Calm down, Glumpy. They’re all isolation devices and they all touch. Springs, roller bearings, bungee cords, air springs, inner tubes, magnetic levitation, the giant slip plates under the new Apple 🍏 HQ building, you know, the one that’s a mile around the circumference. Oh, and string.
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
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Great posts Dr Glupson, if I may say so. Unfortunately your patient may be beyond the words of reason. Still, I'm sure many of us here would wish you the very best of luck in your endeavours. Anyway, back to the subject in hand, how about audiophile fuses? Reports of some being sold at £130 a pop reveal the depths that some will sink to. Welcome to the world of the audiophile. It can be great fun but do watch out for the sharks and vultures. |
cd318 Great posts Dr Glupson, if I may say so. Unfortunately your patient may be beyond the words of reason. Still, I’m sure many of us here would wish you the very best of luck in your endeavours. Anyway, back to the subject in hand, how about audiophile fuses? Reports of some being sold at £130 a pop reveal the depths that some will sink to. Welcome to the world of the audiophile. It can be great fun but do watch out for the sharks and vultures. >>>And look out for the robins and starlings, all you worms out there. 🐛 I’m giving serious consideration to letting glubson win one of these times just to keep him in the game. Oh, and it’s nice to see newbies support each other. |
jimf421 Take that filter off your water faucet. It won't do a damn thing. Think about it. Your water has to travel miles and miles through old crusty water pipe before it gets to your house. That filter won't help at all. I guess you feel the same way about electricity. It has to travel a great distance to your house and is dirty power all the way. Nothing can make it better, right. I am a true believer that its the first 6 ft coming out of your electrical outlet to your system that starts to change the quality of the power. Power cords make a difference. |
imf421 Power cords. No question there. If you think a fancy power cord will make the difference, when the remainder of your house wiring is barely equal to a cheap power cord, you are deluding yourself. >>>>>Actually, now that you mention it, I don’t mind deluding myself as long as I get good results. Heck, I don’t even care if it’s only a placebo effect. I’ll take it! 🤗 |
"I’m giving serious consideration to letting glubson win one of these times just to keep him in the game."Do not worry geoffkait, I am not trying to win. In fact, I have fun reading your inaccuracies and attempts at cool ideas with half a merit. They do have some merit some of the time, I agree. Had it only not been for other parts of the story that change the relevance of your views... Has anyone mentioned "The Cable Cooker"? |
Not to turn this into a cable thread, but speaking about tweaks or minutia of audiophilia, does anyone know what this means... "...is not a permanently directional cable; it can be used in either direction. However, we pay close attention to direction of manufacture of all points, from wire to cable, and identify this by placing arrows on the y-out barrels. Arrow (>) would point away from the source (power amplifier), and toward the load (loudspeaker). Connecting it like this ensures matching channel fidelity, increased burn-in speed, and allows the user to easily identify direction after cable or gear swapping."Is it "it is both directions anyway but, in case you care, we got you covered"? At least it seems honest. |
glupson2,396 posts07-06-2019 4:18pm "I’m giving serious consideration to letting glubson win one of these times just to keep him in the game."Do not worry geoffkait, I am not trying to win. >>>>Great. It’s a win-win. 🤗 |
>>>If you believe the power cord is filtering RF you’re mistaken. No, I’m not suggesting power cords filter RF. I’m suggesting that well designed power cables and their terminations can prevent EMF from influencing components and other cables in the vicinity. Benji’s comparison of a water filter and a power cord should not be taken literally. For one thing, electrons don’t flow. |
My water filter comparison was for all those people on the forum that think nothing can make a difference. I don't care if we are talking about cables, equipment, tweaks, cartridges, cleaning solutions, racks or whatever else I did not mention. There is a certain group of jailhouse lawyers here who seem to know everything about everything and according to them, nothing will make a difference. It is all snake oil and false claims, vendors are just taking your money. It is all smoke and mirrors. We are all suckers to believe that something can make a difference ! I guess I should try and find another one of those Radio Shack Realistic multiplex units with the 8 track player and the turntable intergraded on top with the 2 ft tall speakers that I got for christmas when I was 12 yrs old. That's it, the holy grail of audio playback. Nothing can sound better, no innovation in design, materials or circuitry will ever make music sound better. It's all fake right ? |
