Ridiculous assertions that someone is being ripped off or conned

Great thread!

I, like the OP. has been annoyed by these truths too much repeated that customers are most of the times deceived by their hopes,marketing ploys, and biases and placebos...It is true to say that but audio is a learning road...And most products are good to try if we want to travel the road...No denigrating is needed...

For sure i experienced this truth with ALL products i bought to upgrade my system to some degree especially in the beginning when I was unsatified ...No upgrades in spite of their improvement were working enough though...

The reason is simple:

i was not mature enough in audio to know how to work on the essentials key factors in audio: embedding controls and especially acoustic...

Acoustic experiments are listenings experiments...They dont always lie, and even when they lied you will be able to discern and master the truth which lay behind or in front of the acoustic "lie" anyway ...

We can control acoustic almost "at will" mechanically with Helmhotz method and with passive treatment... Mastering "illusions" from our brain is part of the acoustic experience not his foe....

I dont like to be accused of being conned by myself or conning others using cheap "herkimer diamonds" or S.G. or ionizers for example with my main mechanical  acoustical device....

Most people think audio is a string of purchases...

I think audio is a string of experiments...Be them a new purchase or not....

Even when presented with incontrovertible evidence many people cannot admit they have been scammed.  Evidence actually makes the scammed hold on tighter to their delusions.  Facts cannot compete with truths.  Just because you're happy doesn't mean everybody else has to agree with you.  Think about the allegory -- are you in the cave or in the light?

I can't help it, but if someone if extolling the virtues of a component like a DAC or media server, I am completely on board with that discussion. However, if someone is putting what looks like a stone cow pie with a cheap label on their equipment and exclaiming it's virtues, I am just more skeptical. To me, it just screams "scam". No different than the Clever Little Clock. Without any technical data or supporting scientific basis for what the product is supposed to do, it's just another way for someone to finance their retirement.

What ticks me off is when someone, disagreeing with what someone else reports, effectively says “You disagree with me, therefore what you’re saying can’t be true. You’re either being deceived, or you are lying.” That is true arrogance.

Ding ding ding winner winner chicken dinner! 

Judging someone or a product is possible AFTER trying the product...

If someone think that the written science with no further experiment explain anything about sounds experience, he is deluded...

Like scapegoating, claiming fraud or scam is the easiest thing to do when we dont want to experiments or dont need to...

I never recommended anything costing more than a few bucks... For me the organized "scam" is sometimes the refusal to experiment and the continuous insistance on "electronical design measured informations" to be the ONLY valid facts to know... The "upgrade urge" everywhere push by all magazines is the most evident potential  scam for me....

With no money, i never had the choices anyway, save to experiment with peanuts cost solutions... Total success...