ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
Ok, here's a topic inspired by something Hardwriter wrote: "Most of these gains seem to be unsupported by any hard measurements and even where it is possible to measure a difference it is questionable"
I thought it would be good to hear some crazy ideas being used to mis-sell hifi to fools with too much money. I'm hoping more for bad science or silly sales pitches, rather than just ugly systems which I think is a topic we've covered before a few times.
I'll kick off with HDMI cables - not the regular ones though. I mean the $100 gold ones that mean better analogue transfer along what is a 1m long digital cable that works the same as a $2 one out a catologue.
My favourite has to be burn in on power cables.
x:________________________
Beosound Stage, Beovision 8-40, Beolit 20, Beosound Explore.
Jonathan: My favourite has to be burn in on power cables.
...once you install them on those small towers that keep them isolated from... something.
--mika
Demagnetizers for copper cables and CD / DVD discs ?
http://www.acoustic-revive.com/english/rd3/rd3_01.html
Martin
Great post, Calvin,
I've always been taken by the amount people spend on power cables. Here's an example: http://www.hdconnectivity.com/hdmi-to-component-converter.html
I used to work for a cable manufacturer and I can assure you none of our engineering team would change from the standard connector cables. Then I don't think any could have afforded to at these prices! From GBP 450!!!
So - what's the correct way to improve an interconnect cable - freeze it in a cryogenic process or heat it up in a cable cooker???
Both can give audible improvements apparently!
Ban boring signatures!
Many thanks Martin for this link, it's the best laugh I've had this year!!
Ron
Is this what the youngsters in India do on waste sides to earn money ?
BeoSound 9000 MK3, BeoLab 8000, BeoLab 6000, BeoLab 3500, LCS9000, BeoLab 11, BeoLab 7.2, BeoLab 7.1, Beolab 4 PC, BeoCenter 2300, BeoSound Century, BeoSound 8, Beosound 2, BeoVision 7-40 MK2 , BeoVision 7-32 MK3, BeoVision 6-22, BeoVision 4-42, BeoMedia 1, BeoCom 4, BeoLink 1000, BeoLink 5, BeoLink 4 & BeoTime
You could also get the Denon Link Cable from Amazon - some of the reviews are worth looking.
http://www.amazon.com/Denon-AKDL1-Dedicated-Link-Cable/dp/B000I1X6PM/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1342605774&sr=1-1&keywords=Denon+AKDL1+Dedicated+Link+Cable
BW
ANS
In a similar line, you could get this dedicated link cable from Amazon.
Great reviews!
Atif
I'm not convinced this is a true story but either way it certainly qualifies as a "ludicrous concept"…
A network company installed a wired system into an office and told the personnel that every few weeks they must straighten all the cables to keep the network running smoothly.
Upon being asked why, it was explained that data is binary, made up of ones and zeros, the zeros can naturally navigate round bends in the cable but the ones can get stuck!
On the topic of cables, anyone remember the $3000 USB cable from Locus? Still being sold.
On the topic of ludicrous click HERE.
Beo4 'til I die!
Evan: On the topic of cables, anyone remember the $3000 USB cable from Locus? Still being sold. On the topic of ludicrous click HERE.
Great ludicrous link Evan! I need to set up one of those websites to sell pebbles with a mark-up of 10000%
Graham
To get a good ground (earth) connection, just dig your earth connection wire into a middle size flowerpot, no need for outside wires and long cable runs-
Dont forget to water every day.
Collecting Vintage B&O is not a hobby, its a lifestyle.
I still read Stereophile magazine for the classical music record reviews. Without reviews, I would be clueless as to what current classical to try. But anyway, Stereophile is also good for the COMEDY GOLD of ludicrous ideas and snake oil.
The "best" worst one I ever went for: interconnects with direction.
Current favorite "nobody could possibly think this makes a difference": blocks of wood on amplifiers.
That CD demagnetiser is hilarious. I'm honestly thinking about devising something like this with a silly markup on the basis of if you can't beat'em, join'em. I think that the key to such a business would be that the production cost of the snake oil product must be far less than either the packaging or the cost of the click through web advert.
I'm tempted to make a CD rack that rotates, so that the CDs can't distort over time by being placed in the same direction. Make it out of wood, velvet lined, maybe £20 to manufacture and I whack a £800 price tag on it? What do you think? I reckon some people would buy it.
Dom
2x BeoSystem 3, BeoSystem 5000, BeoSystem 6500, 2x BeoMaster 7000, 2 pair of BeoLab Penta mk2, AV 7000, Beolab 4000, BeoSound 4000, Playmaker, BeoLab 2500, S-45, S-45.2, RL-140, CX-50, C-75, 3x CX-100, 3x MCL2 link rooms, 3x Beolab 2000, M3, P2, Earset, A8 earphones, A3, 2x 4001 relay, H3, H3 ANC, H6, 2014 Audi S5 with B&O sound, and ambio
Its well known, that in a audiophile stereo set up, the + wire for the left speaker has to be spun CCW
DMacri:But the speaker wires have to be raised from the floor on special wooden blocks to really hear the improvement.
I have some 2"x 4" in the shop, Mexican Christmas tree quality, do you think I can use that, I will of course polish and treat with Danish Oil.
Do you remember back in the 80's when somebody claimed that if you painted the edge of the CD's green you'd get a improvement in sound..? You could even buy special marker pen's for the purpose. No -ofcourse you could not just use a green marker pen from the local bookseller...
