cheap improvements that don't cost the earth, what have you done?

shahedz · 12-02-2006, 8:14 PM

After reading a few threads here, i thought i would experiment with placing marble/granite under my speakers. the upgrade cost me £16 for the tiles from my local tile shop. immediatley i was shcoked with the improvement in sound bass was a letter better and treble sharper. i would be interested in other improvements people have done/made that doesnt cost the earth that can be used on a current set up with out having to upgrade a component,

so what have you done?

binbag · 12-02-2006, 10:09 PM

The most cost effective improvement that I have made was getting some blackout blinds for the windows. At around £50 it improved the image and allowed us to watch a movie any time we wanted.

Jon Boy · 12-02-2006, 10:35 PM

While were on the subject, when locating a speaker / sub on a slab,marble whatever , is it important to put spikes on the speakers / sub or doesnt it matter?
Also what variations are better , e.g spikes on the speakers but not on the sub or vice versa?

Jon

shahedz · 12-02-2006, 10:56 PM

Hi Jon

i think its important to keep spikes on both speakers and subs even when palcing on a slab helps with the isolation

djbolf · 12-02-2006, 10:58 PM

Cutting squash balls in half x2 and putting under cd / dvd players and amps etc.

shahedz · 12-02-2006, 10:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by binbag

The most cost effective improvement that I have made was getting some blackout blinds for the windows. At around £50 it improved the image and allowed us to watch a movie any time we wanted.

still got to get round to doing that!

Timmy C · 12-02-2006, 11:41 PM

I cleaned my tv screen with a bit of window cleaner the other day. I was amazed at the amount of dirt that came off it and I can't tell you how much better the picture looks!

shahedz · 12-02-2006, 11:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timmy C

I cleaned my tv screen with a bit of window cleaner the other day. I was amazed at the amount of dirt that came off it and I can't tell you how much better the picture looks!

i know the feeling! i actually done that after ages!

hottstuff · 12-02-2006, 11:50 PM

Ive fitted a second subwoofer to my JVC th-s66 and placed inside the base , under the sofa.
So in a scene from Jurassic Park for eg., when the T-rex is coming , we are shook in our seats , Literally!!!

jolly · 13-02-2006, 5:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timmy C

I cleaned my tv screen with a bit of window cleaner the other day. I was amazed at the amount of dirt that came off it and I can't tell you how much better the picture looks!

what would you recommend to clean a plasma ?

steve

maverick177uk · 13-02-2006, 1:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jolly

what would you recommend to clean a plasma ?

steve

The wife

**inzaman** · 13-02-2006, 1:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maverick177uk

The wife

shodan · 13-02-2006, 1:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maverick177uk

The wife

A clean, damp cloth mate. (Used by the wife)

shahedz · 13-02-2006, 1:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hottstuff

Ive fitted a second subwoofer to my JVC th-s66 and placed inside the base , under the sofa.
So in a scene from Jurassic Park for eg., when the T-rex is coming , we are shook in our seats , Literally!!!

how could i forget one of my cheapest upgrades, bought a bass shaker from ebay germany for £16 including del, bought some cable and connectors from Maplins for a few quid! adds so much more enjoyment to a movie! watch jurassic park on it!! amazing!

hottstuff · 13-02-2006, 1:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shahedz

how could i forget one of my cheapest upgrades, bought a bass shaker from ebay germany for £16 including del, bought some cable and connectors from Maplins for a few quid! adds so much more enjoyment to a movie! watch jurassic park on it!! amazing!

**inzaman** · 13-02-2006, 2:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shahedz

how could i forget one of my cheapest upgrades, bought a bass shaker from ebay germany for £16 including del, bought some cable and connectors from Maplins for a few quid! adds so much more enjoyment to a movie! watch jurassic park on it!! amazing!

How are these wired to existing equipment then ir did you have to get another amp to drive them?

ash · 13-02-2006, 4:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shahedz

how could i forget one of my cheapest upgrades, bought a bass shaker from ebay germany for £16 including del, bought some cable and connectors from Maplins for a few quid! adds so much more enjoyment to a movie! watch jurassic park on it!! amazing!

Link me please, and how do you do it?

Bristol Pete · 13-02-2006, 4:42 PM

Bought Mark Grant cables and they made a world of difference........

