What’s your vote for the most ridiculous, overpriced, and useless tweak?

They're not?

Well, there you have it. A happy home for the abnormal it is.

Sounds more than a trifle delusional and self serving there.
I say again, "Anyone who thinks audio is a plug-and-play hobby doesn’t understand the problem. "  misstates the issue. There is no "problem"unless one creates it in their own mind. For most, plug and play is desirable. Most do not consider the purchase of a pricey component the starting point for anything but enjoyment. If that enjoyment is effected by the application of juju, that's fine for yourself.
To then posit that all High enders are likewise aberrant is silly.Tweakers are and have always been in the minority. Big deal.
It's not the tweaking that's the issue at all.
It's the incessant noise about it.

Got it?

I like juju noise.

@glow_worm, 

“Footnote: I almost stopped reading the post when I saw the poster “has been involved in the hobby for over 40 years.” It’s kind of a tip off of what’s to follow.”

Any possibility you could enlighten us as to what you meant by this? Guessing…only the self-anointed ones have valid opinions? But, eh, what do I know right?"

I think you may have alluded to the answer yourself earlier on in your post. 


"Unfortunate because many newbies are interested in getting started in what can be a rewarding lifetime hobby, they post, and get ‘jumped’."


Let's face it, this can be a daunting hobby to get into. You could never suspect that there's no end of shysters between you and your path to audio satisfaction. Even many dealers, reviewers and forum posters are in on the scam!

Here are the words of one of the most respected figures in this industry, Harbeth's Alan Shaw -

"I have this growing feeling that there may not be one single generally held 'fact' amongst audiophiles that is actually true and demonstrable under controlled conditions. Is it possible that the entire audiophile industry has foundations of sand?

What is odd is that hard, cold physics is (obviously) brought to bear by equipment designers to create and produce physical audio equipment, but that hard, cold physics is then replaced by mythology when the product reaches the audiophile marketplace. I'm struggling now to think of one 'fact' that could be independently validated. Can you do better than me?

How did a hardware industry of the 50's transition into a fashion industry where there are no absolutes, no norms, no frames of reference .... all opinion. Is it any wonder the industry is stagnant? Expensive blue-sky R&D is unnecessary because a new marketing spin will keep the production lines flowing with yesterday's technology. It really is a strange business and for sure, the consumer is not benefiting."

https://www.harbeth.co.uk/usergroup/forum/the-science-of-audio/speaker-design/1614-damping-factor-an...

Talking of useless tweaks for the consumer, how about any music file above 320kbps? 

cd318
Here are the words of one of the most respected figures in this industry, Harbeth’s Alan Shaw -

"I have this growing feeling that there may not be one single generally held ’fact’ amongst audiophiles that is actually true and demonstrable under controlled conditions. Is it possible that the entire audiophile industry has foundations of sand?

What is odd is that hard, cold physics is (obviously) brought to bear by equipment designers to create and produce physical audio equipment, but that hard, cold physics is then replaced by mythology when the product reaches the audiophile marketplace. I’m struggling now to think of one ’fact’ that could be independently validated. Can you do better than me?

How did a hardware industry of the 50’s transition into a fashion industry where there are no absolutes, no norms, no frames of reference .... all opinion. Is it any wonder the industry is stagnant? Expensive blue-sky R&D is unnecessary because a new marketing spin will keep the production lines flowing with yesterday’s technology. It really is a strange business and for sure, the consumer is not benefiting."

>>>>Huh? He’s struggling to think of one fact that can be independently validated? An obvious case of brain freeze. What is he even talking about? 🤔

hard, cold physics is then replaced by mythology?


Hey, that Alan Shaw from Harbeth sounds like a "normal person"!