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WHAT IS THE TRUE EXPERIMENTAL TWEAK THREAD ALL ABOUT? I have always wanted a thread where any subject is possible. No experiment is too crazy to add here. No idea is too bold to reveal. Take it away! Enlight your thoughts and share your ideas how to improve SQ and how not to. Anyone can encurage and educate you but no one should let you down, deminage you or simply move you to another thread. Everyone is welcome as long as they accepts a different way of thinking! TOPIC DIGEST With a little help of @austinpop I have realised that this thread is all over the place. Even if this is one of the fundamental ideas behind this thread, it could be a good idea to sum-up the things that have proven to be beneficial to SQ in this thread. I will keep it plain & simple. Remember that these are essentially my own findings in my own setup with Tidal FLAC and Tidal MQA as source. As always YMMV! LAN 1. Cat 6a U/UTP 500Mhz ethernet cables sounds better than Cat5, Cat5E, Cat6 & Cat7+ in my setup. Ghent Audio Cat 6a ET02 with JSSG shielding and Metz plugs rules them all. 2. Network switch improve SQ with input on port 1 and output on the last port. Possible explanation is QoS and also that the ports are in different magnetic boxes inside the switch. 3. Using a AQVOX switch with better clock improves SQ compared to a D-Link DSG-105 network switch. 4. A wireless adapter/wireless bridge/router in client mode into a network switch sounds better than battery powered FMCs and hardwired LAN. 5. Router vastly improves SQ with a floating LPS and even more if the floating PSU is connected to a DC blocker trap filter. IME a router upgrade could be beneficial to SQ. 6. Galvanic isolation/DC blocker in the signal path pre the router improves SQ. 7. Wireless adapter vastly improves connected to a floating IT. 8. RJ45 socket enhancers seems to be more efficient on port 4 & 5. Don't ask me why! GND 1. Grounding a metal chassi network switch to a tourmaline grounding box greatly improves SQ. 2. Different tourmaline grounding boxes improves the sound signature in different ways. 3. Grounding the DC negative terminal of the floating SMPS works great. In my setup it sounds best connected to a grounding box instead of to the power strip safety ground receptacle. Just be aware of possible leakage loops between various network devices. A big thanks @JohnSwenson for this tip. USB 1. Covering the outer USB barrels with electrical tape improves SQ slightly with unshielded USB cables. Capasitive coupling between metal barrel and pins? 2. Uptone Audio´s USPCB improves SQ. 3. ATL Hi-Fi´s 8 conductor USB cable with dual unconnected shields (5v+GND & Data- & Data+) with JSSG loop improved SQ compared to other longer (<50cm) USB cables that I´ve tried. DC 1. Network switch sounds best with dual floating PSUs or battery power (but very important to disconnect the battery charger while listening to music). Dual floating PSU is slightly better than battery power, but battery power is slightly better than single floating PSU. 2. Powering several devices with a single floating SMPS sounds better than powering the very same devices with several battery supplies. Also, powering several devices with a single battery supply sounds better than using multiple identical battery supplies. Self-inflicted noise? 3. Canare 4S6 starquad does improve SQ where ever applied. Canare 4S6 with JSSG seems to be even more effective. Thanks to@JohnSwenson! 4. Grounding the DC negative output of a floating SMPS improves SQ. Grounding the chassi/case decrease SQ. Be aware of shared ground paths since this could potensially decrease SQ. 5. Dual LT3045 ultra-low noise voltage regulators in series with 1v drop-down close to the powered device improves SQ quite dramaticly. 6. Kemet aluminium Polymer caps A750 series (25v 560uF) vastly improves LT3045 when added at the DC output. On single LT3045 the Kemet improves on both in- and output. 7. Panasonic FC series type A aluminium electrolytic caps improves on the PSU output terminals. AC 1. A DC blocker trap filter pre a safety isolation transformer improves SQ even though it is dead silent (no hum). DC blockers trap filter pre a floating PSU into a router vastly improves SQ. DC stress reliever? 2. SQ improves when battery chargers is connected to a separate powerstrip connected directly to the AC wall outlet, bypassing the isolation transformer completely. 3. A safety isolation transformer with floating secondary improves SQ more than a Ultra Isolation transformer. A balanced isolation transformer with floating center-tap rules them all! 4. Daisy chained floating grounds (dual floating grounds) sounds better than a single floating ground. In my setup floating SMPS's improve SQ connected to a floating IT, even surpassing battery supplies. Thanks for the suggestion @lmitche! 5. AC mains starquad power cables greatly improves SQ. 6. AC mains voltage regulators improves SQ on the signal chain. Even cheaper versions are effective. Not as effective on high power devices such as active speakers and amp due to a still unknown reason.