Maintenance

UltraFast69

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Throughout the year, I like to disconnect cables and wipe them down.

I don’t use any cleaner on the terminations.

While I’m there, I wipe down platforms and shelves, just good housekeeping.

Also, visiting the breaker panel, I check to make sure all connections are tight, including the receptacles.

Perhaps, it’s me but it seems I always find something around the home and seemingly I earn points in sound or video depending on the area of the home.

Does any one else go through this procedure?

Have you realized any benefits from this process?


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Throughout the year, I like to disconnect cables and wipe them down.

I don’t use any cleaner on the terminations.

While I’m there, I wipe down platforms and shelves, just good housekeeping.

Also, visiting the breaker panel, I check to make sure all connections are tight, including the receptacles.

Perhaps, it’s me but it seems I always find something around the home and seemingly I earn points in sound or video depending on the area of the home.

Does any one else go through this procedure?

Have you realized any benefits from this process?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Probably need to define "throughout the year." Does that mean weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually? I dust my gear more often than I do any other maintenance except for keeping an eye on my Ref 75 bias and adjusting it when necessary.
 
Once a year, usually in July, I go through all of my sound systems connections. I disconnect and then reconnect all interconnects and speaker wires on each component and speaker. This ensures I have a fresh contact between the component connectors and the connectors on the interconnects and speaker cables. I do the same thing with the power cables at the components and the wall outlets. At the same time I test all tubes in my tube testers and record the results in a log that I compare with the previous year's data. That, and dusting when necessary is the extent of my sound system maintenance.
 
My old dealer always recommended cleaning the connectors at least once a year, for sound quality reasons. Even just making & breaking the connections a few times can break up the oxides enough to make a difference. I wonder if some (but not all - I am an audiophile, after all) of the "miracle improvements" purported by component swaps - and especially cable swaps - are actually due to breaking up oxides blocking proper connections. It could even be relevant to tweaks, if e.g. footers/rack cause a relocation or temporary removal of the component.

And of course, with as much money as I spent on my gear, regular dusting is a necessity.

I know we don't normally like to be so pragmatic, but this is a good one :P
 
One of the best checks anyone can make is to run frequency sweeps and measure the response. Doing that can help easily identify equipment that is not working properly (for example, a damaged tweeter, disconnected wire, etc.)
 
I pull everything apart once a year and clean all the connections. I also check the 5.1 sound system for proper time delays and levels for all the speakers.
 
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