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#1
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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
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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
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"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
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"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
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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
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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
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"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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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The most outrageous and shameless
snake-oil site I've been pointed to recently is: http://www.machinadynamica.com/ the home of BRILLIANT PEBBLES basically, a jar of rocks "It's no exaggeration to say that with the Pebbles in place regular CDs now sound better than SACDs did before." -- Gabriel G., PhD the INTELLIGENT CHIP: "Machina Dynamica now carries the amazing Intelligent Chip, an emerging technology device that improves CD sound quality in the blink of an eye. The Intelligent Chip is a thin, 1-inch square orange wafer that automatically upgrades any CD/DVD/SACD disc when the Chip is placed momentarily on the top surface of the player while the disc is playing." and the MAGIC RING "Description/Theory: The Magic Ring (Standard size) is a 1 3/4-lb, dark metallic-gray, thick-walled cylinder with OD = 2.5 inch, L = 2.5 inches and H = 2.75 inches (including flat base). The Large Magic Ring weighs 2 1/4 lb and is slightly larger than the standard size Ring. The Magic Ring and Large Magic Ring are intended to be used with speaker cables, power cords and interconnects, as well as in proximity to electronic components. The Magic Ring operates on the principle of "energy organization" in materials that conduct "signal" or electricity, as opposed to magnetism or vibration control. The Magic Ring illuminates and expands the soundstage, lowers distortion and improves dynamics, especially microdynamics. Surprisingly, bass performance is also improved quite a bit. " -- -S It's not my business to do intelligent work. -- D. Rumsfeld, testifying before the House Armed Services Committee |
#15
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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 |
#16
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"Steven Sullivan" wrote in message ... The most outrageous and shameless snake-oil site I've been pointed to recently is: http://www.machinadynamica.com/ the home of BRILLIANT PEBBLES basically, a jar of rocks "It's no exaggeration to say that with the Pebbles in place regular CDs now sound better than SACDs did before." -- Gabriel G., PhD the INTELLIGENT CHIP: "Machina Dynamica now carries the amazing Intelligent Chip, an emerging technology device that improves CD sound quality in the blink of an eye. The Intelligent Chip is a thin, 1-inch square orange wafer that automatically upgrades any CD/DVD/SACD disc when the Chip is placed momentarily on the top surface of the player while the disc is playing." and the MAGIC RING "Description/Theory: The Magic Ring (Standard size) is a 1 3/4-lb, dark metallic-gray, thick-walled cylinder with OD = 2.5 inch, L = 2.5 inches and H = 2.75 inches (including flat base). The Large Magic Ring weighs 2 1/4 lb and is slightly larger than the standard size Ring. The Magic Ring and Large Magic Ring are intended to be used with speaker cables, power cords and interconnects, as well as in proximity to electronic components. The Magic Ring operates on the principle of "energy organization" in materials that conduct "signal" or electricity, as opposed to magnetism or vibration control. The Magic Ring illuminates and expands the soundstage, lowers distortion and improves dynamics, especially microdynamics. Surprisingly, bass performance is also improved quite a bit. " I dig the ultra tweeters. Special cables my ass, Heliax maybe! Because of the inductance of ANY stranded cable, let alone the output tranny or the emitter resistors there ain't no giga nothing getting there!!! Chad |
#17
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In rec.audio.tech Steven Sullivan wrote:
The most outrageous and shameless snake-oil site I've been pointed to recently is: http://www.machinadynamica.com/ Damn, you beat me to it! I particularly like the fact that the magic chip is a consumable item. "Fool you once, shame on me. Fool you twice, and I'll start a business." I figure that someone with an equal mix of cynicism and ethics decided to get into the tweaker market, but decided to come up with something so utterly outrageous that they couldn't feel guilty about fooling anyone incredulous enough to believe them. Colin |
#18
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Steven Sullivan wrote:
The most outrageous and shameless snake-oil site I've been pointed to recently is: http://www.machinadynamica.com/ I like http://www.machinadynamica.com/Bob_Nimbus2.JPG best. It shows these people spend thousands on equipment of questionable quality and exactly _zero_ on room treatment. Oh no, wait - the sofa in front is a special sofa that removes subsonic vibrations (from 0 to 0.1 Hz) so that the music will have more air, ambiance and three dimensional sound stage. Great. And that rock in front of the sofa acts as a supersonic diffusor for effortless, extended treble, enhanced details, authoritative bass, better transient response. (Marketing blabla stolen from http://www.dhcones.com) Johann, f'up to r.a.p. -- Dann frage ich mich nur, wieso neben seinem Telefonbucheintrag "hors service" steht. Ich verstehe nicht, warum dich ein a. D. abhaelt, denjenigen anzurufen (...) (Roman Racine und *Tönnes in dag°) |
#19
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Some of you may be old enough to remember the "deltoid test" flap. In the
early days of digital recording, a clinical psychologist (was his name Diamond?) claimed that digital recordings agitated his patients, while analog recordings calmed them. He proved that by employing the "deltoid test", borrowed from chiropractic. In that test, the subject stands with arms outstretched; the experimenter suddenly presses downward. Whether or not the subject can resist tells the experimenter something about his/her muscle tone, and presumably other things like stress level. The good doctor found that when subjects listened to digital recordings, they showed much lower muscle tone than when they listened to analog recordings. Now, it's not entirely outside of the realm of possibility that digital recordings might have subtle physiological effects. And it's certainly possible that the deltoid test might be detecting real physiological effects, whether or not they might be connected to what the subject was listening to. But when the doctor cautioned that it was well-known in the world of chiropractic that the effects of the deltoid test would be skewed if there was refined sugar anywhere in the room, that's when it was time for the horselaugh. Peace, Paul |
