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  #1   Report Post  
Agent_C
 
Posts: n/a
Default Share Your Snake Oil Story...

I'm sure we all have our favorite snake oil story...

Mine comes from Lyric HiFi here in New York, when they tried to sell me
little coin size metallic stickers. At $250.00 each, they supposedly
improved the sound by "dampening the field-effect resonance" on your
individual components. What??? I could hardly contain my laughter!

Then there was the afternoon at Sound by Singer (a more appropriate
name for this rug merchant would be 'Sound by Swindler'), where he had
a customer convinced his prospective $500,000.00 system was so precise,
that one could actually distinguish between two identically titled CD's
- by the subtle differences on the pitted surface of the disk.

I'm not even going to start sharing what salesmen have said while
trying to sell me cables...

A_C

  #2   Report Post  
Dave Kowalski
 
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Default

How about those pyramid cones to isolate speakers from the mounting
surface------
I've watched proponents wax on and on about which direction to put the
point-speaker or surface...



"Agent_C" wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm sure we all have our favorite snake oil story...

Mine comes from Lyric HiFi here in New York, when they tried to sell me
little coin size metallic stickers. At $250.00 each, they supposedly
improved the sound by "dampening the field-effect resonance" on your
individual components. What??? I could hardly contain my laughter!

Then there was the afternoon at Sound by Singer (a more appropriate
name for this rug merchant would be 'Sound by Swindler'), where he had
a customer convinced his prospective $500,000.00 system was so precise,
that one could actually distinguish between two identically titled CD's
- by the subtle differences on the pitted surface of the disk.

I'm not even going to start sharing what salesmen have said while
trying to sell me cables...

A_C



  #3   Report Post  
Arny Krueger
 
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Default

"Dave Kowalski" wrote in message


How about those pyramid cones to isolate speakers from the mounting
surface------


They can do a number on fine finshed floors. Oh, I get it - you need some
sort of magical thing to put under them for only $95.00 each or $395 for a
set of 4.

I've watched proponents wax on and on about which direction to put the
point-speaker or surface...


Yeah, some say that the pointy tip-toes under components act like mechanical
rectifiers. I would think that would be a bad thing - generates nonlinear
distortion.


  #4   Report Post  
Arny Krueger
 
Posts: n/a
Default

"Agent_C" wrote in message
oups.com
I'm sure we all have our favorite snake oil story...


Recently I got John Atkinson of Stereophile to confirm that SP ran an
article about the sonic advantages of treating CDs with Armor All. In fact
the result was damaged CDs.


  #5   Report Post  
Scott Dorsey
 
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Agent_C wrote:

Then there was the afternoon at Sound by Singer (a more appropriate
name for this rug merchant would be 'Sound by Swindler'), where he had
a customer convinced his prospective $500,000.00 system was so precise,
that one could actually distinguish between two identically titled CD's
- by the subtle differences on the pitted surface of the disk.


But that's the case with nearly any playback system.

The pitted surface of the disk contains the data. You play back an early
pressing of an album mastered flat, then you play back a later pressing
that is compressed to hell, and there will sure be substantial audible
differences on the same title.

And those differences is because the data on the disc is different... on
the pitted surfaces. Okay, they aren't maybe subtle differences. In the
case of some albums they are anything BUT subtle....
--scott


--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."


  #6   Report Post  
Arny Krueger
 
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"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message

Agent_C wrote:

Then there was the afternoon at Sound by Singer (a more appropriate
name for this rug merchant would be 'Sound by Swindler'), where he
had a customer convinced his prospective $500,000.00 system was so
precise, that one could actually distinguish between two identically
titled CD's - by the subtle differences on the pitted surface of the
disk.


But that's the case with nearly any playback system.

The pitted surface of the disk contains the data. You play back an
early pressing of an album mastered flat, then you play back a later
pressing that is compressed to hell, and there will sure be
substantial audible differences on the same title.

And those differences is because the data on the disc is different...
on the pitted surfaces. Okay, they aren't maybe subtle differences.
In the case of some albums they are anything BUT subtle....


Isn't this kinda begging the question, Scott?

What the high priests at Singer are claiming is that identical data on CDs
pressed right after each other with the same dies can be reasonably be
expected to sound different, due to the extreme resolution of their megabuck
CD players.

And you know what, I can prove this to be true. All it takes is a
properly-tuned finger print on one of the otherwise-identical CDs. If a
$30,000 or even a $3,000 sale were contingent, I might be tempted...


