And it doesn’t stop there. There’s plenty of scope to connect the ZeroPoint boxes to ground points throughout the system, although the results require more careful assessment. I’ll be returning to that question later, when (or if) I get a better handle on their application. But for now, the ZeroPoints are an ever-present in our review systems, irrespective of the speakers or their cost.
The Andante-Largo Super TMD contact cleaner and enhancer
They say that cleanliness is next to Godliness, but I couldn’t really comment. On the other hand, the notion that clean contacts and musicality go hand in hand is not only common sense, it’s easy to demonstrate. Yet despite this, the vast majority of audiophiles, individuals with tens – if not hundreds – of thousands of pounds, dollars or Euros invested in their systems, are notoriously lax when it comes to the domestic chore of keeping contacts clean. It’s tedious, it’s boring and it’s repetitive: it’s no great surprise that there’s so little enthusiasm for the task. But Andante-Largo’s Super TMD contact cleaner and enhancer might just be about to change all that. Sadly, not the tedious, boring or repetitive part – but its impact on performance and longevity make it a far more compelling and less onerous proposition. These days, the first thing that happens to any newly arrived equipment is its application of Super TMD.
The result of extensive research by a major chemical company into consistency in critical, ultra-low voltage switching systems (something that really matters if you are dealing with explosive compounds!) the audio industry is a happy, if purely coincidental benefactor. Andante Largo supply the Super TMD fluid in small vials (a larger, 100ml bottle is available for regular, commercial users) along with a set of Q-tips. The ‘tools’ alone are worthy of mention: sourced in Japan, not are they more densely wound than standard, Western versions, thus avoiding the tendency to fluff or shed, they also come in both standard and a smaller diameter, the latter perfect for XLR sockets and network connectors. They also supply fibrous paper, for cleaning large, accessible surfaces, like the pins on AC plugs.
The process itself is somewhat long-winded, in that first you clean the contacts and then, once dry, you apply a second, minimal coat of TMD fluid. The cleaning stage can take a while and often involves multiple Q-tips, with even brand-new products often serving ups an alarming amount of surface pollution or oxidation from their connectors. But the really good news is that, once treated with Super TMD, a contact should retain a clean, consistent performance for around two-years, so, although the job itself can be both painstaking and lengthy, once completed you can bask in the expectation of two-years of unsullied music goodness. And bask you will! The impact of cleaning a complete system with Super TMD is absolutely astonishing, elevating, subtlety, intimacy, detail, texture, harmonic development, fluidity and expressive range to previously unprecedented levels. You really never knew that your system could do this. Singers and players simply sound more real and more present, instrumental or vocal identity is far clearer, there’s less distracting grain within the sound field, a sense of natural purity to the sound. Basically, it’s more music and a lot less hi-fi!
