Awesome Audiophile Snake Oil

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.

HOT STAMPERS!

https://dangerousminds.net/comments/extreme_record_collecting_part_ii_theres_only_one_way_to_find_better_record

that shit is such bullshit that i am legitimately angry that it's a thing.

Tom Port has always been full of shit. Long before he shilled this bullshit, his opinions on what was a good sounding record were dubious, and this wasn't with anything particular expensive or anything. (One that comes to mind is how a standard pressing of Nirvana's Nevermind was so bright that it was an ear-bleeder. NOBODY heard what he was hearing, and he refused to answer whether the issue was his playback.)

i think i'm extra salty because "hot stamper" is so much fun to say and he's fucking ruined it for me, the absolute bastard.

Of course what they are pushing is hype and brand but it's not wrong to say some records sound notably better than others, and among other things how many generations down the master tape used is and the condition of the stampers are not insignificant.

I'm not a vinyl snob at all but sometimes a good record will hit me. I just got an Italian reissue of "Heroes" (I'm not a Bowie nut either) that really leapt out. Looked up the engineer at RCA Italia and seems he's lately got a bit of a rep among the Hoffman crew. What can I say, my ears told me what was up before any confimation bias could kick in.

that's just a strong argument to buy CDs instead