Why is the snake oil topic closed?

Let’s see, maybe we should establish what it is all of these people are complaining so bitterly about. I’m sure there must be some specific things that really get under their skin. Or is it just a general paranoia? Who knows? My guess is there's gotta be something pretty reprehensible, disturbing, out there to produce so much angst and anger. Sure, everyone gets a little upset over super high cable costs and aftermarket fuse prices have really gone through the roof. But, geez, there must be some other things out there that are really bothering people. Maybe some uh, criminal things. Hmmmm, I wonder what they could be....

So, without further ado, your humble scribe, and a prime suspect in the hunt for purveyors of dreaded Oil of the Snake, presents The List. In no particular order, the list of really, really obvious and noxious Snake Oil products. By the way, PWB Electronics of Leeds England, another primary Purveyor of Oil of the Snake, (Peter Belt RIP) is still going strong, cranking out gallons of the stuff as we speak.

The List. These are the ones you really have to be careful about. The ones with the snake 🐍 next to them are from Machina Dynamica (blush).

THE LIST
Mpingo disc
Shakti Stone
The Green Pen (Audio Prism)
Red ’x Pen
Cream Electret
Silver Rainbow Foil
The Teleportation Tweak 🐍
The Clever Little Clock 🐍
The Quantum Clip
Franck Tchang’s Acoustic Resonators
Original Cable Jacket
SteinMusic Harmonizer
Brilliant Pebbles 🐍
The Intelligent Chip
Super Intelligent Chip 🐍
Golden Sound’s Ultra Tweeters
Flying Saucers for Windows 🐍
Morphic Message Foil
Shakti Halographs
Schumann frequency generator (Acoustic Revive)
Xtreme AV Tourmaline Gun
The Photos in the Freezer Tweak (courtesy PWB Electronics)
C-37 Lacquer
VPI Brick
Marigo VTS Dots

HONORABLE MENTION
Tip Toes, aluminum cones, the first
Audio Technical wet playing system for vinyl records
Herbies Audio Lab Tube Dampers
Iconoclast ionizer from Mapleshade
Auric Illuminator CD treatment, one of the first
Extreme AV Liquid Resolution CD treatment
Audio Deske CD Improver (edge beveler)
Extreme AV Quicksilver Gold contact enhancer
Nimbus Sub Hertz 6 DOF Isolation Platform 🐍

to see those all listed on one page, and think of all the damage they have done to unsuspecting audiophiles...

<jl35> and that's before you get to amps, DACs, CD players, and of course, cables.

What a state audio is in. Even hi-rez remastered downloads are often crushed and squeezed to death.

No wonder many stick to vinyl / tube systems and have done with it. These debates are important, but its for the readers to see where the vested interests may lie.

Audio can be simple, really. Something like Recording, Room and placement (unless its Headphones), Loudspeaker,  and the rest you can take your pick.

jl35
to see those all listed on one page, and think of all the damage they have done to unsuspecting audiophiles...

Nobody appreciates the naive, gullible tenderfoot audiophile more than I do. They're my favorite.  Hi, there. Want some candy? 🤑

@cd318

"It seems criminal that some engineers are working extremely hard to further standards in these areas, often with little financial gain, whilst purveyors of snake oil rake in easy money. "

+1 That is so true. What money gets wasted on snake oil never reaches the engineering design team that could possibly make the next significant real and measurable advance in audio. Given enough time, that entire engineering design team gets fired and the company outsources an industrial artist to design a cool looking face plate or a orders a thicker OEM cable jacket and a sales director is hired to attend audio shows and issue magazine ads touting miraculous new bogus scientific discoveries of effects going beyond what anyone has heard. Profits go up and costs go down but progress in audio is now ONLY in aesthetics (driven by the sales director and an outsourced industrial artist.)