THE GATE – HIFI POWER CONDITIONER
Not throwing stones. I may have missed the reviews, but I could not find any. Also, they have 0 reviews on their web site except for a couple of Audiogon members. I would think a product that works like they claim, at least someone would be interested in the review. You do get a pair of 1 Pair non-latex gloves though. This item should be close to the top of the list or at least honorable mention. |
OK, here’s one everybody can get behind. The Von Schweikert Audio MasterBuilt Ultra speaker internal wiring upgrade, prices $15,000 to $37,500. No, I’m not hot dogging you. 🌭 https://www.vonschweikert.com/ultra-internal-wire-upgrade |
^^^
Unlike a few others posting in this thread, I will not comment on anything I haven't tried in my own system. Frank |
Pop Quiz. Win a free prize! 🤗 There are four obvious technical errors in the following paragraphs from the Von Schweikert technical description of the MasterBuilt Ultra Speaker Wire. Grammatical errors don’t count. Get all four right and win a prize. a) Impurities in the metal conductor which; along with crystalline barriers, result in rough and grainy high frequencies. This is caused by collision of the electrons carrying the musical signal with the impurities and crystalline barriers inherent in any extruded metal. MB’s solution is to use the purest, Laboratory-grade cast copper, with 99.9999% of the impurities removed. b) Dielectric absorption of the high frequency component of the music signal by the insulation material creates a non-linear response. Since most elements have “free radical” electrons in their atomic makeup, the musical signal will be affected when the electrons collide with the dielectric’s “free radical” electrons. c) Arcing (signal path distortion caused by “stranded wire bundling”) occurs when the signal electrons attempt to jump from strand to strand. The resulting distortion sounds like the crackling when you connect jumper cables from one car battery to another and creates a “bright” and “hard” sound quality. e) Hysteresis (magnetic field interaction) is caused when the positive and negative conductors are placed in close proximity. As you may remember from high school physics, recordings of music consist of alternating currents that alternate from positive to negative as the musical notes go through their 360-degree cycles. As the electron signal flows through the wire, they generate a magnetic field if the positive and negative conductors are in close proximity. |
By the way I also install a new Schumann generator (10 bucks) smaller than the first one with usb powered and with my tweaks(stones+ antenna) that works marvel also I order a third one...My audio system is incredibly better for another times...I know now that the real improvement of an audio system when you have already good gear does not come from buying new gear but mainly: improving the room, the acoustic grid, the vribations controls, the electro-magnetic grid controls, the room treatment,the elimination of RFI and controls of EMI, all that with TWEAKS mainly and good power supply... I am sure that a many hundred bucks Schumann Generator is better but I am not sure that it will be way much better for the price...I prefer paying peanuts and tweaking the usb one...Half the price of the Chinese one that comes with a power supply and that is more potent... I will compensate the lack of power of the usb one with installing 2 at 2 different place... |
To date all the tweaks I devised or bought works... The only ridiculous tweaks I think of are the costlier one and perhaps they works but at a too much high price or with a ratio quality/price too small...I will never go back to the years when I think about a good audio system only equating that with high price...That is ridiculous and that is what most people think, ridiculizing tweaks but not thinking by themselves and buying new costly gear dreaming to improve the sound... I can improve now for sure the sound of my 1000 bucks audio system by buying new gear like most people do, but the cost will be (I calculate it) 10 times higher, for a relatively better audible improvement... I will keep the same dac (This dac I already owned, Starting Point Systems one, is already TOTL with a ridiculous low price then impossible to beat, except if paying way too much, buying perhaps a Dave for example ), but a 2000 bucks power supply, a David Berning amplifier 4000 bucks, new speakers around 4000 bucks to crush my Mission Cyrus...And all that tweaked by myself for sure...Price and good engeneering dont resolve all the issues of an audio system... |
