Hype, Hyperbole and high price!

How ones mind in conjunction with the human condition by use of five flawed senses using electrical impulses to engage an end point to a perception of our own realities is something that goes way beyond just math and science. We are all unique in how we come to any conscience conclusion in this life using our limited use of sensory perception. In other words,what floats your boat does not necessarily float mine because of how we perceive the things around us.  

This or that sounds better or worse for me than you because of what the mind equates with pleasure,musical or otherwise ...sort of like how dopamine in the brain engages the pleasure centers from within.How the human mind hears music through the sense of hearing is truly unique to each individual.

Music is a spiritual condition...something science will never be able to measure with less than perfect human hands.

Regardless how one feels about expensive cables and such and all the stated claims of audio nirvana (although I do find the Brilliant Pebbles appalling and amusing at the same time - how soon before we start seeing $100 plus 'audiophile' grade Scotch tape for attaching the pebbles (take a look at their website!!!) (Pet Rocks for the audio crowd!), such items pose major concern to our 'hobby.'

For me the big issue with all these incredibly priced products is the impact they have on bringing new folks into the fold.  I can't tell you how many folks, both young with good-paying jobs and older with disposable income, that just roll their eyes about investing in quality audio systems after browsing ads, magazines, and websites and seeing $1,000+ cables, $2,000 plus cartridges, $3,000K DACs and other such costly items.  Between the ridiculous (at least to them) cost and claims, this completely turns many interested folks off to our hobby.  To me this is the biggest problem with such items.  Granted there are much less expensive but really good products out there, but that is not what the general public really gets exposed to.  

As many folks have said, trust your ears and spend your money as you feel appropriate for yourself and your ears.

I believe that science, reason, isn't really being tested here with a proven theory, hypothesis are interesting but nobody works off of them expecting repeatable results.  Additionally, the things that an individual may or may not hear in a system vary. Subjectivity is king here, if you dig the sound or want to experiment with high end upgrades cool. None of us would be here if we were worried about budget, we want to hear our music the way we want to. We share to assist other buyers with our experience. I'm glad manufacturers keep pushing forward, the good stuff remains, the not so good goes on eBay. Peace and high fidelity.

FYI, my Cardas inner connects were expensive but they added really nice bass to my system. After comparing, I don't feel cheated, my old cheep monster cable that was basically lamp cord, couldn't keep up. 😊

ihor
16 posts
05-07-2016 9:41am
"Regardless how one feels about expensive cables and such and all the stated claims of audio nirvana (although I do find the Brilliant Pebbles appalling and amusing at the same time - how soon before we start seeing $100 plus ’audiophile’ grade Scotch tape for attaching the pebbles (take a look at their website!!!) (Pet Rocks for the audio crowd!), such items pose major concern to our ’hobby.’"

While I can certainly understand your angst and disquiet regarding Brilliant Pebbles as well as your well-meaning concern for our hobby, however I think it’s only fair to point out the success of Brilliant Pebbles in terms of sales over the ten or more years since it was introduced as well as the apparent fact that Brilliant Pebbles and similar audiophile products actually seem to have helped our hobby in a terms of improving the sound of audiophiles' systems and being excellent conversation starters and subjects for debate.

For those unfamiliar, Brilliant Pebbles is the first and only audiophile mineral crystal based product to address a broad range of audiophile issues comprehensively. Brilliant Pebbles was introduced at the Hi Fi Show in London about 12 years ago.

geoff kait
machina dynamica
Advanced Audio Concepts
no goats no glory

Uncledemp 5-7-2016
If engineering expertise can be applied in a factual manner to audio, why does a company not dominate as a result?

Seriously, I often read what doesn’t work. But what does? I assume electrical engineers are designing at least some of the available equipment. Is it just the nature of audio that lends itself to this differing of application and result?

There are a multitude of factors that are involved, some of which have been well stated in the previous responses to your question. I would say simply that as in many other technical fields, for example medicine, audio is an inexact science.

And I’ll add that a good engineer is open-minded enough to recognize that while circuits and systems can be analyzed and measured, some things inherently have little or no predictability. One example, among countless others that could be cited, being the effects of electrical noise that may be coupled into a circuit. Or the effects involving digital cables that I referred to in my post near the top of this page.

Also, just as in the case of, for example, an automobile, any design represents a unique combination of a vast number of tradeoffs. And as with automobiles, no matter how perfect the net result of those tradeoffs may be, no one company will dominate because different people have different tastes, different practical requirements, and different budgets.

Regards,
-- Al