Fuses that matter.

Bryon that was a great response.

Reading it now, after I started the why do we argue post, summed up what I have been trying to say in a most elegant manner.

My amazement is that we are arguing about a device that costs less than 100 bucks.

It's not out of reach for anyone in this hobby.
Certainly not as out of reach as lets's say an MBL speaker and some Soulution gear is.

Really?If the fuse cost $1000.00 I would understand.

I've had first hand experience being ganged up on and ridiculed.Then fighting back and getting the upper hand with a few choice phrases,always followed by attempts of childish humour from the wounded.

I know that the cost of the most highly rated audiophile gear is outlandish and has created some bad feelings about the hobby.
At one time, such top flight gear was affordable and even I had some of the top TAS and Phile rated gear.

But we are talking chump change here.

You've hit the nail Bryon, it's not about the cost, or the fuse, it's all about who wants to be King of the Hill.

Thanks so much for the reprints. Now everyone can read them a second time. Tom

Mapman wrote,

"I would not limit any vendor that disclose and acknowledge their financial interests in any way. Its all part of the learning process. Did you do that? Or was it left to others to make the connection?"

Huh?! There is no requirement here for vendors to disclose or acknowledge any such thing. And I am a little taken aback that not everyone makes the connection. :-)

Geoff Kait
Machina Dynamica

Theaudiotweak,

In all the above excitement you probably missed my post with a question on 061012.

"Forgive my ignorance, but do you replace a fuse with a powerful magnet?

I have used various cables which use magnets for shielding & have found them to be excellent. If I understand you correctly, you put the nickel or whatever theses magnets are made of in the path rather than the fuse?"

Thank you, Lacee for your kind words.

My amazement is that we are arguing about a device that costs less than 100 bucks.

That irony isn't lost on me. But as I'm sure you're aware, this thread isn't really about fuses, at least not any more. It's about Reality, IMO, and three entirely different attitudes toward it…

1. Reality = the world and everything in it
2. Reality = my mind alone
3. Reality = my mind + the minds of other people

…or put another way…

1. The Realist
2. The Solipsist
3. The Sophist

These three categories have been around at least as far back as ancient Greece. Don't worry, I’m not going to launch into the history of philosophy. I’ll limit my comments to what, IMO, is happening on this thread...

What’s happening is that The Realist and the Solipsist and the Sophist are at war. It's a fight that started long before them, and that will outlive them. And it’s not merely academic. These conflicting attitudes toward Reality shape a huge array of individual behaviors and cultural forces. I talked about that at length in this post on 6/8. In it, I framed things in terms of Dogmatism and Obscurantism, but it's easy to see that Dogmatism is a *de facto* form of Solipsism and Obscurantism is a *de facto* form of Sophistry.

Whereas the Realist knows that Reality is mostly outside his control, the Solipsist and the Sophist act as though Reality can be controlled by thoughts, hopes, wishes, fantasies. This is the essence of Magical Thinking.

The loose connection that Solipsists have to Reality can be seen in the Dogmatist’s hostile resistance to opposing views on it. The loose connection that Sophists have to Reality can be see in the Obscurantist’s flagrant disregard for it.

The Solipsist needs to convince only HIMSELF to feel vindicated in his sense of Reality. The Sophist needs to convince OTHER PEOPLE to feel vindicated in his sense of Reality.

The principal thing the Solipsist gains from his attitude toward Reality is the illusion of control over it, which can be a great source of comfort. The principal thing the Sophist gains from his attitude toward Reality is control over the minds of other people, which can be a great source of personal gain.

Because of his inclination toward Magical Thinking, the Solipsist is the Sophist's primary victim. Because of his allegiance to a Reality outside himself, the Realist is the Sophist's primary enemy.

This fight happens every day, both here on Audiogon and out there where it counts.

Bryon