Arguments - Bleeding edge technological advance or Audiophool snake oil ? Just for fun !

Baron Mole

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I could do with a good laugh so I'm creating this thread. It's just for fun :laugh:- please don't take it too seriously. OK ? :thumbsup:

I don't promise to engage - just watch and have a chuckle.

I'll start off with one of my faves - pair of RCA interconnects, 1m long, weight 110lbs, with 6.69 tons of magnetic force, price $100,000. :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

1_de15bcca-ae9b-47a4-abf3-32ec0332b92f_800x.jpg


It's a fabulous example of pseudoscience - the guy thinks that because he has patented it - it has credibility. The truth is that for a grant of patent it just has to be shown that no one else holds a patent. The patent office does not test whether there is any value or truth in it - just that a similar patent doesn't exist.

Have a look around the rest of the site as well.

Professional Elite RCA Interconnects
 
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I could do with a good laugh so I'm creating this thread. It's just for fun :laugh:- please don't take it too seriously. OK ? :thumbsup:

I don't promise to engage - just watch and have a chuckle.

I'll start of with one of my faves - pair of RCA interconnects, 1m long, weight 110lbs, with 6.69 tons of magnetic force, price $100,000. :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Professional Elite RCA Interconnects
South Park episode...
 
South Park episode...
Which one ? Or is the answer all of them ?

Perhaps we should have a thread with ideas for patents and look for a billionaire to finance the enormous cost of a patent ? :laugh: That would help out AVFs finances.
 
I bet even Superman forces don’t stand a chance against cables.

The front picture looks like .....

South Park Season 14 Episode 14. Shake weight episode.
 
And todays entrant from the Audio-T newsletter.

Warning ! Take care ! RFI is getting in ! Only £550 each. Get them quick before they sell out ! The Chord Groundaray - ta da !

Chord GroundARAY

chordco-GA-7-row-001-1080px.jpg
 
I bet even Superman forces don’t stand a chance against cables.
I wonder what it would do my vinyl cartridge signal. Or anyone with a hip relplacement.
 
Joking aside. Cables are cables. Copper is copper.

I was cable believer before. I do most of us here we’re/are but won’t admit it.

If there is let’s say a massive difference between speaker cables then it is gauge of the speakers cables which matters.

So really cheap 12 gauge cables vs really expensive 12 gauge cables sound the same. Resistance is important.

The only thing I still believe in is to buy decent RCA cables because they can pick up hum from your eq.

But not expensive RCA cables. I must admit I use Chord Clearway RCA cables just sleep better at night....
 
Heck even kryptonite which is Superman weakness won’t stand chance either.,.
 
The only thing I still believe in is to buy decent RCA cables because they can pick up hum from your eq.
Yes, I agree all quality interconnects should include proper shielding. And proper specification like capacitance per m. and resistance per m.

The lack of specification items which really mean something and are useful is one of my pet hates.

And plays to the whole snake oil industry. Chord make some excellent if pricey products. But they're in business to take money off people - so that's why they sell products like the above. Why not ?
 
 
I was cable believer before. I do most of us here we’re/are but won’t admit it.
Have a watch of this video - Darko becomes enlightened - only took 20 years and cost $$$$$$$$$

 
And plays to the whole snake oil industry. Chord make some excellent if pricey products. But they're in business to take money off people - so that's why they sell products like the above. Why not ?
Fool me once-fool me twice.
 
I'd throw in silly expensive turntables. Not talking some as basic as a rega rp10, but something more along the line of these Pin on home theatre
 
I'd throw in silly expensive turntables. Not talking some as basic as a rega rp10, but something more along the line of these Pin on home theatre
It probably sounds very musical too him, too me it looks like something you have in the kitchen.

Coffee ☕
 
There is a video on YouTube where Gene from audioholics talks about super, super expensive AQ speaker cables.

The AQ Thunder Zero speaker cables.

I believe the price is 7500 US dollars!!!

Check out the video.

I’d thought I post it here, but it is quite long but very interesting.

He talks about the engineering concerning the cables, if the batteries on the cables makes it sound better.
 
That product makes no sense to me. The description is gibberish and no where does it actually explain how the unique premise that they operate by actually works. It not even obvious what the objects shown in the photos are or what they do.
 
And todays entrant from the Audio-T newsletter.

Warning ! Take care ! RFI is getting in ! Only £550 each. Get them quick before they sell out ! The Chord Groundaray - ta da !

Chord GroundARAY

chordco-GA-7-row-001-1080px.jpg
To be honest when I read that in my inbox I was kind of intrigued and in the surface thought it made sense …..until I saw the price!
 
If the system is prone to hum there is a simple solution.

Plug all your eq in one power outlet power strip. It is that simple.
 
There is money in low tech snake oil too. Four wooden 'feet' for north of £20 comes to mind.
 
That product makes no sense to me. The description is gibberish and no where does it actually explain how the unique premise that they operate by actually works. It not even obvious what the objects shown in the photos are or what they do.
It's an RCA connect - you'd need to have custom granite plinths made to get the sockets on your equipment to line up. Use Welsh granite - sounds better :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

The bold an italics below are mine.

https://www.highfidelitycables.com/cart
High Fidelity Cables uses Magnetic Conduction technology to enhance audio signals and ensure the highest quality sound in audio reproduction.