Pete.

shahedz · 13-02-2006, 6:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by inzaman

How are these wired to existing equipment then ir did you have to get another amp to drive them?

i have my front channels run by LINN amp. so my AV amp only runs my centre and rears, so i just connected them to the spare front channels on my AV amp which i wasn't using, , downside using my method is they kick when the front channel kicks in as opposed to when the .1 (sub) kicks in. although it is still every effective this way and i really happy with it and dont intend to make any changes, some people use a sub preout from the sub or amp to another amp which drive the bass shakers or the ebay seller in Germany actually sells dedicated small amps to drive the shakers if you dont have a spare amp. a friend of mine bought the kit which consisted of 2 shakers and the amp and he said its brilliant, its connected to his sub out so his kick in , in time with the sub

the actual bass shaker i have

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Bodyshaker-100...QQcmdZViewItem

if you type in "bodyshaker" in ebay you will see a few German sellers , selling, with it being so cheap i didnt mind taking the risk and i am really glad we did, it actually cost less than £18 in total. if you have a spare channel on your amp go for it! especially at these prices you wont be disappointed

Gary Lightfoot · 14-02-2006, 9:55 PM

Those are a good price and worth every penny IMHO. Aura Bass Shakers can cost quite a bit more but do the same thing, and the only difference as far as I know is they have a casing.

What I have done with mine is to use a splitter from the LFE output of my amp - one to the subwoofer, and the other to a spare stereo amp I have. I split the signal again so that it goes into the left and right stereo input of the CD input, and then run two shakers in series per channel (to make 8 ohms). I have two on each seat, but have it wired in such a way that I can also extend the signal out to two other seats and have 12ohms per channel.

If your subwoofer doesn't give the tactile sensation that is sometimes possible when the sub and seating share the same set of floorboards, these shakers will certainly do the job. Juest don't turn them up too much or they will pummel the bottom out of your seating and the spiders may come loose from the main body (glue them back with super glue and/or silicon rubber).

Gary

ash · 14-02-2006, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary Lightfoot

What I have done with mine is to use a splitter from the LFE output of my amp

Whats LFE, and do most amps have them. Sorry, I'm a bit of a n00b

shahedz · 14-02-2006, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ashmufc

Whats LFE, and do most amps have them. Sorry, I'm a bit of a n00b

Low Frequency Extension. unless i am mistaken, its basically the sub out, and all AV amps have it

bad ass · 15-02-2006, 12:07 AM

sorry I'm a bit confused, what are these bass shakers, and what do they do? also how do you connect them?

sorry for being thick.

**inzaman** · 15-02-2006, 9:30 AM

Do these bass shakers screw under your seating? i.e in my case the seating is a wooden bottom then fabric covered foam (or whatever it is), so would i screw these to the wooden part of the seating?

waf-tastic · 15-02-2006, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by inzaman

Do these bass shakers screw under your seating? i.e in my case the seating is a wooden bottom then fabric covered foam (or whatever it is), so would i screw these to the wooden part of the seating?

Yes - I think you can - I've seen over on avsforum.com some people have them fixed to the furtniture and others to their risers. Not sure how many you'd need for a sofa - one per derriere maybe?

These ones seem very cheap though - I have a Wharfedale SW 150 powered sub and a DENON AVR 1906 amp - do you think I'd be able to run one of these butt kickers from the subwoofer output on the amp (at the same time as the subwoofer)?

**inzaman** · 15-02-2006, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by waf-tastic

These ones seem very cheap though - I have a Wharfedale SW 150 powered sub and a DENON AVR 1906 amp - do you think I'd be able to run one of these butt kickers from the subwoofer output on the amp (at the same time as the subwoofer)?

From my understanding you will be able to but you will need an amplifier as the sub preout on your receiver will not be amplified.

shahedz · 15-02-2006, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by inzaman

Do these bass shakers screw under your seating? i.e in my case the seating is a wooden bottom then fabric covered foam (or whatever it is), so would i screw these to the wooden part of the seating?

Hi you can literally screw them on to a frame. or if you have a wire mesh under the the cushions, then you can put a piece off wood the size of the shaker ontop of the wire mesh and then screw the shaker underneath so its allmost hanging off the wood, mine is literally plonked behind my back cushion, right at the bottom and its works so well i am not going to change it,

shahedz · 15-02-2006, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bad ass

sorry I'm a bit confused, what are these bass shakers, and what do they do? also how do you connect them?

sorry for being thick.

they are little motors almost, what they do is vibrate, so when you have scene with an explosion, bass, they vibrate and shake so you can feel it, connect up as a speaker,

shahedz · 15-02-2006, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by waf-tastic

Yes - I think you can - I've seen over on avsforum.com some people have them fixed to the furtniture and others to their risers. Not sure how many you'd need for a sofa - one per derriere maybe?

These ones seem very cheap though - I have a Wharfedale SW 150 powered sub and a DENON AVR 1906 amp - do you think I'd be able to run one of these butt kickers from the subwoofer output on the amp (at the same time as the subwoofer)?

one per derrier is more than enough

i have mine connected to the AV amps front speakers, so mine go off in time with the front speakers (not the sub out) so you can connect them to your speakers B set on your amp. if you want to connect it to your sub out you would need a dedicated amp to run it which would be connected to the low level sub out

sbowler · 15-02-2006, 4:20 PM

I placed a large soft back movie review book ontop of the DVD player. Its suppossed to dampen any vibrations through the players casing.