Paul, I did go and check out the "snake oil" section of the website that you mentioned. The owner of this shop seems quite level-headed and respectable.
Quite honestly, i was a HARDCORE skeptic about some of the "tweaks" that i take for granted now. Many moons ago, my brother and I had a "knock down, drag out" dispute about AC cables with a gentleman by the name of Ozzy and a select few others over on Audio Review. While Ozzy and his "crew" were preaching the benefits of aftermarket AC cords, my brother and i kept handing him the same lines that most AC skeptics use even today. The only thing that came out of that was a runaway thread and a lot of smoke coming from everyone's ears. I'm sure that Ozzy can remember this "dispute". He may even chime in with a few words as i know that he sometimes frequents these forums.
The funny thing about that thread was that i was talking out of the top of my hat i.e. i had never experimented with "fancy" power cables. After trying a well designed cable out for myself, i could hardly believe that i REALLY could hear a difference. In fact, the difference was SO noticeable that i have now invested a couple of thousand dollars in test equipment so that i can try to analyze / design a power cord that is more effective than those that i currently own & use.
Needless to say, i am now one of those that believes that science should be able to explain why something happens, not tell you that it can't happen. I've seen too many "impossible occurances" take place in the electronics field to discount ANY point of view. After all, a lot of the money that i make comes from being able to improve circuits /designs that are already "theoretically perfect". I've even had the President of one of the largest communications manufacturing facilities in the world fly in from the Orient with his head EE ( Electrical Engineer ) and ME ( Mechanical Engineer ) just to see "impossibilities" that were occuring on a daily basis with their products. Not only did they not know that such problems could have ever occured, they did not know how to correct them once they saw that they did exist. That's why they came to see me in person : )
Obviously, i'm not saying that i have all of the answers. If i did, i'd be able to whip out a formula that explained our existance and why cables go through electrical changes when voltage / current is passed through them ande how they react in any given situation. While i doubt i will be able to make a dent in the "why are we here" part of my last statement, i'm hoping to be able to at least measure and document some of the phenomena that many people don't believe exists on the latter part of that statement. Sean
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Quite honestly, i was a HARDCORE skeptic about some of the "tweaks" that i take for granted now. Many moons ago, my brother and I had a "knock down, drag out" dispute about AC cables with a gentleman by the name of Ozzy and a select few others over on Audio Review. While Ozzy and his "crew" were preaching the benefits of aftermarket AC cords, my brother and i kept handing him the same lines that most AC skeptics use even today. The only thing that came out of that was a runaway thread and a lot of smoke coming from everyone's ears. I'm sure that Ozzy can remember this "dispute". He may even chime in with a few words as i know that he sometimes frequents these forums.
The funny thing about that thread was that i was talking out of the top of my hat i.e. i had never experimented with "fancy" power cables. After trying a well designed cable out for myself, i could hardly believe that i REALLY could hear a difference. In fact, the difference was SO noticeable that i have now invested a couple of thousand dollars in test equipment so that i can try to analyze / design a power cord that is more effective than those that i currently own & use.
Needless to say, i am now one of those that believes that science should be able to explain why something happens, not tell you that it can't happen. I've seen too many "impossible occurances" take place in the electronics field to discount ANY point of view. After all, a lot of the money that i make comes from being able to improve circuits /designs that are already "theoretically perfect". I've even had the President of one of the largest communications manufacturing facilities in the world fly in from the Orient with his head EE ( Electrical Engineer ) and ME ( Mechanical Engineer ) just to see "impossibilities" that were occuring on a daily basis with their products. Not only did they not know that such problems could have ever occured, they did not know how to correct them once they saw that they did exist. That's why they came to see me in person : )
Obviously, i'm not saying that i have all of the answers. If i did, i'd be able to whip out a formula that explained our existance and why cables go through electrical changes when voltage / current is passed through them ande how they react in any given situation. While i doubt i will be able to make a dent in the "why are we here" part of my last statement, i'm hoping to be able to at least measure and document some of the phenomena that many people don't believe exists on the latter part of that statement. Sean
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