Wood blocks eh?
Here's a somewhat interesting tale.
A ham radio friend says that to find the best support for a wire antenna, when choosing amongst trees; the way to do it is to put a portable radio next to the tree, like ON the tree surface (bark). The one(s) that boost the radio signal the most are going to result in the best wire antenna that is strung between said trees. keep in mind that the antenna is not connected electrically to the tree in any way. It's very well insulated.
Wood & signals... as an aside.
_-_-
Here's a somewhat interesting tale.
A ham radio friend says that to find the best support for a wire antenna, when choosing amongst trees; the way to do it is to put a portable radio next to the tree, like ON the tree surface (bark). The one(s) that boost the radio signal the most are going to result in the best wire antenna that is strung between said trees. keep in mind that the antenna is not connected electrically to the tree in any way. It's very well insulated.
Wood & signals... as an aside.
_-_-
It's equally possible that the cable lifter thing is not an electrical phenomenon, but rather N-rays. N-Rays are well known not to be emitted by green wood, and they have been shown to be blocked by other kinds of Wood. Can any of the naysayers show otherwise?
It's interesting that Blondlot's N-rays were devastatingly debunked by Robert W. Wood (no known relation). In that sense they were blocked by a different kind of Wood
I think it was the Scientific American article about the affair that pointed out that many then remained convinced of the reality of N-rays, and like other and more significant scientific revolutions, it takes the proponents of a discredited theory to retire or expire before the mistaken beliefs pass into oblivion.
Why assume it has anything to to with the wood? What about the ground underneath the tree. Conductivity, metal content, etc. become part of the ham antenna system. Ground planes can have real effects in such cases. But, what we see is a tree, and our brains construct stories of cause and effect based on whatever is mind. If the stores seem plausible to us, then the default is we usually believe them.
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Bear
Your post # 83995 was an answer to Markw4. The content of that post expressed what you would like to see from anyone who would be willing to share his methodogy/data on audio issues.
Why you would like to see these? Because you –like SY- are fed up from opinions dressed the name of data, unsupported extrapolation from very limited data and anecdotal evidence furnished as results of rigorous tests or even experiments.
Will you name those who do this? Does it worth to do it?
Whether you name them or not, whether it does worth to do it or not, these people exist and function the way they do. For money, for earning a place in the audio scene, for attention seeking or by belief .
These are the object and what they do is the subject of SY’s sarcastic (emoticons or not) post.
My cards: personal opinion, anecdotal evidence, observations are fine as long as they are named as such.
Gathering data is a necessity. Following logical and technical procedures for performing rigorous test is a must.
Alas, test execution time rises exponentially if such precautions are taken, maybe there is no fun to do them while drinking beer, so why bother to do them when result will most probably conform to the boring theory?
Throw a verbal firework, make an impression and a name, let people dream that reality is very promising, make them fall on a false argument and enjoy the action.
Free time spent in front of a screen is in abundance it seems, easy posting increases sites traffic, leading to increased profit from advertisement. SY’s insistence on posters providing data goes contrary to financial well being of the site.
The interior of their triangular column is rather empty. Not in agreement with the myth’s verdict.
Is it déjà vu or you have posted this story again?
George
Sy,
You have to look at the old growth vs new growth forest trees. Of course the hardwoods with tighter growth rings are better to lift the wires for a bi-wire set of wires going to the tweeter and the new growth with wider spaced rings would go for the bass pair of wires. Just so obvious I don't know why I don't see it in the ads!
It's just so easy to write this kind of tripe, you just have to have no morals, just make your claims and stick to them and watch the naive hand over the cash. Of course if you print an arrow on your wire interconnects they have directivity, all you have to see are the arrows pointing in the right direction. Who would produce a wire like that if it wasn't directional!
You have to look at the old growth vs new growth forest trees. Of course the hardwoods with tighter growth rings are better to lift the wires for a bi-wire set of wires going to the tweeter and the new growth with wider spaced rings would go for the bass pair of wires. Just so obvious I don't know why I don't see it in the ads!