  #7   Report Post  
TimPerry
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...
"Dave Kowalski" wrote in message


How about those pyramid cones to isolate speakers from the mounting
surface------


They can do a number on fine finshed floors. Oh, I get it - you need some
sort of magical thing to put under them for only $95.00 each or $395 for a
set of 4.

I've watched proponents wax on and on about which direction to put the
point-speaker or surface...


Yeah, some say that the pointy tip-toes under components act like

mechanical
rectifiers. I would think that would be a bad thing - generates nonlinear
distortion.


ever hear if the "lunar gravity compensator" for tone arms? this cam comes
with a tide chart and is used to adjust tracking force to compensate for the
slight gravitational pull of the moon.



  #8   Report Post  
scott
 
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One of my personal favorites...oh yeah....these look like a good
investment...not!

Tekna Sonic C-5 BookShelf Speaker Enhancer - Pair $79.95

Even the finest speakers have cabinet vibrations that make bass notes muddy
or boomy, and distort the midrange. Now Tekna Sonic offers a simple solution
guaranteed to improve bass and midrange clarity. C-5 vibration absorbers
feature an array of polymer damping plates - selectively tuned to
frequencies in the 20-1kHz range - which attach magnetically to the back of
the speaker cabinet.


"Dave Kowalski" wrote in message
...
How about those pyramid cones to isolate speakers from the mounting
surface------
I've watched proponents wax on and on about which direction to put the
point-speaker or surface...



"Agent_C" wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm sure we all have our favorite snake oil story...

Mine comes from Lyric HiFi here in New York, when they tried to sell me
little coin size metallic stickers. At $250.00 each, they supposedly
improved the sound by "dampening the field-effect resonance" on your
individual components. What??? I could hardly contain my laughter!

Then there was the afternoon at Sound by Singer (a more appropriate
name for this rug merchant would be 'Sound by Swindler'), where he had
a customer convinced his prospective $500,000.00 system was so precise,
that one could actually distinguish between two identically titled CD's
- by the subtle differences on the pitted surface of the disk.

I'm not even going to start sharing what salesmen have said while
trying to sell me cables...

A_C





  #9   Report Post  
John
 
Posts: n/a
Default

On 3/3/05 8:51 AM, in article , "Dave Kowalski"
wrote:

How about those pyramid cones to isolate speakers from the mounting
surface------
I've watched proponents wax on and on about which direction to put the
point-speaker or surface...



"Agent_C" wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm sure we all have our favorite snake oil story...

Mine comes from Lyric HiFi here in New York, when they tried to sell me
little coin size metallic stickers. At $250.00 each, they supposedly
improved the sound by "dampening the field-effect resonance" on your
individual components. What??? I could hardly contain my laughter!

Then there was the afternoon at Sound by Singer (a more appropriate
name for this rug merchant would be 'Sound by Swindler'), where he had
a customer convinced his prospective $500,000.00 system was so precise,
that one could actually distinguish between two identically titled CD's
- by the subtle differences on the pitted surface of the disk.

I'm not even going to start sharing what salesmen have said while
trying to sell me cables...


I confess to having a set of these ceramic doodads for my little Tannoys,
bought soley because the Tannoy tech folks said they indeed were worth
having. At $5 a set I wasn;t worried for the experiment.
I'm still not sure if the black ones sound darker than the brown ones.


  #11   Report Post  
Mark
 
Posts: n/a
Default


Agent_C wrote:
I'm sure we all have our favorite snake oil story...

Mine comes from Lyric HiFi here in New York, when they tried to sell

me
little coin size metallic stickers. At $250.00 each, they supposedly
improved the sound by "dampening the field-effect resonance" on your
individual components. What??? I could hardly contain my laughter!

Then there was the afternoon at Sound by Singer (a more appropriate
name for this rug merchant would be 'Sound by Swindler'), where he

had
a customer convinced his prospective $500,000.00 system was so

precise,
that one could actually distinguish between two identically titled

CD's
- by the subtle differences on the pitted surface of the disk.

I'm not even going to start sharing what salesmen have said while
trying to sell me cables...

A_C



My favorites are those little teflon sticks being sold to audiofools to
support speaker cables up off and away from the lossy dielectric
plastic fibers in your carpet.

