable. A suitable selection should become a part of your audio tool box. Care should be exercised, however: just as no one wrench can turn every bolt, no one tuning product can fix all sonic problems. Tuning products are tools that are handy when it and the problem match up; otherwise they just take up space. There are no bad tools, just inappropriate ones.

Cones, bricks, dots, pucks, jackets, discs, isolation platforms, etc. all change the resonant energy in audio components and accessories. These changes directly influence the harmonic balance and imaging of your audio system, thereby affecting your perspective on the music.

Tuning an audio system is like taking a saw, or other tool, to a piece of wood. The basic engineering of the wood is already done for you. All you have to do is to make it fit your own particular situation. The sound of your audio system is like that piece of wood.

Why Would I Want to Tune My System?

While most audio companies have achieved a high degree of Static Neutrality through use of conventional tests like THD and frequency response, other elements that are major contributors to dissonance have been overlooked until now and can cause a lack of synergy between high-tech components.

Non-signal-path products are the main focus of this article because their use will significantly alter the resonance response and thus the harmonic balance of your audio system. While signal-path products also alter the resonance response, they usually cost considerably more than most tuning products. This makes learning how to tune your system a cost effective approach for achieving musical satisfaction.

By learning some simple tuning techniques, audiophiles will be able to: 1. Realize high quality sound without wasting thousands of dollars. 2. Eliminate the frustrations caused from buying a "latest and greatest" product which isn't so great after all (at least for you...it may be for someone else). 3. Bridge the gap between now and the time when a product's measurements ARE an accurate guide to its compatibility with the rest of your system.

It is not necessary to completely understand or believe in these techniques in order to begin using them. Don't be afraid to experiment. These changes will be far easier to undo than trying to get back the old amp that your new amp was SUPPOSED to trash.

In addition to these practical considerations, there is also this artistic consideration:

Pictures taken from slightly different angles or offset in small increments of time, will sometimes portray vast differences in meaning. In the same way, the sound of most musical artists' material will vary from performance to performance. In part this results from the artistic interplay between the various musicians (as well as from varying acoustics and sound reinforcement elements). This artistic interplay is the wellspring from which emotion and meaning are communicated to the audience. Because each artist brings a new perspective to each performance (sometimes the change is subtle, sometimes not), his ability to communicate with the other band members and with the audience also changes on a day-to-day basis...sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.

Occasionally, it is refreshing to be able to achieve a new perspective on a piece of music that is very well known. With the tuning methods outlined in this article, changes can readily be made to an audio system's sonic perspective which will enable the listener to derive new enjoyment from an "old friend." This is also an instance of artistic interplay and, as such, is as valid as any other aspect in the production and reproduction of recorded music. After all, this manipulation of perspective is the stock-in-trade of recording, mixing, and mastering engineers the world over.

What Is Tone Painting?

Tone Painting is tuning with a twist; it is an approach that focuses on the audio system rather than the component or the tuning product; it is the antithesis of the standard operating procedure. The hot-new-whatever will sonically help some systems a little, and help some systems quite a bit. However, the hot-new-whatever will sonically HURT some systems a little, and significantly hurt other systems.

Tone Painting is the author's term for a system of tuning techniques and a rationale that came about because audio components and systems were seldom, if ever, sonically neutral. When tuning a system, i.e. adding and subtracting resonances, you are changing the system's tonality and harmonic balance...as well as its imaging specificity and sound staging capabilities. Tonality is the starting point for all sonic qualities.

The-sound-of-an-audio-system-playing-a-piece-of-music is a sonic-portrait of that piece of music. The canvas for this music is your listening room, and its acoustics create a sonic-canvas. The tunable nature of an audio system provides a great opportunity for you, the listener, to achieve a more musical perspective through this process of adding and subtracting resonances: tone painting.