It's just so easy to write this kind of tripe, you just have to have no morals, just make your claims and stick to them and watch the naive hand over the cash. Of course if you print an arrow on your wire interconnects they have directivity, all you have to see are the arrows pointing in the right direction. Who would produce a wire like that if it wasn't directional!
Never before. First time.
Perhaps someone else knows this "secret".
Mark4w, does it matter?
You have to put the radio next to the tree.
Otherwise the radio works as it always does/will.
_-_-
Could be. About 2% of the general population are psychopaths and have no compunction against preying on other people. But, there are even more people who are disposed, often genetically, to find that mystical explanations of cause and effect to "make sense" to them. Thus, when there is a drought, a causal explanation is demanded, and of course if there were a witch operating in the area then it would all make perfect sense! We just need to burn the witch and the the problem will be fixed. Many people have some natural tendency in this direction and it does't necessarily take a psychopath to get them started, although that could be. Assuming such beliefs could only be explained if some psychopath is behind it is not too far from saying it could only be because of a witch.
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Sy,
You have to look at the old growth vs new growth forest trees. Of course the hardwoods with tighter growth rings are better to lift the wires for a bi-wire set of wires going to the tweeter and the new growth with wider spaced rings would go for the bass pair of wires. Just so obvious I don't know why I don't see it in the ads!
<snip>
the wood idea is a fools errand!
I use only the ceramic insulators found on the top of power poles!
I do.
These are aged, probably 60-90years outside, with fine 7kv+ AC high voltage running across the curved ceramic bed on their tops. New ones are not the same.
Why?
Because there was a dumpster full of them (and associated stuff from up top of poles) after a local replacement of about 8 miles of power line poles!
I grabbed a bunch. They look COOL. People ask a about them. How very exotic. In my situation I have heard no difference (so far).
FYI.
It's fine as an operational procedure to find a good spot for an antenna. It's not so good as a theory of cause and effect.
I find it sad that audiophile designers cannot express their findings without being told that they are some sort of 'crook'.
Charles Hansen pulls no punches in his input and he has more 'balls' than me in doing so. I would never have told that story about the missing wood block in an interview, but I'm sure that it happened just the way he said. This honesty of his is the reason that he won't contribute here on a regular basis. He just won't put up with the insults that he incurs when he does.
I, however, have found it a test of character to brave insults from SY, and several others for over the last 10 years. It hasn't been easy, but I soldier or (solder) on, contributing here sometimes, and continue to make the best audio products that I can possibly make at a given price.
Now, I am not listening to a $200 diy speaker system. Mine would cost retail, the way it is set up now, about $33,000, and yes, there is a difference.
I started a favorite radio program this morning with a clock radio, then to a battery powered Telefunken portable radio, and now with the 'big' system with the CTC Blowtorch, and the Marantz 10 tube tuner. Trust me there are differences, especially to people who care about this sort of thing, sort of comparing the driving performance of a Porsche to a Pinto, but both will get you to the store and back. Still, we DON'T have to have super hi fi just to listen to music, it just makes it a little bit better.
Charles Hansen pulls no punches in his input and he has more 'balls' than me in doing so. I would never have told that story about the missing wood block in an interview, but I'm sure that it happened just the way he said. This honesty of his is the reason that he won't contribute here on a regular basis. He just won't put up with the insults that he incurs when he does.
I, however, have found it a test of character to brave insults from SY, and several others for over the last 10 years. It hasn't been easy, but I soldier or (solder) on, contributing here sometimes, and continue to make the best audio products that I can possibly make at a given price.
Now, I am not listening to a $200 diy speaker system. Mine would cost retail, the way it is set up now, about $33,000, and yes, there is a difference.
