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.

I can hear David Letterman saying "Mah-PEEN-go! Mah-peen-go, Paul. What do we think of that?"

I’m checking out some other videos on that channel… these equipment demos really seem to favor sleepy, cocktail-jazz type music… wish they’d crank up Toto or something.

As someone else pointed, it's crazy if that entire system cost that much more than his modest-looking home.

*pointed out

hope he noted that on his homeowners insurance or insured it separately

imagine trying to explain to an insurance adjuster your zillion dollar audio system you had in this modest little house

MoFi has agreed to a $25 million settlement over claims that their “all analog” records were created using digital methods.

MoFi has agreed to let all customers either receive a full refund and return their purchases, or keep their albums and instead take a 5% cash refund or a 10% refund in credit.

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/mofi-records-settlement/

"claims"

how large is this business exactly because $25M seems like an insane number

Dunno how they came up with that number. The figure if everyone opted for refund? They're going to be paying out far less than 25 million.

Jonny Ive’s first non-Apple design project is this 60k turntable. (See also FastCompany article here.)

not surprised. the token projects from design studios tend to be limited run insanely priced objects that are only purchasable by collectors but look really nice in monographs and studio portfolios

just had a thought

I picked up a fresh vinyl copy of an album I love off my porch where it was delivered today directly after work. Toss it on the turntable, and it’s good but something’s kind of flat.

I’ve only recently moved my turntable setup to the living room and I’m thinking, ugh, this isn’t as good for listening due to different speakers, etc. but as I’m sipping an after work beer and kind of sinking into listening, wow, it’s great!

I kind of wonder if more than a wee bit of the audiophile mindset is the mental mood boost of experimenting with little tweaks here and there and the dopamine (or whatever) boost of unpacking a piece of gear and installing it primes the brain with little chemical changes. You then listen and… wow, this is different and better!

not completely foreign to any other consumer tech choice. there’s some guy out there posting how websites look much better on his new iphone every year

also I totally need a new phono amp

I honestly found a big difference upgrading

the most technical I have gotten lately is reading that I can use a straight-line stylus on a straight tone arm, but only if it has a spherical needle

so I’m good

The saner audiophiles I know tend to enjoy tweaking equipment the way someone may enjoy working on scale models or carpentry - the work itself is part of the hobby. They’ll even do things that have nothing to do with sound but simple design or aesthetics, like a new finish. But trying out different pieces of gear and switching out parts is very much a part of it, and even if there’s only negligible gain, it’s just fun for them to work with it and try out stuff, as long as it’s not some insane luxury cost-wise.

Me, I intensely hate incorporating any excessive labor into my listening. Spending time working on equipment instead of enjoying a record has absolutely no appeal to me. I had to get a new universal player two years ago - another Oppo (which no longer makes players) - but otherwise I haven’t done anything to change the gear for my home setup since 2015.

I've upgraded over the years but what I have now I'm completely content with. I spent a fair amount of time researching and also finding stuff on big discounts on Craigslist or online which was actually pretty fun.

anything above what I have now would just get into that insanity territory, hopefully nothing breaks.

What have you got ums?

Picking up a Cambridge audio AXA35 and a pair of KEF Q350’s for 1/3 of their price second hand was a great joy. I recently paired that with a SVS SB-1000 on special and I think this is me for a few decades.

KEFs are great especially if you can find a deal

I have a Cambridge Audio as well, the CXA60, with Dali Zensor bookshelves, a HSU research subwoofer, Rotel CD player I got ridiculously cheap on eBay, and a Rega P1 turntable I've had for 20 years.... definitely in the same zone as you

I'm really a believer in bookshelves+ a sub now, I think you have to get really huge speakers to get that kind of bass

Ohh damn an cxa60! That’s nice.have the p1 as well but haven’t seen your speakers/sub before. It really is the perfect set up for music. The sub was such a great addition to my living room, not a bass-head at all but it adds a whole other dimension to music that you miss with just the bookshelfves. I feel like this is the perfect spot for music listening where you’re getting great sound without delving into the crazy diminishing returns that happen above this price range. That said, I don’t have much experience above this price range so my opinion is mostly confirmation bias

the KEF Q350 is special, i like them better than the LS50s i had at one point.

In the mid-to-late 00s I had the opportunity to hear some very expensive systems - I'm talking on the order of $1M at the time. It definitely affected me. I am probably more on the audiophile end of this site (tube amps, nice DAC, etc.).

I am also into wine. There are definitely similarities between the two hobbies and manias. A lot of confirmation bias and diminishing returns going on.

In both cases, more $ will generally (though not always) get you better sound/taste, but above a certain point, as ums pointed out, the amount you have to spend to get something better becomes ridiculous.

In both cases, I like to think I am still reasonable - I still believe in science. I don't have the confidence/hubris to assume I could always tell two relatively equivalent products apart in an A/B test, especially as I am now past 50. Also, I can acknowledge that, at least with tube amps, there are extra-musical factors that play a role in my enjoyment.

