Audio nonsense

Over the years, I have discovered that the most valuable tool in my toolchest is intellectual humility.

I've been dragged kicking and screaming  by friends and professional associates to audition gear that pegged the needle on my BS meter.  I found some of those concepts to be downright insulting and refused to expend a molecule of mental energy or one-minute of my precious time with someone else's fantasy.  After being shamed for months (or, years) into atleast sitting down for a couple of minutes, with a great degree of skepticism, my eyes (and, ears) were opened.  Me, and my system, are better for it.

I once had a customer walk in and ask for a "Paragraphic Frequalizer".  I'm pretty sure a case of Dyslexia was kicking in here.  But, if I ever came across a Paragraphic Frequalizer, it might be fun to mess around with in my spare time.

Have fun.

I am new to this hobby and often wonder if you can hear a difference in adding all of these expensive devices to a system.  It would be fun to sneak into someone's house and install some of things into a system while they are gone then come back a week later and ask if they noticed a difference in sound quality.  Sometimes, this reminds me of the story of the "Emperors New Cloths".  I wonder if people spend more on their system if they automatically convince themselves their system sounds better.  Would upgrading speakers make more of a difference or upgrading their amplifiers.  Also, how attractive are some of these systems.  Would they fit into a well-furnished living room or family room.  I for one wouldn't want to sit in a room all by myself listening to music.  To me, inviting neighbors over to enjoy a few glasses of wine to listen to music is more enjoyable.  I think music is designed to be enjoyed by more than one person.  There is also the "Wife Factor" to take into account.   There is also the man cave factor.  I think all is fair providing you provide a woman cave for her enjoyment.  Most of these systems will never replace the sound and the experience for attending a live concert.  

@fundsgon I think you’re onto something with the SonicAir idea…Perhaps if the air was charged someone could develop a magnetic containment system, or sell an audiophile line of hyperbaric chambers—could be a big hit with the alpine skiing crowd.

I don't post much here and don't really care how much money people choose to spend on their systems.  

I'm now at the age where I just want to listen to good sounding music as much as I can without fussing too much over my gear.

Some things I just don't think are worth the time or money to even try.  I won't name those things at the risk of insulting some folks or starting a flame war.  That's just me.  Yes, I could be missing out on some worthwhile tweaks but I'm not going to lose any sleep over it either.

I don't really get why someone, myself included, would spend thousands of dollars on cables that have all this engineering going into them, quality materials, shielding, dielectrics, connectors, etc. etc.  Then, you have the need to stick little gemstones or some kind of disc on these expensive cables to make them sound better when they're supposed to great on their own.  After all, that's what we paid all that for in the first place. 

Maybe the cable companies should supply their cables with the little discs or gemstones and tell the buyer that they could try using their cables with or without.  

Also, if you buy a set of expensive speaker cables the company should put a disclaimer on the packaging that says: These cables will sound their best if the are suspended off the floor.  

@perkri

I can recommend a good audiologist and maybe even a psychiatrist if you are hearing things....

Anyone on this forum over about 35-40 years of age should have some humility and not claim and pretend they can hear things even a dog cannot hear.

No wonder 99% of the time almost everyone claiming to be an audiophile fails double blind tests.

Once and for all. What you think you are hearing is NOT an improvement, it is simply NOT there. It is in your mind.

Interesting that out of hundreds of these gimmicky snake oil products, noone ever claims that it made the sound worse. Funny....