Audio nonsense

"the most ludicrous thing you’ve seen someone try to sell?"

This thread ...

This site is full of nonsense crap for sell. Start with those disc things in the other thread and work your way through anything sold by SR.

Audiophiles seem to want to believe that little doodads can transform their systems and improve whatever it is they believe needs improving. Doodad manufacturers are all too ready to take advantage. Vintage examples here and here, and present day examples here, here, and here.

@mitch2 +1 +2 & +3

People like to play with Marvelous Toys.

They go zip when they move and bop when they stop and whirr when they sit still. I’ll never know just what some are and I guess I never will.

Have you tried any of the Peter Belt offerings, and if so which ones?

Years ago a friend and myself conducted blind A/B comparisons of Peter Belt Rainbow Foil treated CD's to duplicate non-treated CD's on my setup and I could ID the foil treated CD's everytime.

In most cases I thought they sounded better, but not always.

The foil was FREE, gratis of May @ Peter Belt.

I ended up treating a StatMat with the Ranbow Foil in order that I could easily choose to use it (or not) with various CD's and I also used a non-treated StatMat which I could again use (or not) with various CD's.

Got the idea of using the foil on a rider mat from Thorsten Loesche (sp?).

DeKay

fuse lit, move quickly backwards to a safe distance..

Another vote for the Tice clock. Talk about snake oil!

Oh good, another thread complaining about items that can't possibly work described by those who have never tried them. Happens over and over again, boring ...

Boutiqe fuses, cable lifters, ridiculously priced power cords, speaker wires and signal wires. 

Anything from Shakti and those ridiculous Marigo Tuning Dots. Too many so-called audiophiles are oh so gullible. 

I was thinking about getting a power regenerator, but then I was sold on an actual generator.  So now every time I listen I disconnect from grid power and fire up the generator.  It seems ridiculous, especially since the only thing that’s powered is the stereo in order to ensure ample overhead for the big crescendos, but I have to admit there is a slight improvement in SQ…worth it!

The "Teleportation Tweak" gets my vote!

http://www.machinadynamica.com/machina60.htm

Actually, anything from Machina Dynamica is pretty out there...

1. You can’t know what will and will not work.

2. Making yourself feel better by posting “snake oil”, etc doesn’t help anyone but you.

An Audiophile..The pursuit Of hi-fi perfection. How does that morph to a gullible idiot who gets sucked into the endless number of Yum Yums selling utter crap. There outa be a law Lol.There’s Science, research, Common sense, damn it can’t be that hard.
Cheers

Speaker cable elevators and those new magic discs to be placed on interconnects from SR! 

Audiophile Rocks

Obscurum Ultima

The "Teleportation Tweak" gets my vote!

where is Geoff when you need some action?

I‘ll bet that those few Obscurum Ultima‘s that made it into circulation are worth a fortune now..

1. You can’t know what will and will not work.

Who exactly is "you"?

Engineers and scientists may not be responsible for this blanket statement of fact.

The 1956 Chrysler Highway Hi-Fi (LP player in a car) and the Sony Minidisc.   

An Audiophile..The pursuit Of hi-fi perfection. How does that morph to a gullible idiot who gets sucked into the endless number of Yum Yums selling utter crap.

In an upside down and inside out post-modern world where reality television is actually quite the opposite, yum-yums are purveyors of the holy grail.  In the Middle Ages they called such things Indulgences.

Everyone takes home a prize. Which, in a way, is kinda nice and can be very special to a lot of people who are perhaps seeking the love they didn’t receive as a child.

Total Contact and E -Mats! Bybee Quantum Purifiers! Perfect Surface Copper!

Any improvement these things may have would be so small they would not even be audible to the human ears..

Total contact is or I should say was highly effective in my system. One of the most effective tweaks I've tried in my system. For the money $300 best bang for your buck tweak by a long margin in my experience.

Everything I have ever tried has made a difference of some sort.

Whether or not I cared for the difference is a different story.

I recently pulled a Furutech NCF Clear Line conditioner out of my main system.

They have a good reputation (as a brand name), and undoubtedly it "works", I think I just prefer the sound of my system without it.

Before I come on here and start bashing a product, or a brand name, or start slinging the term "snake oil" around, I at least owe it to myself to try it. I don’t have to understand how or why it works, I just need to try it and see if it works for me.

Isn’t that what being an audiophile is about?

did you try it exclusively with ultra low current draw devices like CD players and preamps at any stage?

Shunyata are known to put varistors in their circuitry (not sure about yours) to provide overvoltage surge protection. I personally do not like what they do to the sound (screw up dynamics) and remove them whenever present.

“Oh good, another thread complaining about items that can't possibly work described by those who have never tried them. Happens over and over again, boring ...”

How true! Most of these same people either don’t have an audio system that can benefit using better products (cables for example), don’t have the money or refuse to spend money on better equipment, or can’t hear. There are a few sites that throw out the term “snake oil” on cables that cost over $50 but these same people don’t use the $1 cables that come with their equipment, they use a $25-$50 cable instead. So if these audiophools can hear a difference between the $1 cable and their exotic $25 cable, why do they think technology stops at $25? Or at $50? Makes no sense

Sony Minidisc.

don‘t diss the disc !

@pesky_wabbit 

I honestly hesitated including it in my post. When I first saw it I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Fantastic technology. Then it died like the Sony Betamax of old . So sad. So very very sad.

Put every conceivable thing on springs, because I said so....

