I would like to start a thread to keep a running account of AudiogoN'ers who engage in excessive use of hyperbole.
A couple of ground rules are in order:
1) The Cable Forum is completely off limits as it is inherently riddled with the stuff. In fact, one might argue that the high-end cable market wouldn't exist without such outlandish claims as "my jaw dropped to the floor" when referring to an interconnect.
2) No need to name names or offer any editorial comment. If it's hyperbole, just quoting the offender should speak for itself.
So how 'bout it? A little levity to keep things loose could go a long way in a hobby where we can sometimes take ourselves a little too seriously.
I'll start: An Audiogon'er referring to placing isolation feet under his audio rack.
"The system was for the first time tonally balanced, the bass response increased, the sound stage widened, the noise floor dropped, there was greater depth, increased clarity, and most importantly the brightness and harshness had completely disappeared!"
For a long time I couldn't realize why I hear distortions on any system I'm auditioning from the right channel. Now I realized I should probably take off my ear-ring-ring-ring before...
There seem to be two sets of problems here. One is, shall we say, the overenthusiastic review, a la, "This blew me away!" The other is the bogus technical explanation for a phenomenon the poster really doesn't understand. Clueless found a priceless example.
I have noticed, however, that there seems to be a correlation. Nobody's ever "blown away" by the difference a new set of speakers makes. But power cords...
It's not just audio. Marketing in the US has gone mad. It's almost impossible to have a cup of coffee that isn't "gourmet", and my local supermarket sells bread that is apparently "artisan". And if you ever come to silicon valley you'll discover that every other worker is either a VP or a director (not me .. I actually do stuff). We've gone marketing / hyperbole nuts in our society.
If you search through my archived posts, you'll probably find alot to laugh about. I've done it. I think most of us do at some point or other. When you get excited about a product or new purchase, you just say stuff like that.
I'm not sure if it's hyperbole or BS or both. Maybe Hperbolic BS.
"I suspect that the better sounding cables are more effective in reducing "noise" at the quantum (atomic) level thus improving the musical presentation. Nordost measures the speed of electrons flowing through their cables, relative to the speed of light. The higher the electron speed, the more revealing the cable appears to sound. Bybee filters are said to act on electon flow at the quantum level. That may be why miles of cheap wiring to the wall can be improved by a power chord. It may be the power chord or certain power conditioners help organize the electrons to flow faster and with less noise than lesser power chords."
I love it when we audio enthusiasts start reaching for quantum mechanics. Half of us insist that numbers don't matter and the rest of us argue QM. A laugh a minute!
"...from the beginning it sounded thin and bright but after 400 hours of continuous break-in and listening it started to sound more open through a larger soundstage and holographic imaging; bass became more deep and defined..."
"...then it was if everything came tumbling together in a blinding light, The dynamics, soundstage, imaging, suddently leaped to life and it was as if god himself parted the clouds and reached down from the heavens and bestowed my humble system with the divine sound. I sat there in quiet disbelief as the angels trumpeted thier appreciation and layed thier wings upon the existance of the sonic purity, and it was at that moment when i knew i would forever be one with the music, that i had reached the heightened level of existance that people only whisper about, for fear that the fragile perfection will collapse like a house of cards if spoken of too loudly. My true astonishment was that all i had to do to achieve this level of audio nirvana was to simply put a....."
I ran across tid bit in another forum a little while back, thought it was kinda funny so i printed it out. He was talking about the Bose Wave Radio. hahahahaha
I like it, I like it! An observation though--Some of this has to be viewed with a little compassion and understanding. All of us are involved with this on dfferent levels, and have accumulated our "audio wisdom" through different means. Indeed, the excess hype may seem over-used, but individual reactions to the infinity of phenomena we all encounter in this hobby, cannot be expected to fall always within the boundaries of what we might call rational. I recently, for the first time, went to the trouble of comparing the sound of my system with the amp plugged directly into the wall, vs into my entry level power conditioner. My reaction to the difference in the sound was, to me, quite profound, and generated a fair amount of excitement--largely because I did not really expect to hear any difference. No, I probably would not post the experience with the same cliche hype quoted above, but I can understand this person's excitement over the often mind-boggling effects that seemingly insignificant changes can have on a sound system. So, I'd agree that this is an interesting thread, but only so long as we keep it light, and cast the spotlight with some grace, and above all--humor.
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