The Audiophoolery Thread.

[Craig Sawyers]

Originally Posted by merlinmaxwell

Some twit made an eight ohm transmission line just for 'speakers, misguided fool.

Who was that?

Craig

[Radio Wrangler]

Originally Posted by Craig Sawyers

Any audio amp that is freaked out by 2nF of cable capacitance isn't designed right.

Quite true, but they are out there.

David

[joebog1]

Sometimes Craig, you can be a dull boy. The comment I made about woven cable was intended as a pun, alas.

Joe

Re post 2581, I read about it in a magazine sometime in the mid '80s, it was a bunch of paralleled enamelled copper wire twisted pairs. I thought it was ridiculous then.

[Radio Wrangler]

It is vitally important that an audiophool product has some visible differentiating feature to which the imaginary benefits in sound can be ascribed.

David

[kalee20]

Absolutely! It's one of the first principles of acoustics (and everything associated therewith), that if it looks different, it sounds different.

That's why gold-wire fuses encased in beeswax-impregnated teak tubes aren't used in utility distribution transformers. You can't see them, so they don't affect the sound of downstream consumers. It's only when the power cable reaches the wall socket and the outlet becomes visible, that the cryo-treated platinum-rhodium wire becomes important.

[Craig Sawyers]

Originally Posted by joebog1

Sometimes Craig, you can be a dull boy. The comment I made about woven cable was intended as a pun, alas.

Joe

Oops. Missed the irony.

Craig

[knobtwiddler]

Originally Posted by Radio Wrangler

Quite true, but they are out there.

David

Especially if someone's paid an 'engineer' to remove the factory-fitted Zobel! Some amps can get uppity after said treatment with barely a few pF.

Zobel = bad for sound. Microwaved tweeters = good sound. So now you know!

[G4YVM David]

Originally Posted by wd40addict

Much too sensible, try this instead:

https://www.analogueseduction.net/record-clamps/SHUNMOOKprod4.html

I'm going to bite here...this seems too ridiculous to be a proper advert. Please tell me the WHOLE thing is a spoof and not a real attempt to prise money from a punter.

[Craig Sawyers]

No, it is serious. Analogue Seduction is not a bad outfit. I've bought cheap stuff from them, like a carbon fibre record brush and the odd record. Based in Peterborough.

This is the company that makes things like that http://www.shunmook.com/hifiproduct_1.html

They are fixated by using ebony to make audio things with mystical properties.

[wd40addict]

They also have a good line in mains cables:

https://www.analogueseduction.net/mains-cables/ODINgold1.html

[fetteler]

I have just come across a (for me hitherto unknown) audio enhancing device based on the quite real phenomenon of Schumann resonances.

Schumann resonances have been known for some time; they are very low frequency global electromagnetic resonances, around 7.83 Hz and its harmonics, generated and excited by lightning discharges in the cavity formed by the Earth's surface and the ionosphere. I guess you radio ham types are well familiar with all this. So far so good: all physics.

Right, to cut to the chase: these resonances are a topic of much discussion in audio circles where folks are building and selling Schumann wave generators to place in your listening room and enhance the quality of the perceived sound from your hifi system. These generators are reckoned to work by acting not on the hifi system but on the human listener. I have read accounts where not only audio has been improved by proximity to the Schumann generator but also the resolution and quality of TV pictures has been similarly enhanced.

Discuss.



Steve.

[Radio Wrangler]

Originally Posted by wd40addict

They also have a good line in mains cables:

At least $31,100 of that went into developing the name for the product, methinks.

David

[Craig Sawyers]

This is the Nordost website, cables and accessories. https://www.nordost.com/

In spite of the Icelandic-sounding names for their products, they are based in California.

Their cheapest speaker cable is £20 per metre unterminated. As compared with the iconic QED 79 strand (still made after forty-odd years) at £2.25 per metre unterminated.

Craig

[G4YVM David]

Originally Posted by wd40addict

They also have a good line in mains cables:

https://www.analogueseduction.net/mains-cables/ODINgold1.html

Jaw dropping.

[Restoration73]

If that mains cable is not double insulated legality of sale is void.

[Lucien Nunes]

Technically we should say it needs to be insulated and sheathed rather than double-insulated. But yes, the conductors do look a bit promiscuously near the surface. Hopefully the applied CE-mark indicates that they, at least, consider the cordset to be constructed in compliance with the applicable directives.

I would have thought it a lot more subtle and inspiring had they discreetly hidden the gold inside some normal brown and blue insulation with a nice plain grey sheath. That way the conductors could concentrate better on the sonics instead of having to play to the gallery all the time, and perhaps lose their focus. No, wait, that gold stuff must be the insulation. It's gold... plastic. Perhaps the conductors are aluminium? I hear it works well.

I wonder whether the improved rise-time matters more at 50Hz or 60Hz?

[Ted Kendall]

Originally Posted by fetteler

Right, to cut to the chase: these resonances are a topic of much discussion in audio circles where folks are building and selling Schumann wave generators to place in your listening room and enhance the quality of the perceived sound from your hifi system. These generators are reckoned to work by acting not on the hifi system but on the human listener. I have read accounts where not only audio has been improved by proximity to the Schumann generator but also the resolution and quality of TV pictures has been similarly enhanced.

Discuss.



Steve.

What utter - pseudo-science at its worst.

[mark2collection]

Well I never did(!)

If I'm reading this correctly, you can actually buy a device which buzzes discreetly at low frequencies in the corner of the room to enhance enjoyment ... of the TV ... (& HiFi)?

There's probably a market for that

Oooo audiophools do love a gadget, don't they?

Mark

[G4YVM David]

I dont know about the legality of the actual cable, but the legality of the descritpion would surely fall apart in any trades descritpion challenge. It's fairy tale stuff.

Im in the wrong job. I could knock this stuff out and retire, except I'd get lost en route to my desert island because my moral compas needs re-swinging.



"When constructing the ultimate reference sound system, the importance of a high-quality power cord cannot be overstated. Power cords are the most crucial cables in a hifi system. They are responsible for running each component and determine the caliber of performance of even the highest-end products. As the audio industry’s preeminent mains cable, the Odin Gold Power Cord harnesses the full breadth of Nordost’s technological advances. This cable not only eliminates EMI and RFI, but promotes a faster rise time in the 50/60 Hz cycle, ensuring the instantaneous and stable delivery of the AC current necessary for premium results.

The symbiotic nature of the electrical and mechanical characteristics demonstrated in this revolutionary power cord produces an overwhelming performance upgrade. The Odin Gold Power Cord imparts an imperceptible noise floor and an enviably black background that allows articulation and depth to shine through the music in the most sophisticated systems. "