I bet the people who buy the discs - or really any synergistic research products - also fall victim to other scams in the non audiophile world. Sad really…

@p05129 ​​@dill , Why on gods green earth would I waste money on poop I know for a fact does nothing except twist the mind of those susceptible to such rubbish. I have had plenty of opportunity to make and market farcical items and turned it down. I've always been a lousy business person.

Wax cylinders. I cannot believe anyone thought that was a good idea. Terrible technology and absolutely no resistance to heat or surface scratches.

yes, but they were eco friendly - completely organic, recyclable and bio-degradable: one of the very few items that could be sold in California today without a health warning. Move over vinyl revival

“got to roll me 🎶”

                                                                                                    yeah……

The battery things on Audioquest coffee interconnects 

@p05129 +10. How can one formulate an opinion on something they have never tried. Although some of the tweaks are way out these.

I’ve never worked for anyone that the product they handled, didn’t sell itself. If I had to sell something to someone to fix their equipment. I made it very clear every time "YOU DON’T HAVE TO BUY IT".

Conversely if tuning disk don’t work why do others use them? It’s pretty simple really, they do effect the field that certain cables carry more so than others. That is the whole point of the disk. They work better with certain materials and constructs. In order to see a more prolific effect you have to use their product which it has a greater impact on.

Actually if there is enough truth, but not "to many lies" applied to a product, that only adds to the Mystique of the the product.

One persons change in sound is another’s life changing moment because they heard a cow bell for the first time on their favorite LP. The only issue is, you can hear the cow bell but now you have one note bass or the highs just went away.

It’s not always either or. When people can’t hear a change, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Others swear mouse farts have ruined the recording. The key is knowing which things can reduce mouse fart noise. It may be that change you didn’t hear to begin with that saves the day.

What didn’t work yesterday, doesn’t mean it won’t work for something else today or maybe tomorrow. I learned a long time ago. Being a hero and knowing everything new is heaped in the "can’t work" pile kinda sucks for the folks that used in the right place at the right time.. Duct tape and Apollo 13!.

Duct tape May not be the answer to stereo, where you can see it.. I’ve seen a lot of duct tape in great speakers, though.. :-)

Sometimes I prove thing wrong, sometimes I prove things right. Knowing the difference is why they call a mechanic a journeyman when you can’t tell the difference and fool yourself into thinking different, we call that an apprentices. When no one can figure it out, well that hasn’t happened yet.

Regards

"Why on gods green earth would I waste money on poop I know for a fact does nothing except twist the mind of those susceptible to such rubbish."

That's my point, you wouldn't, as you already know it won't work even though you haven't tried it. It is more comfortable for you, God forbid you could be wrong, right?

Arrows on cables. 

And why should I buy something because someone says that is the only way to form a valid opinion? Like saying measurements are all that matter. Common sense should prevail. And if you start behaving like Chistopher Lloyd take a break. 

I at least owe it to myself to try it. I don’t have to understand how or why it works, I just need to try it and see if it works for me.

Isn’t that what being an audiophile is about?

This is something that children want to do at Disneyland or in the candy/toy section at the shops.

As adults, we can normally acknowledge this desire in ourselves at times and make an informed and intelligent decision.  Or not.

How can one formulate an opinion on something they have never tried.

I form these opinions everyday. I’ve never walked off a skyscraper nor walked in front of a train but I have formulated an opinion as to the results. The efficacy of these idiotic contraptions take the same level of common sense.

This site is gone, gone, real gone. The sheer amount of ignorance and anti-innovativeness is astounding. If a company was run with the lack of wisdom and intentional curiosity now found on this forum, then that company would fail by becoming irrelevant in very short order. Nonsense begins with a closed and limited mind that stifles the spirit of curiosity and learning. 

I've never walked off a skyscraper  nor walked in front of a train but I have formulated an opinion as to the results.

Nice strawman argument. Is that the best you can do?

I see the objectivists are out in full regalia in this thread. So much fodder for them...

So much fodder for them...

Thankyou for conceding the obvious.

There is something not very fair about shooting fish in a bucket.  I yearn for a challenge.

The problem is this forum is quickly becoming irrelevant. Other sites have meaningful conversations on recent audio learnings that benefit all who read and participate. This was my place to both learn and also share my learnings. It is no longer this place. The incessant posts marinated in closed mindedness have made this site irrelevant. One has to wade through all manner of rude and off topic negativity to find any remaining nuggets.

I am moving on, but still feel compelled on occasion to help Agon see the insidious and real movement towards irrelevance this forum is experiencing. However, even I have grown so very weary and will, as others, just opt out.

So much fodder for them...

however it would appear that some are hell bent on leading with their chins..

I believe one must come to the realization that there is a lot of nonsense out there here as most anywhere in order to be able to sort through things meaningfully. Extreme positions either way never work. Like saying I hate negativity period or that no tweaks work. Also have a sense of humor. The truth is somewhere in the middle. Just the facts ma’am. No need to beat up others either way. Of course some are here mainly to make a buck and are not inclined to ever let up. Am I way off base here?

The best tweak is one that is virtually unidentifiable, by that I mean your system just becomes more engaging.

I don't listen to my system I listen to music and actually feel kinda sorry for 'philes that always feel like something is missing in their rig.

Being "sold" tweaks reminds me of "Home Shopping Network"...my better half can watch TV and be made aware that she needs something that she never heard of and didn't realize she wants.  Compared to my spending its chump change so it continues with no complaint from me.

Having said all that please tweak to your heart's content.

Freakin' at the tweakers ball,

barts