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RE: Not all stainless steel is "magnetic"

Lew,

Agreed. The Walker Audio Talisman is always close at hand in its secondary role of instantly revealing whether stainless-steel wood or machine screws are magnetic. IFI exclusively use austenitic stainless steel machine screws but many audio manufacturers for some curious reason don't. Fit? I use exactly the same size/ pitch/ length brass replacements and eliminate the flash from their heads with a black marker pen. Nylon screws lack the rigidity to curb vibration so I use them minimally near RCA terminals where brightness is a concern.

FYI Using the new generation of $49 noise-canceling AC adapters from IFI with both the first-generation iUSB Power and iTube Buffer appreciably drops the noise floor to allow the music to become more open and revealing of detail. Plugging an AC iPurifier into the duplex from which the MacBook Air is powered (on a separate circuit to those used by analog and digital components while playing music) provided a third comparable 'veil-lifting' improvement. Good floor-dropping value for $200 but enclosing the sides of each speaker magnet/ amplifier toroidal transformer with MagnetShield, replacing the toroidal transfomer retaining screw with a nylon tie, and substituting brass for magnetic stainless steel speaker/ amplifier screws is infinitely more work but far more productive noise reduction for the dollar. And, of course, first installing brass screw inserts in the soft coil speaker cabinets both front and rear eliminates the sound image blurring caused by the inability of tapered wood screws under vibration to solidly retain their hold on soft composite material.

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