Biggest audio hoaxes


Often when people discuss audio, they talk about "snake oil" or "hoaxes."

It's pretty typical to use the term hoax as a tactic against another who disagrees with one, or holds an unusual opinion or vouches for something which has not been verified. That's not what I mean by a "hoax." 

By "hoax" I mean an audio product or claim which has been pretty definitively disproved. Maybe not to everyone's satisfaction, but to common consensus.

So -- with that definition of hoax in mind, what are some of the biggest audiophile hoaxes you've heard of?
hilde45

Showing 1 response by bob540

I think it is difficult to label anything a “hoax” because there are always those who will claim the thing worked for them.  In the circles, like Audiogon, that insist that the differences cannot be delineated or refuted with scientific measurement, all we are really left with is each individual’s personal experience.  Who can refute that?  Who can deny that someone who claims the sound is better when they hold their leg a certain way isn’t experiencing something valid, for them?

It reminds me of a conversation I had this week, in which I observed that various ways of cutting and preparing potatoes results in different tastes, even though the potatoes are cooked in the same way. For example, why do straight cut french fries taste different than crinkle cut fries, that taste different from curly cut fries?  All fried, but the cut seems to make difference, even from the same restaurant. I think audio is like that — you can take the same components and make devices that measure the same but sound different to people.
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