Audio nonsense

Steady on @cakyol  , at this rate Teddy No3 will be demanding to see happy snaps of your home system 😄

     Thank you, djone51, for repeating some the facts I've mentioned*, on this site and it's pages, regarding Science and how is always catching up, with the multitude of phenomena, so often observed, but- frequently: unexplained/inexplicable, by yesterday's Science and/or measurement methodologies.

     Having used the Bumblebees' flight, a few times, regarding that topic (Science); it was nice to see someone else bring up *those facts for confirmation, as to why our current understanding of the various, mysterious things many of us have actually encountered/heard, in our homes/rooms and systems, with our own ears and cognition, might easily go unexplained. 

                                                       ie:

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/what-s-going-on-with-synergistic-research-fuses/post?highlight=bumblebees%2Bfluid%2Bdynamics&postid=2014955#2014955

                                                from 2014:

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/what-direction-should-hi-fi-tune-fuse-be-installed/post?highlight=bumblebees%2Bfluid%2Bdynamics&postid=811494#811494       

                 There are a couple others, I could cite, but, 'nuff said!:

                                       Once again: thanks!

You may recall the comment somewhere along the way that given what we know about science and math, an Aeronautical Engineer would have to conclude that Bumble Bees can’t fly.

So given that this is incorrect and maths and science can explain why bees can fly (a fact that was never questioned by anybody), what broader implications does this have for any conclusions that were sought to be relied upon?

That neighbours aren't very smart?

 

 

QSA Gemstones remind me of bump dots we place on control surfaces of appliances for my wife who is legally blind. She can sort out the microwave, washing machine and dryer settings. Shiny!

@waytoomuchstuff , et al.

I find it interesting how the debates on these forums typically depreciate into labeling, name-calling, and assigning sides between believers vs. naysayers, with no in-between.

I assume there are others here like me who do in fact hear differences between components, speakers, support systems, cables, tubes, and more. It’s not that I don’t recognize that certain things can make a sonic difference, and it’s not that I don’t have an open mind to what I hear in my own system, and it’s not that I have never tried many different cables, small boxes, outlets, and other stuff including fuses by SR. Its also not that I have a poor sounding system or shitty hearing.

However, I (and I assume others) believe that the effect of some things is just too miniscule in the big scheme of everything that goes into an electronic sound reproduction system to actually be reliably heard, much less create "game-changing" improvements. To the OP’s point, the prices that some of this stuff is being sold for are "ludicrous." I probably have a few of those "gemstones" around from when my daughter and her friends used to play dress-up - maybe cost all of 0.25 cents.

Just this week, I auditioned the Hattor Tube Active Stage. It sounded pretty darn good. I tried it with the supplied Jan-Phillips tubes and some new Mullard tubes - both good but slightly different - I heard the difference. The TAS is a really good sounding buffer, but it didn’t quite achieve the level of sonic performance IMO that I get from my SMc Audio TLC-1 buffer, which at around $6K or so is at least 3x the price of the TAS. My point is that both my system and my ears are good enough to hear subtle differences that some things make.

I can hear the differences between my individually insulated solid core OCC Harmonic Tech speaker cables, vs. my Furutech FS-Alpha stranded OCC speaker cables, vs. my DIY WE 7awg tinned copper speaker cables - they all sound good yet different. Same with ICs, servers, DACs, and speakers for sure. When it comes to digital boxes like my Bonn N8 switch, 45 feet of fiber vs. CAT8, and the Network Acoustics ENO I received a week ago, the results/differences are so subtle (if at all) that I suspect my judgement may be unreliable. Same with the six Shakti Stones and the Quiet Line and Enacom AC filters I own and use in my system. Like a lot of this stuff, I bought it because reviewers and posters said it improves the sound, and because I wanted every possible improvement for my system, but I seriously doubt I could reliably hear whether the stuff is in my system or not. However, I do believe I more reliably hear improvements from the brass damping discs I use on most of my equipment, the springs I use to decouple/support my speakers, and the SRA platforms under my amps, but maybe I am dreaming when it comes to that stuff too.

I have been improving my system for a long time but to believe that somebody can accurately predict the presence of a small wafer sitting on a cable, and that the wafer can dramatically improve their system, is beyond what I can get my head around based on what I have heard, and not heard, in my system. Some folks talk about this stuff as if their systems are totally transformed each time they introduce a new dongle, disc, or doodad. But hey, why wouldn’t they believe that, the advertisers tell them it’s going to happen...

flesh out rich harmonics combined with a clarifying effect in the sound field for a more lifelike and holographic presentation,

or

lower the noise floor, and allow more recording ambience and decay through. They also seem to make the presentation more liquid and natural sounding,

or

a larger soundstage with better image focus and higher resolution from a perceived lowering of the noise floor...All aspects of subjective sound quality get enhanced, including natural sound where instruments and vocals sound inherently right, dynamics, low-level detail, high-frequency extension, and smoothness all take a massive leap forward

MASSIVE leap forward - from a fuse?! How many times can a system be totally transformed? How can the sound of cable changes be subtle and yet doodads, stick-ons, small pieces of wood, and fuses can have a "massive" impact on the sound? Manufacturers are making a huge per-unit profit off of this stuff and based on what I have heard, in my own system, I can’t help believing that (at least in some cases) they are selling a puff of hope instead of a product that provides a tangible improvement to the level advertised.

@jimob discussed the Duelund -Mundorf Ultra Audio purifiers earlier in this thread, saying:

"they truly do filter- clean the Audio signal before it enters the speaker."

In fact, the Ultra Audio Purifier is simply a Zobel network - a capacitor and resistor connected in series across the binding posts ($80 in good quality parts). It affects the electrical properties of the amplifier/speaker interface making the impedance a loudspeaker presents to the amplifier output appear as a steady resistance. It could improve the sound of some amplifier/speaker combinations, but is probably not necessary in most. To imply that it is "purifying" and "cleaning" the audio signal seems to me like another example of marketing hyperbole for the purpose of selling yet another dongle that audiophiles must have.

Hey, I don’t care what people say they hear, or how they spend their money, or how manufacturers make a buck, but it sure would be nice if posters on these forums stated their cases and examples and moved on rather than labeling and name-calling, lumping everyone here into one side or another, and pitting them against each other.

A while ago, I answered one of Geoff Kait’s questions correctly and he sent me some small tiles with copper foil on them. I just sat them on top of the power cables that feed my monoblocks and hey, guess what...MASSIVE improvement! Veils were lifted, fog cleared, trumpets sounded, and I was transmorphed to an audiophile utopia where there were no standing waves, RFI, or hissing tweeters - everything was clean and flat with excellent tone and dynamics. You gotta try these...