Magnetic Conduction is a new and unique technology that preserves signal inegrity (sic) by utilizing magnetism to enhance signal transfer. Magnetic Conduction consists of using magnetic fields with the precise strength, orientation, and dimensions as to concentrate electron flow inside the conductor.

The magnetic fields guide the electrons through the conductor in a more efficient manner than with standard electrical conduction, creating less distortion and interference. This new magnetic type of conduction lends itself to high-end audio reproduction, where you can hear massive improvements in clarity and experience the music the way it was meant to be heard.

It tells the pesky electrons to behave better.
Don't expect an explanation - it's patented - that's all you need to know.:facepalm:
 
If the system is prone to hum there is a simple solution.

Plug all your eq in one power outlet power strip. It is that simple.
Ah, but you musn't use any old power strip - my friends at hifi cables have just the thing - a snip at $50,000

Description​

In terms of performance, the Pro Series power conditioner is the most powerful magnetic device we make besides Pro Elite. In terms of sound it creates a highly detailed and dynamic presentation for an extremely low noise background. The leading edge is explosively fast, and the soundstage is wide open and enveloping with a 3D-like characteristic.

The most minute details are presented with ease and realism. Full break-in is achieved after about one thousand hours as the sonic envelope continues to open, producing the level of micro-detail only found in Pro and Pro Elite power conditioners.

Bass is exceptionally clean and fast and allows the instruments to have a clean and detailed lifelike speed and attack. It allows the bass to be extremely well defined, exposing all the details of the instrument that produced it.

The highs become very extended without the slightest hint of glare or hardness, and the realism and tone is unprecedented.

The speed of the midrange attack is dramatically faster than with any conventional power conditioner, so dynamics are increased as to convey a live and lifelike representation of the instruments. The lingering trailing edge leaves the tone crisp and natural with a finish that washes over the listener. The midrange is where most music is focused, so listeners quickly pick up on the detailed portrayal of a well defined instrument with speed, flow and ease.

The Pro Series power conditioner is a marked statement as to the power of magnetic conduction to convey the reality of the recording and portray it truly fleshed out.

Sound staging is mesmerizing as it flows out to a three dimensional character with a definitive start and natural linger that wraps around the listener. Imaging is broken into completely separate parcels of each instrument, yet is still a defined total page with accompanying instruments and vocals. Together there is a true sonic landscape.

Noise can be further lowered with the use of optional grounding cables. The Professional Series is a leading-edge grounding block operating with magnetic conduction.

To hear and even to see the Pro Series power conditioner is to succumb to beauty. Finished with a modern industrial look, it is more than eye-catching with professional quality chrome accented on a ceramic cobalt base. Components are milled from solid blocks of aircraft grade aluminum. The Pro Series power conditioner is wired internally with High Fidelity Cables CT-1 conductors and finished with ten Furutech GTX-D NCF grade receptacles. Ten grounding lugs come pre-installed with the Pro Series power conditioner.

The combined magnetic force of all the magnets within the Pro Series power conditioner is equal to approximately 4 tons of force.

15A 120V/7.5A 240V

100V-240V rated.




ProSeries_PowerConditioner_threeQuarterView_800x.jpg
 
To be honest when I read that in my inbox I was kind of intrigued and in the surface thought it made sense …..until I saw the price!
A great illustration of halo product marketing - first make something good and expensive and obtain good reviews. Then some snake oil products like expensive cables - where no one can prove anything because the only measuring instrument we have for sound is our ears. Brainwash folk into the concept of "golden ears". Arrange some demonstrations manipulating peoples psychology (a product played fractionally louder is always favoured) . Use the "emporer's new clothes" pychology.

Because a company has a good reputation folk who are unsure or just gullible, think well it's a Chord product and they know what they're doing so there must be some truth in it. Sit back and hear the cash registers ring.

Because there are so many hifi myths people believe with zero evidence
(and never bother testing by trusting their own ears or validating the theory with real scientific evidence, or examining the credibility of sources this is based on - is it youtube (any idiot can post anything and do !) or a paper from the AES - the Audio Engineering Society)
there is a market for snake oil. So as a business you give the customer what they want - you'd be daft not to.

I started my interest in hifi as a means to listen to music in 1969. I was around when many of the snake oil theories began. I sat in demo rooms at shows extolling how this expensive cable would give clearer sound, better highs, a solid bass etc. After the sales pitch to condition the audience there'd be the demo. I sat there thinking but there's no difference - while most of rest enthused about the improvement.

At that time I worked in very large hifi shop.So I could go back and try this stuff and listen for myself - playing the same music over and over looking for differences. The most I ever found was a tiny difference here and there more akin to slight rise or dip in a tiny frequency area - a bit like a subtle tone control. If you understand simple elecronic engineering concepts this is predicted and explained by the choice of materials and construction.

I have continued to examine and revise and test my views over the course of the last 52 years - usually by spending my own cash on stuff and listening - but I'm sorry to say it's still all snake oil to me.

But if people enjoy buying stuff as jewellery - imagine how impressive 50 of the Groundaray would look in the back of an AVR - that's fine and up to them.
 
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