Mark

  #12   Report Post  
Steven Sullivan
 
Posts: n/a
Default

In rec.audio.tech Arny Krueger wrote:
"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message

Agent_C wrote:

Then there was the afternoon at Sound by Singer (a more appropriate
name for this rug merchant would be 'Sound by Swindler'), where he
had a customer convinced his prospective $500,000.00 system was so
precise, that one could actually distinguish between two identically
titled CD's - by the subtle differences on the pitted surface of the
disk.


But that's the case with nearly any playback system.

The pitted surface of the disk contains the data. You play back an
early pressing of an album mastered flat, then you play back a later
pressing that is compressed to hell, and there will sure be
substantial audible differences on the same title.

And those differences is because the data on the disc is different...
on the pitted surfaces. Okay, they aren't maybe subtle differences.
In the case of some albums they are anything BUT subtle....


Isn't this kinda begging the question, Scott?


What the high priests at Singer are claiming is that identical data on CDs
pressed right after each other with the same dies can be reasonably be
expected to sound different, due to the extreme resolution of their megabuck
CD players.


*Possibly* the Singer folk claim that too -- having shopped in the NYC
hi-end dens, I won't put anything past Singer
and Lyric, veritable temples of tweakdom and snake-oil -- but Agent C
only said the CDs were *identically titled* -- which
could include remastered CDs, which certainly do tend to sound different from
previous editions....and have different pits too ; That's what Scott
is getting at.

Of course even a $500 system, or a $15 portable discman, could reveal
audible difference between many remastered CDs...

--

-S
It's not my business to do intelligent work. -- D. Rumsfeld, testifying
before the House Armed Services Committee
  #13   Report Post  
Codifus
 
Posts: n/a
Default

TimPerry wrote:
"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...

"Dave Kowalski" wrote in message



How about those pyramid cones to isolate speakers from the mounting
surface------


They can do a number on fine finshed floors. Oh, I get it - you need some
sort of magical thing to put under them for only $95.00 each or $395 for a
set of 4.


I've watched proponents wax on and on about which direction to put the
point-speaker or surface...


Yeah, some say that the pointy tip-toes under components act like


mechanical

rectifiers. I would think that would be a bad thing - generates nonlinear
distortion.



ever hear if the "lunar gravity compensator" for tone arms? this cam comes
with a tide chart and is used to adjust tracking force to compensate for the
slight gravitational pull of the moon.



So THAT's why my turntable sounds funny when I'm playing it on the
beach, and it always co-incided with high tide

Oh, and the sand inside my motor bearings, do they have something for
that, too?

CD
  #14   Report Post  
Stewart Pinkerton
 
Posts: n/a
Default

On Thu, 3 Mar 2005 09:06:57 -0500, "Arny Krueger"
wrote:

"Dave Kowalski" wrote in message


How about those pyramid cones to isolate speakers from the mounting
surface------


They can do a number on fine finshed floors. Oh, I get it - you need some
sort of magical thing to put under them for only $95.00 each or $395 for a
set of 4.


Kruger Rands would surely be the best? :-)
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering
  #15   Report Post  
TimPerry
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"Codifus" wrote in message
...
TimPerry wrote:
"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...

"Dave Kowalski" wrote in message



How about those pyramid cones to isolate speakers from the mounting
surface------

They can do a number on fine finshed floors. Oh, I get it - you need

some
sort of magical thing to put under them for only $95.00 each or $395 for

a
set of 4.


I've watched proponents wax on and on about which direction to put the
point-speaker or surface...

Yeah, some say that the pointy tip-toes under components act like


mechanical

rectifiers. I would think that would be a bad thing - generates

nonlinear
distortion.



ever hear if the "lunar gravity compensator" for tone arms? this cam

comes
with a tide chart and is used to adjust tracking force to compensate for

the
slight gravitational pull of the moon.



So THAT's why my turntable sounds funny when I'm playing it on the
beach, and it always co-incided with high tide

Oh, and the sand inside my motor bearings, do they have something for
that, too?

CD


remember the "ZeroStat" gun for records?

all you need is the Megastat Cannon (tm) to create an instant static
repulsion field for ANY electronic device. perfect for drunken beach
parties. as an added feature the Megastat Cannon (tm) actually attracts
topless babes.




  #16   Report Post  
TimPerry
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"John" wrote in message
...
On 3/3/05 8:51 AM, in article , "Dave Kowalski"
wrote:

How about those pyramid cones to isolate speakers from the mounting
surface------
I've watched proponents wax on and on about which direction to put the
point-speaker or surface...



