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Audio nonsense

In this wonderful world of audio that we journey through folks selling stuff have sometimes been inventive in what they claim. In your trip down this road what sticks out as the most ludicrous thing you’ve seen someone try to sell? 
 

I can point to 2 things. When I first saw a Tice clock in a store I thought it was a gag. Next- Peter Belt. 

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mapman's avatar
mapman
22,389 posts
 

Allegedly.....

 

mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 

@dill , Long term evaluation is not the key. You accommodate to what you are listening too. It becomes your normal even if it is horrendously out of wack. Most audiophiles have absolutely no idea what they are listening to. They have never measured their systems and rooms thinking they can take the CHEAP way out and do it by ear. 

A/B comparisons are anything but quick. Depending on the setup it takes hours to do one correctly.

mahgister's avatar
mahgister
13,194 posts
 

I tune my room by ears, creating my own mechanical equalizer...

After Helmotlz method...

No ears are the same  with the same history...

For some  pseudo-scientist here  who measure their room fine with tools but are unable to tune  it i had some news: it is possible...

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cleeds
5,987 posts
 
cakyol’s avatar
cakyol

 

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

This shows a real lack of understanding of how and what we hear.

Consider the optical illusion. No consultation with an ophthalmologist or psychiatrist is indicated simply because our eyes might have been tricked.

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

That makes no sense at all. For example, I claim to be an audiophile. There’s no way you can disprove that with any double blind test.

Further, your claim suggests you misunderstand the purpose of double blind listening tests. These evaluate a "device under test" (amplifier, cable, or whatever), and to be useful should ideally include multiple listeners. A listener can’t "fail" the test because he’s not the thing being tested. If you want to test a listener, an audiologist can do that.

nicktheknife
194 posts
 

I think most of us know the sound of our systems and notice changes when something is changed in the system for better or worse.  

That said,  my system sounds different to me depending on the time of day (cleaner power coming in from the grid?) or just depending on the day.  Are my ears a little fatigued?  Am I a little distracted and not tuned-in enough so to speak?

Is my wife running more electric appliances that usually are not running?   My house has two refrigerators and an upright freezer.   In fact, my whole house is electric.  A/C, Heat pump, pool pump, everything.  I know when the electric dryer is on when listening to my system. I have separate breakers and lines for my equipment but still think I'm getting contamination(?) from these appliances running at certain times of the day.  

Has my system had plenty of time to warm up?

I spent good money on my equipment and room. Not to mention time and effort to get the best I can out of it. If I need magic gemstones on my $400 dollar cables then I probably bought the wrong cables.  

My point being is that my system doesn't always sound at it's best to my ears and I doubt adding some tiny discs to my already good cables are going to make a difference.  Maybe, maybe not.  But, I think I'll put my money someplace better spent like more music or towards an equipment upgrade or even more room treatments.  Or, try getting better/cleaner power to my system.

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