Steffen: Do you remember back in the 80's when somebody claimed that if you painted the edge of the CD's green you'd get a improvement in sound..? You could even buy special marker pen's for the purpose. No -ofcourse you could not just use a green marker pen from the local bookseller...
That doesn't work?
DMacri:I think it has to be Mpingo wood to really work.
No the wood must be from apple
Best. B&O vs Apple Joke. Ever.
I could bore you for hours about this. Back in the 80's through to the mid 90's I worked at one of the leading UK audiophile retailers.
We supplied the real-deal UK specialist kit that was clearly and demonstrably so much better than any high street crap - this was the time of the "stack" system - and kit by Rega, Arcam, Royd, Creek etc was not too expensive and was just really good - well made ( in the UK!!), reliable and sounded so good.
BUT - as you got further up the "Hi-Fi" ladder, the 'Rule of Diminishing Returns' certainly applied.
So, a UK seperates system for about £1000 ( eg a Rega Turntable, Arcam CD/Amp/tuner and a pair of Royd Speakers) was a world away from a £500 stacker system. Just so much better to listen to, better made, longer lasting... easily justified by any measure.
However, a £10K system was not better than the £1000 one by anything like the same degree, because the systems like the one detailed above were really very good indeed, so the next level up ( Linn/Naim/Chord/Meridian etc ) were much dearer. However, they were still better systems and ( like cars/clothes/guitars etc etc) it is the buyer who decides if that extra 5-10 % of performance is worth another 30 - 50 - 100% or more in price.
The ''accessories' are where the snake oil and smoke and mirrors kick in - for both retailers and hobbyists ... and I admit to getting so fed up with it all that the "tweaking" and "mods" were directly responsible for me changing jobs.
Grown men spending -literally- days on end comparing the 'sound ' of all sorts of "tweaks" may sound fun, and we were initially at the vanguard, with Peter Belt/Malcolm Steward & various other writers/reviewers/guru's coming along to show us the latest whacky mod, but after a while it got MAD... pseudo science and mumbo jumbo.
it got to be that each day was a round of fiddling and tweaking perfectly good systems with all manner of nonsense - I got bored & frustrated as, to me, it all started to lose focus from the main issue, ie for only a modest amount more than a pile of plastic crap from Comet, people could get really good audio kit that promoted love of/buying music.
B&O never really got "tweaked" - probably because it was quite an insular brand then - unique connections and not ideally suited to the "mix&match" fiddling of the audiophiles.
Evan: On the topic of cables, anyone remember the $3000 USB cable from Locus? Still being sold.
Hmm - LOCUS...LudiCrOUS...
Just remove some letters and rearrange a few... Wonder if those who might have bought the cables ever realised the correlation...
What about the 2000 dollar golden and platinum acoustic resonators? You need at least 6 for a real improvement and acoustic room correction. ;-)
Link: http://www.francktchang.com/acousticresonators.html
Desmo: What about the 2000 dollar golden and platinum acoustic resonators? You need at least 6 for a real improvement and acoustic room correction. ;-) Link: http://www.francktchang.com/acousticresonators.html
I have to get these, my music sounds wet in rainy weather
http://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/Fun/Fun.php
To stay on topic, just click the list on the right, from the Audio Woo Checklist till Your Last Record.
The rest of the site, I find very educational. Good reading!
As a cable engineer, it's scary for me to see how many of those "snake oil" claims relate to cables!
I was at the Hifi Wigwam show in March (http://www.thehifishow.com/) which is basically a non-commercial hifi show where loads of people take their own music system to a hotel and each set up in a different room so that you can spend the day wandering from room to room listening to music on different systems (a great day out, by the way!)
Alongside the normal music kit (and several really good classic B&O systems! ), there were a few people who had fallen prey to the crazy cabling salesmen and used mains leads made out of Cat7 wires with silver strands, aluminium deep-frozen wires in cotton sleeves, polished wooden cable stands with rubber feet (to hold the cables off the floor! ), and so on.......
If you ever see me trying to advertise anything like these, please shoot me!
Kind regards, Steve.
Steve.
www.soundsheavenly.com
Founder of Sounds Heavenly Cables and Brand Ambassador for Bang & Olufsen
Sounds Heavenly are proud to sponsor BeoWorld!
Please check out my YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/soundsheavenlycables
Impressive indeed:
http://www.locus-design.com/index.php/cynosure-usb-cable
"I then braid this masterpiece of a wire into a proprietary braid so that the conductors are evenly spaced, and arranged in the configuration I want them to be."
Starting at $3549 for 3FT.
For those of you speaking German, here’s a site speaking about the phenomenon of "Hifi Voodoo" (with some additional links):
http://psiram.com/ge/index.php/Hifi-Voodoo
maclife: Evan: On the topic of cables, anyone remember the $3000 USB cable from Locus? Still being sold. Impressive indeed: http://www.locus-design.com/index.php/cynosure-usb-cable "I then braid this masterpiece of a wire into a proprietary braid so that the conductors are evenly spaced, and arranged in the configuration I want them to be." Starting at $3549 for 3FT. For those of you speaking German, here’s a site speaking about the phenomenon of "Hifi Voodoo" (with some additional links): http://psiram.com/ge/index.php/Hifi-Voodoo
Wow! Wonder if that USB lead will fit my printer?
This is my favourite - I think they have stopped selling them but one can still find references!
Peter
Peter: This is my favourite - I think they have stopped selling them but one can still find references!
Still being sold.