"Agent_C" wrote in message
oups.com...
I'm sure we all have our favorite snake oil story...

Mine comes from Lyric HiFi here in New York, when they tried to sell me
little coin size metallic stickers. At $250.00 each, they supposedly
improved the sound by "dampening the field-effect resonance" on your
individual components. What??? I could hardly contain my laughter!

Then there was the afternoon at Sound by Singer (a more appropriate
name for this rug merchant would be 'Sound by Swindler'), where he had
a customer convinced his prospective $500,000.00 system was so precise,
that one could actually distinguish between two identically titled CD's
- by the subtle differences on the pitted surface of the disk.

I'm not even going to start sharing what salesmen have said while
trying to sell me cables...


I confess to having a set of these ceramic doodads for my little Tannoys,
bought soley because the Tannoy tech folks said they indeed were worth
having. At $5 a set I wasn;t worried for the experiment.
I'm still not sure if the black ones sound darker than the brown ones.


they probably sound "warmer" as the black exterior absorbs more heat and as
we all know a warmer objects molecules move faster. ... maybe nickel plated
ones are needed for heavy metal music?


  #17   Report Post  
TimPerry
 
Posts: n/a
Default


My favorites are those little teflon sticks being sold to audiofools to
support speaker cables up off and away from the lossy dielectric
plastic fibers in your carpet.

Mark


hey that a new one! where can i see it?


  #18   Report Post  
Chad Wahls
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"TimPerry" wrote in message
...

"Codifus" wrote in message
...
TimPerry wrote:
"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
...

"Dave Kowalski" wrote in message



How about those pyramid cones to isolate speakers from the mounting
surface------

They can do a number on fine finshed floors. Oh, I get it - you need

some
sort of magical thing to put under them for only $95.00 each or $395
for

a
set of 4.


I've watched proponents wax on and on about which direction to put the
point-speaker or surface...

Yeah, some say that the pointy tip-toes under components act like

mechanical

rectifiers. I would think that would be a bad thing - generates

nonlinear
distortion.



ever hear if the "lunar gravity compensator" for tone arms? this cam

comes
with a tide chart and is used to adjust tracking force to compensate
for

the
slight gravitational pull of the moon.



So THAT's why my turntable sounds funny when I'm playing it on the
beach, and it always co-incided with high tide

Oh, and the sand inside my motor bearings, do they have something for
that, too?

CD


remember the "ZeroStat" gun for records?

all you need is the Megastat Cannon (tm) to create an instant static
repulsion field for ANY electronic device. perfect for drunken beach
parties. as an added feature the Megastat Cannon (tm) actually attracts
topless babes.



Yeeeeaaaah baby! I have a stat cannon in my pile-o-laughter here in my
office!!!

Chad


  #19   Report Post  
Andrew Chesters
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Agent_C wrote:
I'm sure we all have our favorite snake oil story...

Mine comes from Lyric HiFi here in New York, when they tried to sell me
little coin size metallic stickers. At $250.00 each, they supposedly
improved the sound by "dampening the field-effect resonance" on your
individual components. What??? I could hardly contain my laughter!

Then there was the afternoon at Sound by Singer (a more appropriate
name for this rug merchant would be 'Sound by Swindler'), where he had
a customer convinced his prospective $500,000.00 system was so precise,
that one could actually distinguish between two identically titled CD's
- by the subtle differences on the pitted surface of the disk.

I'm not even going to start sharing what salesmen have said while
trying to sell me cables...

A_C

Not as "off the wall" as some of the tales here, but when shopping for
an MD for sound effects playback in a theatre, I was told by spotty yoof
in Richer Sounds that "player X had a better sound because it went
through fewer buttons on the front panel than player Y". Needless to
say, I did laugh in his face and, quite loudly, explained to the whole
shop that he new dip-**** about audio. Might just have lost them a few
sales that day.

I DID buy one of them, just happened to be the one with more
knobs/buttons. There again, I was only really interested in one
feature; "Can you set it to pause after each track?"
  #20   Report Post  
Jim Gilliland
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Agent_C wrote:
I'm sure we all have our favorite snake oil story...


