What’s your vote for the most ridiculous, overpriced, and useless tweak?

My vote: Furutech Outlet Cover 105 NCF $220, with “special crystalline material that has two “active” properties.” https://www.thecableco.com/outlet-cover-105-ncf.html

glow_worm05-31-2019 7:03pm

Showing 10 responses by glow_worm

glow_worm OP Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 84 posts 05-31-2019 at 10:34pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete I am hoping that this will be a thread we can have some fun with, but I'll clarify a bit. What got me thinking about this is that I was at one of the retailers I frequent, where I’ve spent quite a bit recently. He actually asked me to buy one of these (similar price, not these) and after I thought about it I was pretty insulted. Did he think I was a pigeon? I don’t know about the rest of you, but I didn’t make my money by being anyone’s fool. So, no lalitk, I don’t have any empirical evidence, and frankly your very serious and utterly humorless comment does help make my point…that maybe some high end vendors do see us as pigeons, who will try anything. At my age I believe I do a pretty good job of identifying the ridiculous, and avoiding getting bilked by con men…that frankly I think prey on the somewhat neurotic behavior of some audiophiles. I submit that a Borneo fruit bat couldn’t detect a difference in the sound with or without a $220 outlet cover (well, maybe you could), and I’m not going to get swindled to find out. Geoffkait, good point, maybe I should have used ‘or’ but I wanted leave it wide open for responses. That said, I believe that this product would be a great example of the Venn intersection, dead center. And there are a number other examples I’ve spotted over the years. Millerc, good question. I rest on my comments above, simply con artist detection, not trial. Things that just don’t pass the smell test, and are too expensive and ridiculous to even try. (just read your Stereophile Scull example, hilarious!) So, if any of you can think of a tweak that seems absurd, please share, because I vote that there are indeed MANY “ridiculous, overpriced, and useless tweaks.” jl
glow_worm OP Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 84 posts 06-01-2019 at 12:58am Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete So you see frustration here somewhere? Yet another bummer comment. You are right about pigeons though...
glow_worm OP Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 84 posts 06-07-2019 at 10:20pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete That one belongs to millercarbon, Google it it’s easy to find. Worth a few minutes because it’s truly a beaut!
glow_worm OP Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 84 posts 06-08-2019 at 06:00pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete Lalitk, After all of the great examples of absurd tweaks in this chain, I notice you haven’t budged on your position one iota...which appears to be, don’t dare express skepticism about a $4,800 record clamp made of rare wood from the swamps of Africa without first doing an A/B test. My way, and it’s probably more personality based than anything, is to just consider it baloney (no offense intended toward lunch meats or pigeons). Even after 40 years of audio, my “credibility” should of course still be suspect, entirely your call. But one thing I have learned (the hard way) that you might consider, is this: it’s just a hobby, so lighten up. You’ll find it’s far more enjoyable. The pursuit of excellence is a big part of this hobby, believe me I get that. My point is that there is a line where this pursuit ends and hucksterism begins, and that (maybe) there’s some humor there. Most have taken this in the spirit it was offered which is heartening, and many of the examples make mine seem almost reasonable by comparison.
glow_worm OP Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 84 posts 06-08-2019 at 10:13pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete Yep all good! 😊
glow_worm OP Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 84 posts 06-10-2019 at 07:49pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete Or...you could start your own, more “positive” thread. That would pretty much be an entirely different topic, no? I’ve explained my post ad nauseam on this thread!
glow_worm OP Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 84 posts 06-12-2019 at 09:06pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete Frank, If you look at the first comment to the OP, it makes the very same point as yours. So here we are, 144 comments later, back to where we started. Full circle, full stop. j
glow_worm OP Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 84 posts 06-13-2019 at 05:59pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete Frank, A $5k power conditioner to improve the picture of a rear projection TV? Does this mean that I could breath new life into my Philco fridge, Zenith radio (6 transistors), and Admiral TV (color) with one of these babies? Would that be $5,000 each, or could I get by with just one?
glow_worm OP Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 84 posts 06-16-2019 at 06:43pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete When I wrote the OP, I thought that some of the stuff being peddled these days is SO outlandish that there would be a general consensus, and we could share some examples. Oops. It wasn’t a conspiracy to divide people into “two camps” (and then divide and conquer apparently). Ok well it was, but it wasn’t my idea…it was my Mini-Me. My apologies, he can be an uncontrollable rascal. One thing I did learn with this thread is about the ‘old guard’ on the Forum. Some are great (knowledgeable and generous), and some...not so much. Unfortunate because many newbies are interested in getting started in what can be a rewarding lifetime hobby, they post, and get ‘jumped’. Surprising because this is not politics, it’s (ostensibly) a hobby. Out of all this though, I have to admit that this one threw me Geoffkait: “Footnote: I almost stopped reading the post when I saw the poster “has been involved in the hobby for over 40 years.” It’s kind of a tip off of what’s to follow.” Any possibility you could enlighten us as to what you meant by this? Guessing…only the self-anointed ones have valid opinions? But, eh, what do I know right?
glow_worm OP Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 84 posts 06-20-2019 at 01:41pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete Important note on the €2000 Maxiimus P16... be sure to buy the right one: “ Note: if your home has 3 phase electricity, only one of these will be harmonised by the P16. In case you would like full harmonisation, the MAXiiMUS P40 is the right choice” Luckily the P40 actually costs less than the P16 (go figure). And let’s face it, the last thing you need is to leave 2 phases of your electricity unharmonized, so why take a chance?

More to discover