Awesome Audiophile Snake Oil

lololololol

"The very best sound was obtained when I slightly loosened the screws on the Duplex Covers. And they sound great!!.

8]

lolololol

every product on the site is like New Hope for the Ape-Eared

i love that website! check out this fancy table: http://machinadynamica.com/machina25.htm

it's supposed to isolate your amplifier from vibrations, "especially the 0 -10 Hz variety produced by Earth's crust movement, traffic, subways, tides, etc. "

how a spring could cancel out waves slower than 1 Hz?

but the best is this "teleportation tweak"
http://machinadynamica.com/machina60.htm

everything on there is great but I'm still standing by the Tru-Tone Duplex cover as the most balls-out

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_12_3/marigo-labs-signature-3d-mat-7-2005.html

oh wait though codename turquoise is pretty fucking rad

Brilliant Pebbles is my favorite one on that site i think

From cidepress' link, this was amusing:

"Where most audiophiles would agree, however, is that tweaks are a minor aspect of system building. Defined by the dictionary in Microsoft Word® as "a slight adjustment or change in..."

italics mine.

http://machinadynamica.com/water.gif for brains

Somewhere, audiophile dude pushes the leather sofa away from the wall, sees four-socket outlet, shrieks.

Well, these are great, but you don't have to spend a lot of money to improve sound:

http://www.belt.demon.co.uk/Free_Techniques/Free_Techniques.html

Holy shit the Teleportation Tweak! We are dealing with <i>balls</i> here, gentlemen. Big, round, shiny balls, of finest brass, lovingly hand-polished to a mirror shine by a taskforce of brilliant Sound Artisans. These balls can be yours for the astonishingly low price of $680 (Big Shiny Brass Balls are not subject to our 30-day money-back guarantee)

it doesn't actually take any courage to be a con man, is the thing. you just have to really, really hate everybody.

The interesting thing about these tweaks is that they abandon the pretense of scientific support. Whereas w/ feet for speaker stands in Stereophile or whatever they'll be some physicist explaining how the damping works, here's it's just like, Hey, put this magic clock in the room and it'll improve the sound. I love it.

Sorry, maybe I'm Billy-doesn't-get-it, but is this site real or an elaborate spoof?

I had initially assumed spoof, but I followed some links and poked around and it appears to be real, or at least elaborate enough a spoof to include three or four different sites. Stereophile had an article on some of these tweaks a few years ago anyway:

http://www.stereophile.com/news/10415/

even if it is a spoof there's certainly enough real snake-oil products with extremely similar purposes/explanations

here's a collection of some more: http://www.ilikejam.dsl.pipex.com/audiophile.htm

i know someone who swears by this ....
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=280182123367&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=018

"extremely flat"

I don't even know what "a richer, fuller sound, with less emphasis of detail" means. it's supposed to be a good thing?

My latest tweak = this chair;

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/njsouthall/Photo624.jpg

i'm actually buying a glass platter for my turntable. i might even buy that mat for it. i'm a sucka 4 luv.

actually the chair i'm assuming was a joke, but honestly i was suprised how much getting speaker stands and "correctly" positioning my chair i listen in and the speakers in the room made a HUGE difference in how good things sounded.

The chair's totally not a joke; it's expensive and comfortable and easily moved but it's not likely to make me fall asleep in it (no headrest); if I'm comfortable and awake, I can concentrate on listening more. I bought it (almost) with the sole intention of it being a 'headphones' chair.

But yeah, basic physics says position your speakers correctly and sit in the right spot; you simply don't get stereo-imaging without it.

http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/03/audiophiles-cant-tell-the-difference-between-monster-cable-and/

...a coat hanger.

that's AMAZING.
audiophiles are some weird people, man.

actually the chair i'm assuming was a joke, but honestly i was suprised how much getting speaker stands and "correctly" positioning my chair i listen in and the speakers in the room made a HUGE difference in how good things sounded.

-- M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, December 13, 2007 11:39 PM

totally true

actually properly treating one's room acoustically would probably do a better job than moving your chair and speakers about

is there already a company selling audiophile interior house paint?

because if there is, I should start selling audiophile EXTERIOR house paint.

(xpost)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cb/Dbsts2.jpg

I was much, much less impressed with this enormous fucking Naim set-up than I should have been given how much it ought to have cost. Sure it went LOUD, but sound-wise I wouldn't swap it for my own system, I don't think.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/njsouthall/IMG_0126.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v236/njsouthall/IMG_0128.jpg

Is it just perspective on that first photo, or are your speakers nearly at shoulder height?

Oh, no - is that a Cyrus CD player? Or tuner? And why isn't everything on Mana shelves? That's why it doesn't sound that good. And has it been on continuously for five years? Another biggie with Naimists. (Seriously, that doesn't look like a great room for those huge - and amazingly ugly - speakers).

