Audiophoolery?

[rcspkramp]

Sometimes I think my head is going to explode.

cubdog

Mine already did, now I'm trying to pick up the pieces. Kind of difficult though.

 

[Art K.]

Sometimes I think my head is going to explode.

cubdog

+1:sigh:

 

[ehoove]

I will not enter this thread. Oh s**t I already did. :^(
Regards,
Jim

 

[Jon_Logan]

So I saw that youtube video and saw the Walker Talisman.

I saw some negative comments about it and I've got to believe that all of the people making negative comments have never actually used this product.

We don't know all of the physical things that go on, how can you say that it doesn't work?

Let your ears tell you if it works or not.

 

[Condorsat]

So I saw that youtube video and saw the Walker Talisman.

I saw some negative comments about it and I've got to believe that all of the people making negative comments have never actually used this product.

We don't know all of the physical things that go on, how can you say that it doesn't work?

Let your ears tell you if it works or not.

In his video "It's a Vinyl World After All" (2008) ... Michael Fremer was sent a demo unit of the The Furutech DeMag that completely demagnetizes LPs and optical disc media. He laughed at it and never tried it for the three months time. He had some folks over at this house and tried it for giggles ... saying "lets try the record demagnetizer:lmao:" and was amazed that it actually worked. He had some mastering engineers listen to it and they agreed it made a difference in the sound .. and promptly said that they would never admit that in pubic.

**** do I believe in such things ... ... can't comment because I have never tried it. Why would it work ... read my signature line.

 

[stereofanboy]

In his video "It's a Vinyl World After All" (2008) ... Michael Fremer was sent a demo unit of the The Furutech DeMag that completely demagnetizes LPs and optical disc media. He laughed at it and never tried it for the three months time. He had some folks over at this house and tried it for giggles ... saying "lets try the record demagnetizer:lmao:" and was amazed that it actually worked. He had some mastering engineers listen to it and they agreed it made a difference in the sound .. and promptly said that they would never admit that in pubic.

**** do I believe in such things ... ... can't comment because I have never tried it. Why would it work ... read my signature line.

Hopefully, when they are in pubic they have other things on their minds.

 

[Erik Tracy]

I'm yawning....I'm yawning some more....ZZZzzzzz......

 

[JohnVF]

Check it out: a audiophile bashing thread that I'm not wading into!

Wait, just did. Drat! Or is the, PRaT?

Good day.

 

[RamblinE]

The sole purpose of threads like these and the posted article is to polarize people.

Sweet karma bro.

 

[jefrodigital]

I've never used that magnet thing but cmon, even if it makes a small difference (which i doubt it does) im sure it makes no where near a $300 difference.

People can do what they please with their money though, no hate, i just think it all looks a bit silly.

 

[blackfly]

The unfortunate part of audio is this: hearing is a mental process, and since perception is completely relative audio will ALWAYS be open to lies, misinformation and snake oil. If I think something makes my system sound better, it does. Whether I can prove it is irrelevant. If it sounds better TO ME then it does. End of story.

But life is like that. Pills to make a man larger, a woman "more full"... I cannot think of any endevour in life that does not prey on insecurity. In audio it is the worst since there is no real baseline to prove anything as concrete. Consider something as basic as colour. We all know what green and blue are. But consider the many variations of blue and green. What is the standard? I lost track.

I am at peace with myself and my system. Yeah, I would like more expensive gear for the bling factor, and wouldn't anyone like a Porsche or Ferarri instead of a Ford or Honda? I am no different. But cars measure in real parameters. Sound does not.

Found out the other day that on the statistics my sound room is but 3 inches off on being the "perfect dimension" for sonics. And I would complain on cables? Better amps? Relativity is not confined to space, it seems. And to think that I would consider the other systems I see to be far better... but who knows. I have heard $150K systems in larger rooms that did not seem any better than what I had, and they had all the "snake oil" available. It seems keeping it simple and to the point is the best. I now run a preamp (active gain only), pure Class A amp, active crossover and subs. Sources are either CDP, TOTL iMac using Amarra or analogue tuner. That's it. And funny. It has never sounded better. No $1K cables, power conditioners or aftermarket powercords. Related to the last item, if I cannot replace the cord, what does it matter? Moreover, on the components I have had that have replaceable power cords, do you really think the maker would use INFERIOR powercords. I think not. I hardly see JL Audio using shitty power cords for their subs. In fact, they are thicker and more robust than the Bryston amp power cord for the Bryston amp I had (new 4 years ago) and this is a "audiophile amp". I am sure that the power cord aftermarket is simply on insecurity.

But isn't most in life like this?

 

[sebrof]

Moreover, on the components I have had that have replaceable power cords, do you really think the maker would use INFERIOR powercords.

The motor in the Chevy Chevette is just as good as the motor in the Chevy Corvette. Do you really believe that Chevy would use an inferior motor?

 

[guest102]

Stuff like this should be kicked around and re-kicked around until the people who are wrong just admit it. :twak:

.....

C'mon, you know who you are! 'Fess up! :boxing:

.....

