ES, in your photo montage, top edge, second picture from left:
I notice that you're using a cheap-a*s soldering iron. WTF? You're spending big bucks on hi-fi sound but using a soldering iron that looks like it came on a blister pack from a convenience store? You actually let that thing touch any part of your equipment? That's a torture device, not an electronics tool. (Though, to be fair, as a torture device, it's first-rate.)
Good clean solder joints (especially ones made without overheating the adjacent components) will benefit your signals more than a whole rack of Noise Harvesters or a lifetime of putting a jar of rocks on your head.
You might think you're getting good enough results with the $4.95 gadget you have there. With some skill and practice, it's possible to make the best of a crap tool. But with solder connections, appearances can be deceiving and making the best of it might not be good enough. If I saw that toy in a prototyper's electronics shop, I wouldn't hire the guy.
Less than a hundred bucks will get you a good temperature-controlled soldering iron with exchangeable 600/700/800 degree tips to give you the right temperature for each job. A little more, and instead of changing tips you can set the temperature with a digital control at the base. Either way, it'll heat up in about a tenth the time, it won't overheat so it'll tin up properly, and the handle will stay cool. Plus it will have a silicone cord (no chance of having the cord cross the iron and melting, putting 120VAC into whatever you're soldering and/or into you) and come with a steady base/stand that will greatly reduce the risk of melting holes in your carpet, or your equipment, if you accidentally tug on the cord while the iron is idle.
Respectfully,
Myriad