#20
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Paul Stamler wrote:
Now, it's not entirely outside of the realm of possibility that digital recordings might have subtle physiological effects. And it's certainly possible that the deltoid test might be detecting real physiological effects, whether or not they might be connected to what the subject was listening to. Absolutely. If I play The Art of the Fugue on LP to one group, and I play the Sex Pistols on CD to a second group, I can guarantee you that by any objective measure of relaxation (deltoid test, skin resistance, what have you), the group listening to analogue recordings will test as more relaxed. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
#21
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"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. |
#22
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"Scott Dorsey" wrote in message ... Absolutely. If I play The Art of the Fugue on LP to one group, and I play the Sex Pistols on CD to a second group, I can guarantee you that by any objective measure of relaxation (deltoid test, skin resistance, what have you), the group listening to analogue recordings will test as more relaxed. --scott Well, it depends on which recording of the Art of the Fugue, doesn't it? -- Dave Martin DMA, Inc Nashville, TN |
#23
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"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? |
#24
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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? |
#25
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"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 |
#26
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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?" |
#27
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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 |
#28
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"Steven Sullivan" wrote in message ... The most outrageous and shameless snake-oil site I've been pointed to recently is: http://www.machinadynamica.com/ Good God. I kept hoping it was all some sort of bizarre joke... Bob M. |
#29
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In rec.audio.tech Colin B. wrote:
In rec.audio.tech Steven Sullivan wrote: The most outrageous and shameless snake-oil site I've been pointed to recently is: http://www.machinadynamica.com/ Damn, you beat me to it! I particularly like the fact that the magic chip is a consumable item. "Fool you once, shame on me. Fool you twice, and I'll start a business." Well, Clark Johnson says it works! Twice! http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/gen...es/366492.html I figure that someone with an equal mix of cynicism and ethics decided to get into the tweaker market, but decided to come up with something so utterly outrageous that they couldn't feel guilty about fooling anyone incredulous enough to believe them. I actually thought the Machinadynamics site was a spoof, when I first heard of it. -- -S It's not my business to do intelligent work. -- D. Rumsfeld, testifying before the House Armed Services Committee |
#30
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"Jim Gilliland" wrote in message... And here's their latest innovation: http://www.shakti-innovations.com/hallograph.htm Oh my.... :-\ |
#31
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In rec.audio.tech Paul Stamler wrote:
Some of you may be old enough to remember the "deltoid test" flap. In the early days of digital recording, a clinical psychologist (was his name Diamond?) claimed that digital recordings agitated his patients, while analog recordings calmed them. He proved that by employing the "deltoid test", borrowed from chiropractic. Tweako amp designer Mark Levinson has been touting those 'results' for some years now...most recently in a published 'roundtable' in The Absolute Sound. The polite silence from the other members of the roundtable was rather telling...even TAS has its limits. -- -S It's not my business to do intelligent work. -- D. Rumsfeld, testifying before the House Armed Services Committee |
#32
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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 |
#33
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"Dave Martin" wrote in message k.net... "Scott Dorsey" wrote in message ... Absolutely. If I play The Art of the Fugue on LP to one group, and I play the Sex Pistols on CD to a second group, I can guarantee you that by any objective measure of relaxation (deltoid test, skin resistance, what have you), the group listening to analogue recordings will test as more relaxed. --scott Well, it depends on which recording of the Art of the Fugue, doesn't it? And what drugs the two groups have taken. Peace, Paul |
#34
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"Steven Sullivan" wrote in message ... In rec.audio.tech Paul Stamler wrote: Some of you may be old enough to remember the "deltoid test" flap. In the early days of digital recording, a clinical psychologist (was his name Diamond?) claimed that digital recordings agitated his patients, while analog recordings calmed them. He proved that by employing the "deltoid test", borrowed from chiropractic. Tweako amp designer Mark Levinson has been touting those 'results' for some years now...most recently in a published 'roundtable' in The Absolute Sound. The polite silence from the other members of the roundtable was rather telling...even TAS has its limits. Oh, I forgot to add...the clinical psychologist who first brought up this business surfaced again a couple of years later, hawking the beautiful audiophile recordings he had made. On a Sony PCM-F1. Digital. Peace, Paul |
#35
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"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?" |
#36
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Scott Dorsey wrote: Absolutely. If I play The Art of the Fugue on LP to one group, and I play the Sex Pistols on CD to a second group, I can guarantee you that by any objective measure of relaxation (deltoid test, skin resistance, what have you), the group listening to analogue recordings will test as more relaxed And I would bet any amount of money that that same group could accurately define the differences between the Analog and CD recordings. I'd even gander a guess ratio accuracy at over 96%. PapaNate |
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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! |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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