Well, I can see this is gonna take a while. Let's go cool off while we wait for logic and common sense to prevail.


(Ok, this is not to be taken seriously. With the limited tools available to me, I was just taking a lighthearted look at this process of rehashing.) :tongue:

 

[Tom Brennan]

I really ought to search threads before posting it seems... ok, disregard and I shall look at the past discussion! thx

That's OK, if we didn't talk about the same things over and over we'd have damned little to talk about. This is true with most everything.

 

[Mr. Lin]

The sole purpose of threads like these and the posted article is to polarize people.

Sweet karma bro.

The people were already polarized. Personally I think the guy who wrote the subject of this thread is naive, but that's just my opinion.

I've never used that magnet thing but cmon, even if it makes a small difference (which i doubt it does) im sure it makes no where near a $300 difference.

You've never used it, you admit it might work, and you're sure if it works it's not worth $300. :scratch2:

 

[sebrof]

You've never used it, you admit it might work, and you're sure if it works it's not worth $300. :scratch2:

The thing about saying it's not worth the money is that $300 to one person has little correlation to $300 to another person. If some dude has $10K in his system (many have much more than $10K) then any improvement at all is likely worth $300.

 

[stereofanboy]

....................Related to the last item, if I cannot replace the cord, what does it matter? Moreover, on the components I have had that have replaceable power cords, do you really think the maker would use INFERIOR powercords. I think not. I hardly see JL Audio using shitty power cords for their subs. In fact, they are thicker and more robust than the Bryston amp power cord for the Bryston amp I had (new 4 years ago) and this is a "audiophile amp". I am sure that the power cord aftermarket is simply on insecurity.

But isn't most in life like this?

The motor in the Chevy Chevette is just as good as the motor in the Chevy Corvette. Do you really believe that Chevy would use an inferior motor?

I think that makers who purposely make it easy for their customers to replace the power cord are typically selling fairly high priced items and thusly selling to those who are willing to spend quite a bit to get good sound. They know that a certain percentage of their customers who have already spent a good bit buying their item, will also feel it necessary to spend a good bit more on an aftermarket power cord regardless of the sound of the item. These companies put removable power cords on their items to avoid losing potential sales to that segment of the market.

At the same time, the company knows that another portion of their buyers will not upgrade their power cord and would be pretty pissed about buying a piece of gear with a cord that doesn't get the job done, so they will use a perfectly fine power cord to avoid alienating that segment of the market.

A better analogy would be that Corvettes are sold with factory wheels that are fine at their job. Some Corvette buyers will purchase and install aftermarket wheels anyway. Some of those aftermarket wheels will actually get the job done better. Some will be 22's that don't improve anything except the owner's perception of how cool their car looks.

 

[stereofanboy]

................You've never used it, you admit it might work, and you're sure if it works it's not worth $300. :scratch2:

The thing about saying it's not worth the money is that $300 to one person has little correlation to $300 to another person. If some dude has $10K in his system (many have much more than $10K) then any improvement at all is likely worth $300.

Two very good points.

 

[JohnVF]

I paid $300 for a MAC 1900 that has been run a total of maybe two hours here. Yet if I say "Should I buy a MAC 1900 for $300?" the most likely response would be "Run! Don't Walk! Run!" And nobody would pipe up to say "You have better stuff, it wouldn't add a thing to your system." So....maybe this thing is a waste of money. Maybe it's not. But there's certainly more than one form of phoolery around. I'm going to coin a new term: "hoardophoolery" and throw it into the ring. I've been a victim of it many times- and would get much more use from a product I'm skeptical of, but could use, than one that I know works but I have absolutely zero need for.

 

[blackfly]

I'm going to coin a new term: "hoardophoolery" and throw it into the ring. I've been a victim of it many times- and would get much more use from a product I'm skeptical of, but could use, than one that I know works but I have absolutely zero need for.

My system is guilty of this. Well, I am trying to fix it. I sold my Rotel RC 5000 preamp because I was not using it. Taking up shelf space. Sounded fabulous but was not a part of my system. I have a Rotel integrated that does nothing but sit there. But it is MINT, and worth keeping in case I get a second system going. Have an excellent tuner I never use (just don't listen to FM anymore).

But it seems, John, that your coined term is relative in application. I could always use another amp for biamp possibilities. I have learned long ago that there is no substitute for simply putting all of your money into top gear and not having the "what if" mentality than constantly swapping out gear expecting something and finding out nothing has changed.

I understand the collecting part of it but I wonder how many have "4 of this tuner, 3 of this tape deck" when only one is enough and the other cost outlay could of gotten something that makes far more difference than having another one of something that cannot be plugged in due to a lack of space. I will preface that thought with this: if having a spare for parts is part of your mentality (of which I agree with) I can see two of something if it is rare, but not if it is common. I mean, you can't play two Nakamichi Dragons at the same time, but I admit in a rack it would look impressive. In fact, I have 2 Denon CDPs expressly for the purpose of a spare laser. Both work but I can only use one at a time, and with the computer I now hardly use either.