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In the past there have been quite a number of threads where the stranger tweaks of the audio world have been discussed, and, most of the time, rubbished. Not by people who have tried them out and not liked them but by people who simply refuse to believe that they could work and who are happy to condemn them without trial. I find it very frustrating to see people in the current age of the internet trashing something when the information covering its operation is there waiting behind the google front page. So, if someone was interested in how a tweak might work then they should be able to find out using nothing except the very computer/tablet/phone that they access SNA with. After all, anyone capable of reading this has access to more information via the very device they are using than anyone before them could have even dreamed of. Literally thousands of encyclopedias worth of knowledge. It is human instinct to trash things we think are stupid, but what if those things are actually not stupid at all, what if there is a very real reason for their claimed effect? Would you want to know? If the answer is yes then this is the thread to come to. I encourage everyone out there who feels that they may understand how a particular tweak works to post it up here. This isn't a thread about judgement, it's a thread about curiosity and abstract ideas. I for one, want to know and I am acutely aware that the marketing hoopla written about some of these products are long on flowery exposition and very short indeed on anything that could be considered an actual explanation. Often fancy words like "quantum" are used but they don't really mean anything. Using the word "quantum" to explain something is a bit like using the word "pasta" to explain an Italian meal, the one word by itself just doesn't contain enough information. By the way folks, no promises as the accuracy of the posts and the ideas contained within. The very nature of many of these tweaks tends to make them difficult to explain. But if you're willing to try, then welcome to the thread. I'm going to kick things off with my theory covering the operation of Akiko Tuning Sticks. They have been mentioned in a few threads over the past year or so and I have to say I was pretty damn curious as to how they might work. I freely admit that I have never heard them so I can't make any claim on how effective they are but I do have a theory as to how they work. They only plug into the neutral side of the electronics (ie the outside of the RCA connectors and the ground of the power board) so my thought is that they are acting as a ground plane antenna. Check out the printed circuit board section of the link below. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_plane Increasing the size of the ground plane reduces electrical noise, cross-talk and interference so it would seem to make sense that if you can increase it via an external add-on then you could effect the operation of an electronic device. Perhaps even effect it enough to produce an audible difference in its operation. Unfortunately I don't think this theory covers the tuning stick that you velcro to your ICs or speaker cables, that one has me stuffed. Still, two out of three is not a bad start, yes? Can anyone out there back me up or prove me wrong?