What's the turntable - Nottingham Spacedek or something? Oracle Delphi?

mp3s out a old marantz amp someone gave me and 15 y/o bottom of the line cambridge soundworks speakers all day babay

although i did love to read sudiophile magazines when i worked at a bookstore just for the lulz

The speakers are nearly to chest height - I'm 5'8".

The Cyrus is just a DAC for his wireless streaming thing. Dunno what the turntable is. The room is big but odd; it's a loft that used to be three bedrooms. There's a (low) double bed behind the speakers, plus a desk, which is where I slept (not the desk) (although that picture was taken at 6am so sleeping wasn't exactly urgent and key that weekend).

Yeah, I really wish someone had just given me a peek into my co-habiting/flat in communal block/married-with-kids future when I was handing over the moolah for all my gear in 1996-97. I wish I'd just got something good/2nd-hand with a small footprint (Cyrus CD/integrated, ProAc speakers, something like that; maybe a Pro-Ject record deck, old Marantz cassette deck, NAD tuner, cables from Maplin) and STOPPED there. Think of all the photographic gear I could've bought with the money saved if I'd just contracted that particular hobbyist bug a decade earlier!

(Ah, DAC for wireless streaming; the Naim box-stacking is kinda insane - external power supplies for everything. Makes my Audiolab pre/mono arrangement look positively understated).

The speakers are Naim DBLs. They weigh about 15st each. Retail these days at £15k. When he got them, in 2000, they should have been £12k. He got them for £4k cos they were "shop-soiled" - the band he's in had an arrangement with Naim and they'd been using them as a playback set-up when they recorded an album in a country house, and the guitarist's dog had taken a bite out of the bottom corner of one, or something.

I'm kind of glad I've had a brush with stuff that's seriously high-end because it's warned me off a bit. Our flat's not that small, but it's a flat nonetheless, and, you know, I want stuff on the walls and holidays and a new camera and stuff maybe too.

I think my main response to audiophilia these days is that the best way to make your hi-fi sound great is to play better records on it.

actually properly treating one's room acoustically would probably do a better job than moving your chair and speakers about

How so?

the best way to make your hi-fi sound great is to play better records on it.

b i n g o

if anyone is looking for really great speakers that won't break your bank....i bought these about a year ago and couldn't be more pleased with them...they are really surprising given the price and size:

Epos ELS 3 mini monitors:

http://www.musicdirect.com/product/73457

i run them with a Cambridge Audio integrated amp w/Cambridge phono pre-amp.....

My turntable is a Rega P1 -- one thing on that i would recommend is buying a glass platter and also i replaced the original ortofon cartridge with a Denon DL 160 cartridge which is a fucking amazing cartridge for the price...

For CD player I run a really really old NAD one that I got off craigslist for $35...it works pretty well, has a hard time tracking CD-Rs but will play them after awhile (it's from 87 though so I guess there weren't even CD-Rs then)

Post more pics of slobs in garrets seasoned with with ridiculous sound systems and ugly furniture.

I really like the coffee table.

I think my favourite way / place to listen to music these days, rather than the big sofa and NAD / Cambridge Audio / Tannoy / proper rack & stands set-up in the living room, with everything anchored in a nice triangle, blah blah, equidistant from rear walls, speakers toed in, is the hotch-potch system in the back room, with the knackered Marantz CD, 20-year-old Marantz amp, DAC, and diddy Q Acoustics speakers. Cos I have space, peace, my comfy chair, books, headphones, no TV or console to distract.

Those are the kind of speakers you buy to justify having previously bought Monster Cable.

What's the sensitivity rating on those things? It might be all show, but they certainly look like they could bring on an involuntary bowel movement.

Here’s (part of) a detailed history: https://www.hagerty.com/media/automotive-history/obsolete-car-audio-part-2/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Jtjo3UtL7E

It really is

#OnThisDay 1959: Monitor made a short film called Hi-Fi-Fo-Fum, about a burgeoning phenomenon; the audiophile. This is absolutely wonderful. pic.twitter.com/AA7BPUHS1j

— BBC Archive (@BBCArchive) April 12, 2021

Oh, it’s John Schlesinger. I’m disappointed it’s not directed by some unheralded genius, really.

finally watched that, what a charmer. the "stereo" scene feels like it's channeling Tati.

Lol brilliant. A soft spot for a tweeter that holds these faces in thrall.