Some of my favorite snake oil products have come from the Shakti company:

http://www.shakti-innovations.com/audiovideo.htm

They not only improve your audio, but the same technology will make your
car run better!

http://www.shakti-innovations.com/automotive.htm

And here's their latest innovation:

http://www.shakti-innovations.com/hallograph.htm


  #21   Report Post  
David Morgan \(MAMS\)
 
Posts: n/a
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"Jim Gilliland" wrote in message...

And here's their latest innovation:

http://www.shakti-innovations.com/hallograph.htm



Oh my.... :-\




  #22   Report Post  
play on
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I think someone needs to collect all this stuff and put it on one
website... www.audiofraud.org or something. It would be a public
service.

Al

On Thu, 03 Mar 2005 14:54:38 -0500, Jim Gilliland
wrote:

Agent_C wrote:
I'm sure we all have our favorite snake oil story...


Some of my favorite snake oil products have come from the Shakti company:

http://www.shakti-innovations.com/audiovideo.htm

They not only improve your audio, but the same technology will make your
car run better!

http://www.shakti-innovations.com/automotive.htm

And here's their latest innovation:

http://www.shakti-innovations.com/hallograph.htm


  #23   Report Post  
jakdedert
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"Andrew Chesters" wrote in message
...
Agent_C wrote:
I'm sure we all have our favorite snake oil story...

Mine comes from Lyric HiFi here in New York, when they tried to sell me
little coin size metallic stickers. At $250.00 each, they supposedly
improved the sound by "dampening the field-effect resonance" on your
individual components. What??? I could hardly contain my laughter!

Then there was the afternoon at Sound by Singer (a more appropriate
name for this rug merchant would be 'Sound by Swindler'), where he had
a customer convinced his prospective $500,000.00 system was so precise,
that one could actually distinguish between two identically titled CD's
- by the subtle differences on the pitted surface of the disk.

I'm not even going to start sharing what salesmen have said while
trying to sell me cables...

A_C

Not as "off the wall" as some of the tales here, but when shopping for
an MD for sound effects playback in a theatre, I was told by spotty yoof
in Richer Sounds that "player X had a better sound because it went
through fewer buttons on the front panel than player Y". Needless to
say, I did laugh in his face and, quite loudly, explained to the whole
shop that he new dip-**** about audio. Might just have lost them a few
sales that day.


I'm surprised nobody's mentioned the company which sells wooden *control
knobs* for stereo equipment! They claim all sorts of 'subtle' sonic
advantages when compared to the original plastic or metal ones....

jak

I DID buy one of them, just happened to be the one with more
knobs/buttons. There again, I was only really interested in one
feature; "Can you set it to pause after each track?"





  #24   Report Post  
Jim Gilliland
 
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Default

David Morgan (MAMS) wrote:
"Jim Gilliland" wrote in message...

And here's their latest innovation:

http://www.shakti-innovations.com/hallograph.htm


Oh my.... :-\


They've been in business for over a decade!
  #25   Report Post  
Karl Winkler
 
Posts: n/a
Default


Jim Gilliland wrote:
Agent_C wrote:
I'm sure we all have our favorite snake oil story...


Some of my favorite snake oil products have come from the Shakti

company:

http://www.shakti-innovations.com/audiovideo.htm

They not only improve your audio, but the same technology will make

your
car run better!

http://www.shakti-innovations.com/automotive.htm

And here's their latest innovation:

http://www.shakti-innovations.com/hallograph.htm


Those things improve the sound in the room so much that they make it
*look* like there's a violin in the room with you! Amazing.

Karl Winkler
Lectrsonics, Inc.
http://www.lectrsonics.com



  #26   Report Post  
play on
 
Posts: n/a
Default

On Thu, 03 Mar 2005 20:21:09 GMT, "David Morgan \(MAMS\)"
wrote:


"Jim Gilliland" wrote in message...

And here's their latest innovation:

http://www.shakti-innovations.com/hallograph.htm



Oh my.... :-\




They say they have a patent pending for that... wonder if it's true.
What are the patent regulations, does the patented invention actually
have to work, or can any crazy thing be patented?

Al
  #27   Report Post  
play on
 
Posts: n/a
Default

On 3 Mar 2005 13:25:07 -0800, "Karl Winkler"
wrote:


Jim Gilliland wrote:
Agent_C wrote:
I'm sure we all have our favorite snake oil story...