I started a favorite radio program this morning with a clock radio, then to a battery powered Telefunken portable radio, and now with the 'big' system with the CTC Blowtorch, and the Marantz 10 tube tuner. Trust me there are differences, especially to people who care about this sort of thing, sort of comparing the driving performance of a Porsche to a Pinto, but both will get you to the store and back. Still, we DON'T have to have super hi fi just to listen to music, it just makes it a little bit better.
You said skin effect and there it doesn't, I don't normally waste my time back searching for comments so lets others. The signal is NOT forced into the oxide at audio frequencies re. the skin effect.
That's true. But I think we both know the effect stories like that tend to have on a lot of people, considering it's a well known aspect of human nature to tend jump to conclusions. To avoid fairly predictable misunderstandings, and there seem to be some around here, my preference would be to actively try to avoid any misunderstandings due to omission when reasonably predictable, at least if possible. Maybe it didn't occur you that people might use the story to justify belief in other funny stories about wood. If so, then I have no complaint.
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Only the crooks. And they complain the hardest. Honest ones are a different story.
So, as long as we are this far "off the reservation"...
...simple question for those whose position is entirely and completely "scientific" in all regards. Have you ever had an auditory experience when listening to high fidelity reproduction that was in any way confounding?
By "confounding" I mean something that at least to you and others who were hearing the same thing, whatever that was, was clearly heard but that you could not explain or measure, and that was reproducible - meaning that either you could put something in or out of the system and it happened, or that when you changed a component/connector/wire the effect that you heard changed or "went away"?
Actually, in addition, I'd like to hear about those things that were "concerning" that subsequently an explanation/cause was able to be determined.
One key point here to consider is probably the order of magnitude of the effect and the probable focus of the cause. I'd include AC power, and changes in power supplies. Including but not limited to regulators, etc... How about connectors or any sort? ANYTHING. (if asked I'll tell the whole story... and I would like your stories or denial that it has ever happened to you)
Step up.
Either this HAS happened, or it has never happened.
Cards on the proverbial virtual table here.
I'll go first - it has happened to me, I did not WANT it to happen, it pissed me off and it took about 8 hours right before a major shipment to Asia to figure out WTF was going on. It was rather confounding.
Your turn.
...simple question for those whose position is entirely and completely "scientific" in all regards. Have you ever had an auditory experience when listening to high fidelity reproduction that was in any way confounding?
By "confounding" I mean something that at least to you and others who were hearing the same thing, whatever that was, was clearly heard but that you could not explain or measure, and that was reproducible - meaning that either you could put something in or out of the system and it happened, or that when you changed a component/connector/wire the effect that you heard changed or "went away"?
Actually, in addition, I'd like to hear about those things that were "concerning" that subsequently an explanation/cause was able to be determined.
One key point here to consider is probably the order of magnitude of the effect and the probable focus of the cause. I'd include AC power, and changes in power supplies. Including but not limited to regulators, etc... How about connectors or any sort? ANYTHING. (if asked I'll tell the whole story... and I would like your stories or denial that it has ever happened to you)
Step up.
Either this HAS happened, or it has never happened.
Cards on the proverbial virtual table here.
I'll go first - it has happened to me, I did not WANT it to happen, it pissed me off and it took about 8 hours right before a major shipment to Asia to figure out WTF was going on. It was rather confounding.
Your turn.
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Whenever I've heard something that was reproducible, it had a simple and engineering-based explanation. Wire and connectors is a perfect example- I've had hum, noise, and distortion that went away when I cleaned, tightened, or replaced.
The oddest was experiences with the triboelectric issues in silver-PTFE cables that I falsely attributed to microphonics in my circuit. My discovery of the true cause was completely accidental, but in retrospect it was obvious (I just didn't consider it).
The oddest was experiences with the triboelectric issues in silver-PTFE cables that I falsely attributed to microphonics in my circuit. My discovery of the true cause was completely accidental, but in retrospect it was obvious (I just didn't consider it).
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