One thing I absolutely believe in is buying gear used (other than maybe a turntable). Your money goes a lot further. Vintage stuff can be great as well.

My latest irrationality is now mildly wanting a refurbished Garrard 301 transcription turntable which are $$$$, but so freaking cool.

kind of surprised i didn't order/demo a bunch of speakers during the pandemmy. second hand PSB Images going strong.

buying gear used (other than maybe a turntable).

Why's this? I mean, get a new stylus. My Realistic Lab 390 i got at a yard sale for $10 is doing great. I would have to spend at least $500 to match it with a new table?

granted it would've been i dunno, $100 on eBay? Easily worth it

I did say maybe. Not opposed to it across the board, but turntables are more delicate than most gear and can be fiddly. If you're knowledgeable enough to clean it and fix any issues, go for it.

Beats working on old amps ime. Though I put up with that too. My Kenwood C2 preamp ought to outlive me.

Yeah, I sent the Audio Research SP-9 I inherited from my uncle back to the company for repairs a couple of years ago. I probably should have attempted it myself, but I'm a nervous nelly.

I follow someone on twitter who has been reading through speaker nerd forums and picking up sweet deals on facebook marketplace and similar spots and some of the oddball small speaker manufacturers created some interesting stuff!

I'd like to hear what a magnepan speaker sounds like. Must need a sub in the system?

i will never take stereo advice from a wine person, sorry

xxxp It's great when you can find official service for decades old gear. I had my father in law's Quad gear re-capped by a place not too far from him that the company directed me to. Not cheap but much nicer than I would have managed, and equivalent modern gear.

funny seeing posts from "PBKR" makes me wish i could buy a Pabst around here.

always makes me think of North Korea

I have a Linn LP12. It sometimes amuses me that I use this to play Discharge records

I'd like to hear what a magnepan speaker sounds like. Must need a sub in the system?

The guy I knew back in the day had Magnepan 20.7s in a 5.x or 7.x av system and sometimes in a second two-channel system. They are magical when it comes to vocals. He definitely used subs in the av system; don't recall in the two channel.

Magnepan's are notorious for needing a ton of power (4ohm speakers and 86db sensitivity on the 20.7s).

i will never take stereo advice from a wine person, sorry

― budo jeru, Friday, September 1, 2023 9:29 AM (twelve minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I get it. I swear I'm not one of those guys.

I’ll have to find the pictures I took, but I did pop open the Pioneer CS-A700 speakers that were passed down from my dad. I was thinking about re-capping them but those speakers have a couple level adjustment knobs to do EQ for different components, and the way they did that was by having a separate circuit chain for each setting so it’s… a lot of components. The crazy thing is that they were sealed so well it’s like a little time capsule inside. I think I was breathing air from the early 70s

I have a couple of amps that need work and I'm dragging my feet on it. I have a big ass poweramp that just stopped working. It powers on but the little red light is dimmer than it should be, and it makes no sound at all.

I have a nice integrated amp that occasionally makes a SCHACK sound, even if the speaker volume is turned all the way down. Then it won't put out any sound. If I tap it it will make the sound again and usually work fine. Maybe a short?

It would probably cost more than it's worth to ship the things and have them repaired although they are nice. One day I might open them up to see if there's an obvious problem.

How old are they? Both sound like possible capacitor issues. Does the power amp have a relay which usually clicks but now isn’t?

Apparently this is a thing now https://store.aconyrecords.com/products/the-harrow-the-harvest-reel-to-reel

I’m fully prepared to believe this sounds awesome. I’m also not paying 700 USD for an album. If it were their entire catalogue for that price I’d be tempted.

Not snake oil, but.

These 1/4" two track 15ips one-to-one duplicates are produced in real time from an original 30ips 1/2" master tape on meticulously calibrated ATR 102 tape machines through a custom distribution system providing proper impedance matching and the most direct path for the highest possible fidelity.

nah, it's 100% snake oil

Been meaning to revive because I've been getting targeted ads on FB trying to sell me the new reel2reel of Elephant.

https://store.acousticsounds.com/d/180395/The_White_Stripes-Elephant-14_Inch_-_15_IPS_Tape

Only $500!

idk...

https://store.acousticsounds.com/d/167060/John_Coltrane-A_Love_Supreme-14_Inch_-_15_IPS_Tape

totally approve of any kissa bar owners buying that

lol otm

sadly my reel machine is 1/2", wish I was joking but hey it was free

Touch & Go use to offer a 2" multi-track copy of Shellac's At Action Park in their catalog but apparently no one ever ordered it

There’s no Discogs listing for it.

You could probably sell 2” multitrack copies of Dark Side etc for like $10k.

Despite Albini’s commitment to good engineering, I don’t think many of Shellac’s fans are a) audiophile nerds or b) that well heeled. Or also c) who the fuck has a 2” tape machine? Those things are suuuuuper exponse.