@mahgister, good for you that you have found some useful tweaks. I can't recall a single tweak that came up from the user community that has been universally accepted by the industry - although spiking and isolation got close. However, in any case this is a thread for discussing useless costly or ridiculous ones. Some would say that going beyond 4 track recording tape was a useless tweak if you were looking to improve sound quality. The devil is in the details you know. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reel-to-reel_audio_tape_recording |
No sellers never said to me, to tweak my room, and that I must tweak the table where I put the costltly amplifier to isolate it from vibrations, and tweaking the electrical grid of my house, nobody who sells speakers of high quality like the Mission I own say to me that they will sound better with tweaked cable, and tweakes drivers, etc.... Useless, costly, ridiculous tweaks are 3 different things.... Equating the 3 only invite useless sarcasms …And to know for sure that a tweak is useless you must try it before with a sensible good and already tweaked audio system in a treated room... Costly is a relative notion that is impossible in many case to qualify objectively...Ridiculous tweaks is an interesting question to speak about yes, but only if we dont equate ridiculous with useless...For example my stones tweaks are ridiculous for many but are they useless? I know the answer, you dont… I wish with all my consideration the best to you... |
Geoff this one is not usb powered then bigger than the usb one...I just ordered another one for me... I will own 2 usb powered and 2 bigger one with supply... That will makes a difference at low cost...I tweaked them with a short antenna perpendicular to the printed antenna and with crystals and stones...Results are almost astounding... I thank you for your Saucers for windows that works and is very simple indeed... https://www.ebay.ca/itm/2018-FM783-Schumann-wave-7-83HZ-Ultra-low-Frequency-Pulse-Generator/18350108... |
16,163 posts07-09-2019 12:55pmThat’s the one I will probably buy. Does the black wall adaptor come with the device? By the way, the long spiral thing is the antenna.If you speak about the 20 bucks device they ship it with a power supply... I use my own tough... geoffkait16,163 posts07-09-2019 1:30pmAnyone know if the USB version of the device will fit the USB port of a new iPad? Also, did you get Blue or Black USB device?The usb blue cable they send had a regular usb end, the other end is a mini usb head that fit the small generator...I dont know for sure but I think this mini usb will fit the Ipad... |
I place a usb generator vertically nailed on the wood wall of my furniture in my audio room… I glued at the center of the printed antenna another antenna perpendicularly attached...I place some tourmaline and shungite stone on the cable and near the generator+ an Herkimer diamond...That seems to amplify the radiating power of the generator... I will place another usb generator near this one or near one of the speakers connected to my computer , I will see the best location.... I order at the same time another larger one with a power supply... They are more potent and more suitable for a room...The usb one are designed to be bedtime therapy for insomniac in asia...But with my antenna and stones they seems to act with enough power to play their function in my small audio room... With this 2 small and 2 regular generators all must be perfect and I will end my search for cheap generators...I doubt that the Acoustic Revive costly one do much better...Anyway for 60 bucks all in all for the 4 generators this will be sonic paradise, this is already sonic paradise with the 2 i have... This is the wrong thread to discuss all that, because these cheap generators are not useless,nor costly nor ridiculous...I apologize to all the readers of this thread, but I know only ridiculous tweaks I never experimented with to this day, then I will not speak of them for the moment, and for the costly one I will try to replicate them or let me inspire by them before speaking about them, and lastly for the completely ridiculous tweaks it is up to us to try or not because our credulity or blind faith level are different in each one of us... I am certainly interest to read about useless tweaks to inform myself not to replicate them and not to buy them … My best to all... |