Perfectly imperfect is a very real thing

I did the exact same thing before going away for vacation for 10 days. Came back home to put on some Rory Gallagher and it was still spinning. Nothing was hot, no growls or hums, so I just gave it a drop of oil and kept listening. All you’ve done is accelerate the “play time” of the machine.

Deftones sound great in my car. Cannot stand them on my stereo. Same issue as all heavy music from that time, it’s compressed as hell and everything that makes it “heavy” is lost

Nice!!! I go for the same strategy - lots of ficus in my room, lots of dense creepers in the corners, windowboxes full of planters. It truly does make a difference in diffusion, and it looks sooooooooo much better than traditional acoustic diffusers. Your setup is much better looking, and MUCH better sounding than mine! Cheers