Awesome Audiophile Snake Oil

observers up to six miles away reported the detonation had bell-like highs with rich, creamy mids and a nuanced bass response

I hate to be pedantic on this of all threads but that gif is actually of two shakti stones being pressed together with such force that they become one

Here’s a shakti stone being cut in half, underwater

https://giphy.com/gifs/black-and-white-explosion-uSHMDTUL7lKso

Ah fuck it

looks more like they nipped the lower right corner

What are audiophiles referencing specifically when they say, for example, this white TT belt produced much more accurate 'timing' and 'musicality' in the music. This is something that was said to me when I upgraded the belt on my TT. I was buying it anyway, so the 'timing' comment didnt sell it to me, but I have no way of confirming what he said was true, or even what the fuck it means. surely if the turntable is running at a consistent speed, then there is no issue with timing. I would be shocked if other belts fluctuated in timing per revolution.

Audiophiles are obsessives who are looking for something, anything, no matter the price, that will match the first time they heard their favorite record on a good system. Instead of spending their disposable income mostly on new music, chasing after the “new favorite album” feeling, they blow it on speakers and amps and eventually devolving to cables and belts, chasing the “good system” feeling. It’s always seemed bizarre to me that people use these six-figure systems to listen to, like, maybe 10 albums. Over and over.

To the question above, whether it’s more like gambling addiction or hoarding - neither? Some record collectors are definitely hoarders. Audiophiles are more like drug addicts I think. Chasing that first high, spending whatever they have. That rock hung off a circuit breaker with a coat hanger is like the shooting-up-between-toes phase.

xp you are correct that timing is a worse description of what matters than speed. you could of course pick a point on the platter, time its return to a single point, and calculate an average speed. But that wouldn't really tell you if the speed is consistent during a revolution, which is also important. 'timing' is usually a bigger concern for a mechanism that provides feedback to the motor, i.e. not the belt. 'musicality' is obvious bullshit.

some of the audiophile dudes will have a large record collection, but I think a lot of them listen to the same small set of albums and probably own every format of that set ever released

Exactly. In addition to owning every (audiophile-worthy) format (that is, they're probably not seeking out 8-tracks), the hunt for the MOST MUSICAL GOLD-PLATED RCA CABLES goes hand-in-hand with HAVE YOU HEARD THE SOUNDSTAGE ON THIS PRESSING OF WHATEVER THE FUCK JAMES TAYLOR ALBUM THAT I ALREADY HAVE 20 COPIES OF?

I know it's usually something like that, but I always like to pretend that they all own a single album, but it's every edition of Dark Side of the Moon.

If the Steve Hoffman forums are anything to go by, a) yes, they mostly own a single album, and b) said album could be literally anything. I've seen threads comparing Herman's Hermits pressings.

I kinda want to see a big study with likert scale surveys, behavioral assessments, even brain scans of people who experience this fork in the road and go down either the MUST HAVE ALL THE RECORDS route vs. the MUST HAVE THE BEST SYSTEM route vs. the meh it’s just okay I’d rather go on a run with some mp3s route vs. the actually I’m deaf.

xxxxxxxp -- when audiophiles refer to timing they aren't talking about turntable speed; it's an element of what they refer to as "PRaT" -- pace, rhythm, and timing. You're unlikely to get a solid definition if you Google it, but apparently it can mean anything from the ability of a piece of audio equipment to get your toe tapping to how well that piece of equipment reproduces transients. According to Stereophile magazine, your old belt may have been conspiring "to give an aura of lassitude in which the musicians seem to be playing subtly out of time. This failing may, with practice and acuity, be discerned on just a few notes of a single voice or instrument. Here one may perceive a nuance of uncertainty, a hint of nervousness, or a feeling that the steady, controlled flow of a performance is not as even or as secure as it should be." It sounds like your new belt will solve that problem, assuming that your amplifier and speakers (and cables) also handle PRaT well.

been years since I heard the word 'prat'
so appropriate here.

I don't know, i've been listenign to music my whole life and i've never had an issue with Pacing, Rhythm or Timing as far as i'm aware. The good news is, i've got this white belt and now i'm set.

