You Can Get Rich From 'Snake Oil'!

I am amazed by the stupidity of some so called experts...

They are no more wise than the crowds they despise about his ignorance...

 

Now think about that : what is an "expert" out of his expertise field ?

 

A man in the crowd, as ignorant in other fields than any man taken by chance from the crowd...

 

An "expert" in audio must be specialized, then do he know all aspect of acoustic , psycho-acoustic , electricity and dac and amplification and speakers or headphone electronic and physical design , software engineering, recording engineering, physics, neurology of hearing, music , and some other field i forgot ?

No he does not ...

What is a sound ?

How do we hear ?

What do we hear ?

Even today these questions did not have unanimous definitive answer... And in ANY unanimous consensus in science there may be an imprevisible revolution coming soon ....

For example "placebo" and "biases" .... These concepts are very complex and most people using them against audiophiles dont even know what are the complex implication of their meaning ...These critics means "illusion" and "deception" when they use this sophisticated concepts generally in a simplistic unilateral way against audiophile ...

 

Myself i decided few years ago to experiment to learn a bit and have fun ...

There is no "experts" in audio who understand all aspect of audiophile experience...

We must consult expert for some specific answer coming from their expertise for sure.....

The rest is fun experiment in which we ourselves learn...

 

«Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts» Richard Feynman

 

«Experts are also pawns and tools in a "game" they cannot master themselves » -- Anonymus corporate multi billionnaire

 

«Secrets result, and  hidden mysteries stay safely  as they are, by the compartmentalization of expertises» Anonymus pentagon expert 

 

»Science has already been sold to the best offer» Anonymus Mephistophele’s assistant

 

«I am only an expert, my wife is the generalist»-- Groucho Marx 🤓

The oilier, the more people buy into it. Witness these forums.

       The adherents of the Naysayer Church will never accept that there exists a multitude of variables, when an accurate simulacrum of performers and their performance in a particular venue, is the desire/goal.

         If their result differs from that of others, the aspects that they can't discern CERTAINLY MUST BE the product of the others' imagination (OR, "snake oil).

             Of this they are certain: it CAN'T be THEIR system, room, or ears!

                                            Perish the thought!

I buy expensive cables, esoteric fuses, and spring isolators just so people have something to complain about online. 

I think there’s a huge number of people willing to buy into anything. I also disagree that we’ve measured everything possible, especially not in the complicated space of a listening room.

I’ve heard caps break in and speaker cables change the outcomes. I also think cables which sound different are WAY too expensive.

The audiophile norm is a fetish of polishing, spending and avoiding the most cost effective or effective solutions in favor of trends.

My advice:

• Learn to build your own. Speakers, cables, whatever.
• Be true to your own ears and no one else’s.

Probably the biggest gap between reality and spend and testing is vibration control methods.  It is so damn easy for a manufacturer to test vibration, and the effects of that vibration on cables and solid state equipment, but we've seen ZERO.  It doesn't happen.

Real simple.  Measure output, add vibration.  Show us that x solution is better than y in any possible way.

If I made millions selling pillows on TV this is the point where I'd put up a million dollars to anyone showing any vibrational control devices do anything for solid state gear. But I'm not a pillow guy and I have no cash so the world will have to wait.

If some 'expert' says so, that's it - end of story! No further discussion necessary. 

What are we supposed to be arguing about? Ahhh, who cares...

"What are we supposed to be arguing about? Ahhh, who cares.."

Exactly.

Each must find their own way.  May the force be with you!  Meanwhile there is money to be made.  Big shock!

 

Sorry, you must be corrected, only what is known and approved now by the recognized experts  will be accepted without censorship...

The past is like the future not trustworthy...😁

 

Only what has been known in the past, will be allowed to be known in the future.

 

I believe the class action suit against MoFi was due to them misrepresenting a manufacturing process.  Their advertising led one to believe that they never used a digital step in some of their lps.  Or is there another class action suit against them that I am unaware of?

Yes, that "misrepresentation" is what's known as "fraud," whether it was deliberate or inadvertent. The same principle would apply to "snake oil" - a product which does not perform as claimed, just as the MoFi LPs were not pure analog as claimed.

The MoFi lawsuit is a perfect example of the ambulance chasing mentality far to common in the legal profession.  The widespread "hurt feelings" mentality deserving of "justice" also to blame.

Did MoFi supply a defective product? NO.  Did MoFi cause harm to anyone?  NO.  Would the product delivered be measurably better without the digital step?  NO. Judge should have thrown this out with prejudice as stretching legal precepts far beyond reasonable boundaries.   

Cleed is proposing an environment where anybody that has "hurt feelings" should sue and expect a payday.  Could Cleed be a lawyer, because lawyers are the only ones that get the big payday in class action suits?  None of your business, or within your knowledge, to decide what is "snake oil".  Such a worn out, and plain stupid subject that too many in the audio hobby cling to for no useful purpose.

MoFi sold records with a description that it was 'all analog' and that was not so. That is the point. People paid a lot of money for something they thought they were getting, but did not. Has nothing to do with whether the sound is better or not. 

Nobody expects the Audio Inquisition! (with apologies to Monty Python)

All the best,
Nonoise

@larsman Audio is a hobby, not worthy of all the manufactured righteous indignation.  Expend your energy on something that actually matters.

I got a rodent tooth in my chicken nugget today. You don't see me upset....no, I ate that rat nugget, and I liked it.