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Joe’s coin tweak
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Chucks wrote:
(19 Jul 2001)
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 Hi,
By time of this writing it is already 5:40am. I couldn't sleep and thought maybe I surf the
Net for a while. I stumpled into 1388 website and a Joe Lee's "No Money No Talk" article kept me even more awake. I have long heard of this tweak from local forums but have not
think much about it until now.
Later in the day I intent to try it out but there are some questions pertaining to the article
which I hope Joe or any other person who come across this can help me answer.
In the article Joe said that: "I would suggest you to start the 'coin tweak' with a five-cent
coin and stick it onto the shell of the 13amp power plug that links to the power distributor bar of your system......", but pardon my limited knowledge on technical jargon, what
exactly is this "shell of the 13amp power plug" thing? An easier description would help and better still if it can be phrased in a more layman's term.
Secondly the part that says: "If you are using small speakers with stands, you can either
place the coin on the floor or on the bottom metal plate of the stand, you can do both if your bass is really obese...." I am using bookshelf speakers on Atacama stands with
spikes of course, does "place the coin on the floor" from the above quote means placing the coin on the floor right below the center of the stands? In other words, the coin is
touching the floor with the 4 spikes around it? Is there a difference between this method and placing it"...on the bottom metal plate of the stand..."? The second method I supposed
Joe means placing the coin on the surface of the bottom plate? Does it matter which of these 2 methods I use assuming I only wanted to use one because I think it is easier for
me to put the coin on the bottom plate than to shift the stands and put the coin on the floor and then shift the stands back again.
Lastly, am I correct to assume that the double side tape is used only so that the coin will
not fall if you stick on wall? If I just put it on the floor or on top of the speakers, there is no need for tape, right?
I guess that's about all. If I sound too long winded, hope you can forgive me. Hoping to hear some replies.
Thank you and well wishes.
Chucks
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Joe Lee responded:
(19 Jul 2001)
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Dear Chucks, sorry for my poor English.
The shell means the cover of the 13amp plug. You can only stick the coin externally,
right?
You are right. To place a coin on the floor means placing the coin on the floor right below
the center of the stands without any contact to the stand. You don't have to shift the speakers, since your stands are with spikes you can use something like a ruler to push
the coin to the center, I mean near the center. Afterwards you can remove them and try them on the bottom plate to compare the effect... the former one should be more effective
in terms of bass-control.
Yes again, if you just 'place' the coin on a horizontal surface, you don't have to use any
tape to firm the position. If you have to use some double-sided tape, use the thinnest type... Never Blue-Tac.
I hope you don't mind that I post your message and my answer in our forum section.
Have a nice day. Happy listening.
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Chucks wrote again:
(19 Jul 2001)
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Hi Joe,
Whoa...am I surprised to hear from you so soon, especially when you are so busy. Thanks
for your reply, they have more or less clear my doubts...except for one which is the 13amp plug.
You see, I fully understand the meaning of shell or cover of the plug but the problem is I
don't know what in the first place is a 13amp plug. There are so many plugs around so which is the one you are referring to. Is it the wall socket, the plug at the end of the power
cord of my amp or cdp that you plug into the wall or is it something else. Pardon my ignorance but to a electrical idiot like me and to many other people who are not so well
versed in these parts may not know what is a 13amp plug and how it look like. Reading the whole sentence: " ...the shell of the 13amp power plug that links to the power
distributor bar of your system..." makes me more confused. Power distribution bar of my system? I don't know what is that too. (Yes, I am that lousy). Is it the power cord or something else.
Also I have another question that just popped into my mind. I read that you have published
your this coin tweak years ago. I wonder did you at that time use the current Singapore 5 cent and 1 cent coins or the old ones? Some years back, our 5 cents coin is silver in
colour and our 1 cent is copper in colour but darker and bigger. Have you tried that before? Am I correct to assume that the coins you mentioned in your article referred to the ones
circulating now, that is, the 5 cents coins is gold in colour and the 1cent coin is copper in colour but looks shinier?
And yes I don't mind if you post my questions on your site just in case some other people
is as confused as me.
That should be all. Thanks for attending to my email despite your busy schedule.
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Joe Lee responded:
(19 Jul 2001)
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Many audiophiles used one or more power distributor (power bar/extension with
multiple sockets) to supply electricity to various component, say those one to four sockets which you see in NTUC supermarket. If you are using one, then
stick the 1st 5-cent coin on the 13amp plug of the main, i.e. the plug from the power extension that goes into the wall socket.
However, if you are plugging your components into individual wall sockets, in that case you
can try on any plug, such as the one the link to your amplifier, or CDP.
Overuse of 5-cent coin will lead to bright sound. Be careful.
Yes, since I invented this method years ago all the while I was using either Singapore
1-cent coin or 5-cent coin or combine both. Singapore MAS probably produced the best coins in the world for sound tweaking.Yes, the coins I used are those in current circulation.
Thank you for your support to 1388. Happy listening.
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Chucks wrote again:
(19 Jul 2001)
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Hi again,
Just sent you an email but only after hitting the send button then I realised I got another
question to ask. About placing the coin on the speaker top, is it to be placed right at the center of the speaker top or anywhere on the speaker top?
Paiseh...thanks a million times. :)
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Joe Lee responded:
(19 Jul 2001)
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Yes, try right at the center first. After that you can try one more at the rear,
middle along the edge, to pull the soundstage slightly backward and create more depth. |
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Chucks wrote again:
(21 Jul 2001)
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Hi again Joe,
I have just try out your coin tweak this afternoon and boy am I amazed. All I did was to
place a 5 cent coin on my 13amp plug and a 1 cent coin on the floor under each of my speaker stands and I immediately experienced enhanced detail and tighter bass. Strange
and too good to be true. Skeptical as I am, I did a before and after test and concluded that I am not imagining things.
Later today I will be trying to stick a 5 cent coin on the center of the wall behind the
speakers which leads to my questions for you.
1. You mentioned before in your article to put a 5 cent coin on the left and right side of the
above center coin and states a rough distance of about 3 feet between each other. Is this 3 feet the distance between the left and right coins, or is it 3 feet between the left and center
coin and another 3 feet between the center and right coin (ie the total distance between the 2 left and right coins is 6 feet) ?
2. Also, I notice in many articles about your tweaking sessions with other people, you
seems to like to use ball bearing on top of copper rings and place them at the rear of the speaker top. What are the supposed effects of this ball bearing/copper ring combo and
where can I get them good and cheap?
That's about all for now.
Thanks and well wishes to you and your wife.
Goodnight...er...I mean good morning. (It's almost 3.30am now) Zzzzzzz....
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Joe Lee responded:
(23 Jul 2001)
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In audio world scepticism reduces a lot of enjoyments...
Sorry for the late reply.
Three feet apart is based on normal listening room of around 10~12 feet wide. You are
right, the left coin and the right coin are both three feet away from the center coin... If the speakers are more than 4' away from the backwall, the distance between the coins could
be slightly wider...
The combination of ball bearings and copper rings can tighten up the imaging and gives
excellent outline. The effect is pretty all-rounded. What it lack of is musicality. The type of ball bearing that I used most often is 17mm (roughly) in diameter, and 12mm diameter
copper rings. You can obtain the copper rings from almost any hardware shop, just tell the shopkeeper you are looking for those ring for piping works. They know...
I ran out of ball bearings months ago after tweaking numerous systems... you can try Kian
Ho Bearings at 206 Jalan Besar (Tel: 294 2106). If they don't have the exact size, get something slightly smaller...
After you get hold of all these, how about I pay you a visit?
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