I'd like to know how these folks view live performances.

I mean, for some classical music fans, the recordings are a very last resort to hear a particular piece. I'm not say all or even a majority of classical fans are this way, but for some, the live performance is the only way to experience the music.

my system had issues with Pacing, Rhythm, and Timing. So I hired a PI to watch my fuse box and send me daily reports on its whereabouts.

Come on Austin, that’s ridiculous. Most of those performers don’t even have cables or preamplifiers connected to their instruments. Where would you put the stones?

I read about that one U2 tour where Brian Eno secretly hid perfectly placed isotope-stabilizing ion-absorbing frequency-perfecting rocks inside of all the instruments and microphones, and it was definitely worth the ticket price, which was two Ferraris per person.

I bought all one hundred and seven of the gold blu-ray audio discs of that tour and played them on my dishwasher and it was basically exactly like being alive in my house

lmao

Although my question was in fact quite genuine and serious, these preposterous answers seem like the correct ones.

at least one of these dudes only listens to Moody Blues Live at Red Rocks and definitely saw said band at said venue

Yes, but what did he say about the performance? The acoustics? Did it compare to the Shakti stone-encrusted diamond gold disc hybrid recording of the same songs?

I'd like to know how these folks view live performances.
the perfect system would be able to reproduce the sound of an acoustic concert so accurately that you could not tell the difference

I know plenty of audiophiles who are passionate and curious about music, it's a hobby, they have fun fine tuning their systems, they're able to laugh about these things as well, I think maybe some of you guys need to meet some nice audiophiles

at least one of these dudes only listens to Moody Blues Live at Red Rocks and definitely saw said band at said venue

imagine the self-confidence you'd have to have for this to be your sole musical interest, these guys are heroes

The PRaT thing - I remember hearing that in association with Linn/Naim gear about 20 years ago. The notion was that Linn/Naim weren't necessarily the most faithful means of reproduction in some sort of analytical way (separation, frequency extremes, ultra-low distortion) but the music just "hung together" better through their gear and had that elusive "musicality". The non-Linnie 'philes would denigrate them as "Flat Earthers", while the Linnies would regard the rest of the audiophile community as "lab technicians", more interesting in visualising the decay of a cymbal crash than, y'know, groovin'.

The "first time you heard a favourite LP" thing has some substance for some people, I think. I spent an awful lot of money in the '90s chasing the sensation of hearing the first Tindersticks album on my entry-level Richer Sounds hi-fi ten minutes after I first set it up. I became obsessed with avoiding "brightness", that ice-cubes-on-fillings upper-mid sting that I was convinced the better kit had exposed on all my records. I stuck a fancy Marantz CD player through a valve stage to my friends' amusement ("a bit of gain and some harmonic distortion for only £130").

sic otm

I just bought a tube amp and frankly it sounds amazing

As they do.

neils and 龜 should both be FP’d for bringing “hey guys, aspirin” to a snake oil thread

is it a new tube amp or an old one?

I have a couple music hardware nerd friends who love refurbishing old receivers, buying good quality tubes. It’s a pretty cool hobby imo

Are there people out there hand-blowing tubes

most of them use their mouths

*chases NA off stage*

Spotted on Twitter:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DmsEIYvU0AAmpGJ.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DmsELLaU4AAChnT.jpg

lol nope it definitely doesn’t.

Also what is that graph even trying to be

Top line goes all the way up to eleven.

couldn't resist looking it up. a Sony thing. guessing it's something like a bbe sonic maximizer or something that makes the high end tingle and give that sensation of more life in the sound?

"upscales" lol

that fucking graph is killing me

DSEEZ NUTX

Maybe not that snakeoil-y, but the hipster doucheyness is off the charts!

https://www.atxrecordplayers.com/optin-22668722

wow, some people have a lot of spare cash

Huh, just noticed some of their pitch is only on the mobile site.

Lines like:

If you're looking for a cheap console check Craigslist

Mcintosh packages are available for only the best and rarest consoles! (Only true ballers allowed)

is it douchey if i think those look sexy as hell?

no way, those look fkn rad, although i suspect there's no way in hell i'd be willing to pay what they're asking for