Some of my favorite snake oil products have come from the Shakti

company:

http://www.shakti-innovations.com/audiovideo.htm

They not only improve your audio, but the same technology will make

your
car run better!

http://www.shakti-innovations.com/automotive.htm

And here's their latest innovation:

http://www.shakti-innovations.com/hallograph.htm


Those things improve the sound in the room so much that they make it
*look* like there's a violin in the room with you! Amazing.


They had to have something real in the picture to give it some cred.

Al
  #28   Report Post  
Dave Platt
 
Posts: n/a
Default

They say they have a patent pending for that... wonder if it's true.
What are the patent regulations, does the patented invention actually
have to work, or can any crazy thing be patented?


In theory, a patented invention must be "useful", "novel", and
"non-obvious". Most would say that "useful" requires that it actually
work, at least to some extent. It used to be the case, long ago, that
you had to actually build at least a working model and be able to
demonstrate that the device worked.

However, in practice, the rules have changed. Many patent claims are
allowed based solely on a description (which must, again in principle,
be sufficiently detailed to allow someone skilled in the art to
reproduce the invention as described) and no working model is ever
presented. It's also clear that many patent examiners are content to
accept the filer's explanation about how and why the invention works,
and that they're sometimes woefully ignorant of the actual state of
the art and of the existence of relevant prior art.

On the other hand, "patent pending" simply means that they've filed.
It doesn't mean that the patent has been issued, or has even been
allowed and is on the way to being issued. It's entirely possible
that most or all of their claims have been, or will be laughed out of
court by the patent examiner.

Even if they do have a valid patent claim in the works, there's
nothing definite to say that their flowery public description about
how their product is supposed to work, corresponds at all closely to
the wording in the patent claims. They might have filed a patent
claim for some narrowly-worded aspect of the design of this specific
product (e.g. a specific size and shape of the ripples), without
trying to claim wider coverage via a "utility" patent and its
description and claims.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Hosting the Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!
  #29   Report Post  
Mark
 
Posts: n/a
Default


TimPerry wrote:

My favorites are those little teflon sticks being sold to

audiofools to
support speaker cables up off and away from the lossy dielectric
plastic fibers in your carpet.

Mark


hey that a new one! where can i see it?


http://www.xit.net/kenan/testimonials.htm

or google these keywords

"speaker cables" "off the floor"

its off the wall if you ask me :-)

Mark

  #30   Report Post  
David Morgan \(MAMS\)
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"Jim Gilliland" wrote in message ...
David Morgan (MAMS) wrote:
"Jim Gilliland" wrote in message...

And here's their latest innovation:

http://www.shakti-innovations.com/hallograph.htm


Oh my.... :-\


They've been in business for over a decade!



No wonder the political situation is like it is....




  #31   Report Post  
dt king
 
Posts: n/a
Default

"Dave Platt" wrote in message
...
They say they have a patent pending for that... wonder if it's true.
What are the patent regulations, does the patented invention actually
have to work, or can any crazy thing be patented?


In theory, a patented invention must be "useful", "novel", and
"non-obvious". Most would say that "useful" requires that it actually
work, at least to some extent. It used to be the case, long ago, that
you had to actually build at least a working model and be able to
demonstrate that the device worked.


They say one of the simplest patents ever granted was for the number 1.65.
It was granted to Phillip H. Smith as the optimum diameter ratio for a
coaxial transmission line.

Not often I get to use that bit of trivia.

dtk


  #32   Report Post  
Harvey Gerst
 
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Jim Gilliland wrote:

David Morgan (MAMS) wrote:
"Jim Gilliland" wrote in message...

And here's their latest innovation:

http://www.shakti-innovations.com/hallograph.htm


Oh my.... :-\


They've been in business for over a decade!


The current "SBEM"* rate of 1 is still probably about the same as it was
in P.T. Barnum's day, so that would come out to about 1/2 a million new
SPEM's every year, or 5,000,000 SBEM in a decade. That's a healthy
market share.

*SBEM = "Sucker Born Every Minute"

Harvey Gerst
Indian Trail Recording Studio
http://www.ITRstudio.com/
  #33   Report Post  
Mike Diack
 
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And the winner is.....
http://www.referenceaudiomods.com/Me.../merchant.mvc?
Screen=PROD&Product_Code=NOB_C37_C&Category_Code=V OLUME&Product_Count=2
  #34   Report Post  
Dave Platt
 
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In article ,
dt king wrote:

In theory, a patented invention must be "useful", "novel", and
"non-obvious". Most would say that "useful" requires that it actually
work, at least to some extent. It used to be the case, long ago, that
you had to actually build at least a working model and be able to
demonstrate that the device worked.