Tried to identify some of the kit in that film. Only thing I’m sure of is the Tannoy Canterbury speakers which go for silly money https://auction.gorringes.co.uk/asp/fullcatalogue.asp?salelot=LJUNE15++139+&refno=10339460

Here's a version not cropped to square, in case you can spy any at the edges:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=363622534242894

> Estimate £200-300

seems reasonable

> Sold for £4,800

oof

My new favourite instance of audio equipment companies seeing just how blatantly they can fuck with 'audiophiles' is this box that explicitly doesn't actually do anything and still costs $1500 pic.twitter.com/FFVRq9J4bp

— Sandra O))) 🪑 (@wifemetal) May 21, 2021

That rules

Yeah, that’s a riot

Going out of the way to make it weigh 12lbs - like filling it with sand? - is the best part.

They didn’t even get good LEDs it’s fuckin green

I’ve seen those listed in the past and afaict they were intended for displays in hi-fi shops

It’s a good way to impress your most Patrick Bateman-like friend.

Beautiful. I must have one.

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0520/Synergistic_Research_Tweakfest_Review.htm

Yeah, you don't want to over-tighten the screws on your carbon fibre MAINS SOCKET COVER. Sucks the life out of the music. The state of this.

i think i got vertigo just trying to make sense of that article

I'm probably way more audiophile (tube amps, pricey speakers, etc.) than the avg ilxor but that shit is just straight grift.

Also, sometimes I think the best audiophile upgrade I can make is taking another hit of weed.

that shit = that review

comedy gold: chasing down sources of imaginary mains noise, while the tuner sports a gas fluorescent display which would be raining out EM interference if the shielding wasn't absolutely fine at taking care of that and also any mains noise.

This is extreme audiophile shit. This guy moved his family to a *new house* to make his hi-fi sound better. https://t.co/C7ZwxRootB

— Bruce Levenstein (@BruceLevenstein) July 7, 2021

uhh no he didnt?

Now, what's the smallest number of edits needed to make that tweet factually correct?

feels like Bruce thought of a punchline here but the tweet didn’t quite fit

I like the idea, though

It's funny that Flanders & Swann did all these jokes in 1956, the year my mum was born.

Yeah, I saw that last night and was kind of baffled. I mean, there are so many good chances to clown on dorky audiophiles but... that's not even close to what was implied in the original tweet.

I do remember an article about a guy in Japan who had a separate house for his stereo

I don’t know who Bruce is, but glancing through his timeline it seems like he’s goofing around with a guy he exchanges tweets with.

otm, it's clearly a joke

Yeah, digging in deeper it clearly is, but considering how much often people are actually dunking on weird audiophile shit, it's easy to see how this could be misread.

heh, I met Bruce at a friend's house once a long time ago and he was friendly and funny

yeah, I read it as a goof and not really a spiteful joke that stands on its own

https://www.whathifi.com/us/news/chord-company-launches-groundaray-noise-reduction-family-for-your-hi-fi-separates

The really embarrassing thing for me is that I gave this company quite a bit of cash back in the '90s. My old stereo was all Chord Co interconnects. I think I've still got a pair of Chord Chrysalis in use now, between the MiniDisc deck and the Marantz amp/streamer. I guess companies selling wildly over-designed bits of wire need to find something new to flog in an increasingly wireless future.

don't bump this thread unless u got more of those dope Duplex covers

I think Chord's streamers and DACs are well respected (if ugly). These things are nonsense.

weirdly was looking into this and they might be two different companies?

but yeah that Chord Mojo is on every list of DACs to buy, I kinda dig the goofy orb things but I believe when I was researching that it doesn't have a power supply, you have to charge it, which took it out of the running for me (using on my stereo not computer)

ended up getting a Schiit Modi I've been happy with

Nice. I have a Schiit pre-amp that I was using for a while.

is it sad that I recently moved to an Apple phone with no headphone jack and began a search for a lightning-connected headphone DAC, and then felt disappointed when the $10 Apple one turned out to be awesome?

Big black yoga blocks under my JBL studio monitors on these speaker stands I made with spare wood we had sitting around with my Dad years back are the shit.

Yeah, Chord Co and Chord are different companies. Chord make massively overengineered slabs of hardware (amp, DAC, etc) and Chord Co make wires and accessories.

my friend shipped his tube amp to some guy to have all the capacitors replaced and a new tube installed and apparently the guy orders some ridiculous artisanal capacitors from somewhere in europe and, uses, like, soviet era tubes

I look forward to hearing it when it returns

nice

I wouldn't expect too much unless there was a problem before, which is very possible if it is 30 years old.

probably closer to 50 - 60

I checked in, it’s a Sherwood S-5000 from 1959

Cool amp!

I've never heard of them, but apparently they are pretty well-regarded and popular renovation projects.

If the capacitors have never been replaced, I would anticipate it's gonna sound better or at least prevent any issues from developing. Old capacitors can go bad and leak, causing damage to other electrical parts.

I had to replace them in my 30 yo Audio Research tube pre-amp because it developed a pretty noticeable buzz.