They say one of the simplest patents ever granted was for the number 1.65.
It was granted to Phillip H. Smith as the optimum diameter ratio for a
coaxial transmission line.


Neat - that's the ratio which gives the lowest loss per weight/cost
of materials given standard (WW II) dielectrics, right?

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Hosting the Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!
  #35   Report Post  
james
 
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In article ,
TimPerry wrote:

remember the "ZeroStat" gun for records?


I remember that it worked quite well if you used it properly.
And used improperly it also did a fine job of getting your kid sister
out of your room.



  #36   Report Post  
Glen O'Toole
 
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On Thu, 03 Mar 2005 05:43:04 -0800, Agent_C wrote:

I'm sure we all have our favorite snake oil story...


When I was a kid back in the early 70's, I went with a fellow audiophile
friend of mine to BrandsMart which was a place where you needed a
membership card to get in.
We went to the audio section and they had quite a selection of equipment
there at all price ranges.

Anyway, my friend wanted to buy some speakers so we were audtioning all
the ones on this giant wall of speakers with this remote control thing
that allowed us to switch between various models.

He like the sound of some mid-line BOSE speakers, not the 901's, but some
box model like 601 or 301 or something like that.
We commented to the salesman who happened to be this black guy who looked
exactly like Nipsey Russel or Dr. J of the Nets that the sound seemed to
be coming from everywhere when we switched to the Bose speakers.

He blurted out in this 1970's ghetto accent "Maaaannnnnn THAT'S da TRICK
of Da BOSE"!!!!!

We quickly figured out that the "trick of the Bose" was having another 10
speakers playing at the same time!!!!!

I'll never forget it!!!

BTW he bought a set of Advents and the guy gave him a great deal on them,
but it was very funny at the time!



--
Glenn O'Toole

"Lounge Lizard Extraordinaire
and
master of the bagpipes"


  #37   Report Post  
Boris Mohar
 
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On 3 Mar 2005 05:43:04 -0800, "Agent_C"
wrote:

I'm sure we all have our favorite snake oil story...

Here is my partial collection. About 0.01% of what is out there.

http://www.amusicdirect.com/products...380&sku=AAQEV8
http://gallery.consumerreview.com/au...es/opus-mm.asp
http://www.bybeetech.com/
http://www.amusicdirect.com/products...=280&sku=AELEV
http://www.machinadynamica.com/machina27.htm
http://www.altmann.haan.de/tubeolator/default.htm
http://www.machinadynamica.com/machina28.htm
http://www.scamshield.com/Feature.asp?id=1



Regards,

Boris Mohar

Got Knock? - see:
Viatrack Printed Circuit Designs (among other things) http://www.viatrack.ca
  #38   Report Post  
TimPerry
 
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"Mike Diack" wrote in message
.. .

And the winner is.....
http://www.referenceaudiomods.com/Me.../merchant.mvc?
Screen=PROD&Product_Code=NOB_C37_C&Category_Code=V OLUME&Product_Count=2


oh yes... i wonder what a "Audio Consulting AC Isolation Transformer
($340 Installed)" is?



  #39   Report Post  
David Morgan \(MAMS\)
 
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"TimPerry" wrote in message ...

"Mike Diack" wrote in message
.. .

And the winner is.....
http://www.referenceaudiomods.com/Me.../merchant.mvc?
Screen=PROD&Product_Code=NOB_C37_C&Category_Code=V OLUME&Product_Count=2


oh yes... i wonder what a "Audio Consulting AC Isolation Transformer
($340 Installed)" is?



And honestly... I haven't tried listening to many power conditioners lately, either.


  #40   Report Post  
Neil Henderson
 
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"David Morgan (MAMS)" wrote in message
news:esOVd.20090$QQ3.18031@trnddc02...

"TimPerry" wrote in message
...

"Mike Diack" wrote in message
.. .

And the winner is.....
http://www.referenceaudiomods.com/Me.../merchant.mvc?
Screen=PROD&Product_Code=NOB_C37_C&Category_Code=V OLUME&Product_Count=2


oh yes... i wonder what a "Audio Consulting AC Isolation Transformer
($340 Installed)" is?



And honestly... I haven't tried listening to many power conditioners
lately, either.


What's the best-sounding power conditioner for under... (oh never mind).

Neil Henderson


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