Funniest snake oil theories

[Richard Ellis]

All this "banter" reminds me of the quote by NASA officials to the Morton Thiokol engineers "Take off your Engineers hat & put your Managers hat on"
Ignorance, self-delusion, righteousness, can be destructive in the extreme.
Numbers, Data, The scientific process alone will trump every time.
Richard Feynman was there & waded thru all the assumptions, lies & BS.
" I know it will be just fine..."" How do you KNOW it will be fine? I have data here..."" Forget the data, I say it will be fine, OK?"



___________________________________________________Rick............

 

[DF96]

Ideally cable must have 0 resistance, 0 inductance, and 0 capacitance.

Not for video. 0 resistance maybe, but well-defined non-zero inductance and capacitance are needed for 75 ohms characteristic impedance. It make me wonder exactly what you were measuring on these cables, and exactly what you thought you were measuring.

 

[john curl]

And to think that Jack Bybee actually was a consultant (superconductivity) to Richard Feynman. How can this be? '-)

 

[MITsound]

Thanks rewind, I was wondering what VDH was doing these days. I sure would like to get some of that carbon fiber wire.

Saw an eBay seller vending carbon fibre interconnects from a company called xindak. I entertained the buying notion for a bit, but my systems wired with twisted pairs of solid core 22 gauge hookup wire.
Since I'm as happy with these instead of the banana bending Transparent Audio boxes hanging off my speakers, it's unlikely I'd hear a difference.
What's the theory behind carbon conductors?
Is it just taking metal to a minimalist extreme?

 

[john curl]

VDH has been working for decades on metal differences and purities, and then he found carbon to have certain advantages over metal, and now there is graphene and nanotubes.

 

[Absconditus]

A regular troll here seems to waste a lot of time simply saying that - over and over and over and over again, not only on this thread but also on others.

Really? Has he posted in this thread? (Rhetorical question, indeed!)

 

[Absconditus]

It takes decent people to deliver hard medicine. Any mewling orifice can say what others want to hear.

Yes, I completely agree. The downside is that many people, including now ex-friends of mine, only want to hear what they want to believe and anything else is untrue, offensive, or only said to cause them pain. I can't be bothered with pathetic, frail, self-absorbed, and selfish people like that any more.

 

[Absconditus]

1. "You're claiming that there isn't a difference. Prove THAT!"
2. "The difference is obvious to anyone with a good set of ears and a sufficiently resolving system."
3. "Science doesn't know everything."
4. "You haven't tried it, so you have no business dismissing it."
5. "You engineers would rather read meters than listen to music."
6. "My non-audiophile wife in the next room was able to tell the difference."
7. "Lots of people from all over the world hear the same thing, so it must be true."
8. "We tried this at my audio club meeting and the listeners were astounded. One of them was a physicist who dismissed it at first until he listened. He could hardly believe it."

Isn't that a bit naughty? Actually quoting the absurd statements made by some of our more "infamous" members. They can probably find where they said these silly things.

 

[SY]

And to think that Jack Bybee actually was a consultant (superconductivity) to Richard Feynman. How can this be? '-)

Indeed, that's an excellent question.

 

[DF96]

I'm still struggling to get my head around the notion that Richard Feynman needed to consult anyone on an aspect of physics. Or was he consulting on buying some superconductors or machining them or some other non-physics aspect?

 

[vacuphile]

Byebee could become a great name in science himself if he were to publish verifiable data and a well founded theory for the claimed effect of the devices he is now derided for by some who believe in objective measurements and science as it stands.

 

[douga]

Audio components are for men what shoes are for women, they come in different styles,colors,sizes and prices. For a lot of people, unfortunately, they want style over substance. Looks and price come before actual performance. Tubes glow and look pretty

I may be missing the point of your post here, but this brings up a question in mind: are you saying the only reason people use tubes in their stereos is that they glow and look pretty?

Not trying to troll or anything, just seeking some clarification on what you're saying.

Oh, and also, you should note: tubes also generate some heat, very welcome at this time of year.

 

[john curl]

Maybe he needed an update on the latest stuff.

 

[SY]

Maybe he needed an update on the latest stuff.

Yes, that must be it.

 

[DavidL]

I may be missing the point of your post here, but this brings up a question in mind: are you saying the only reason people use tubes in their stereos is that they glow and look pretty?

Not trying to troll or anything, just seeking some clarification on what you're saying.

Oh, and also, you should note: tubes also generate some heat, very welcome at this time of year.

 

[DavidL]

Byebee could become a great name in science himself if he were to publish verifiable data and a well founded theory for the claimed effect of the devices he is now derided for by some who believe in objective measurements and science as it stands.

"Could" but not very likely considering it does require like you said "verifiable data"

 

[bimo]

Not for video. 0 resistance maybe, but well-defined non-zero inductance and capacitance are needed for 75 ohms characteristic impedance. It make me wonder exactly what you were measuring on these cables, and exactly what you thought you were measuring.

Ideally mean for everything. Cable suppose to connecting point to point. No to filtering signal. But of course there is no ideal in the world . We must trade some resistance, inductance and capacitance.

Video signal is 1 Vpp when terminated with 75 Ohm. Cable for video interconnect must have bandwidth above video signal bandwidth. Many cables for video interconnect do not have sufficient bandwidth at that time.

 

[jacco vermeulen]

they glow and look pretty ?

Less rational people have a higher chance of becoming top dollar earners.
With lots of money to burn, irrational folks buy on subjective grounds, and may be perfectly happy with their choices.
David apparently has a problem with that, so he's on a crusade to burn everything at the stake, that even remotely looks subjective to his lucid analytical mind.

Whoosh

 

[DF96]

Ideally mean for everything. Cable suppose to connecting point to point. No to filtering signal. But of course there is no ideal in the world . We must trade some resistance, inductance and capacitance.

Not sure whether there is a language problem or an understanding problem. You do realise that an ideal perfect transmission line would have lots of inductance and capacitance? Sorry if I am teaching my grandmother to suck eggs.

Many cables for video interconnect do not have sufficient bandwidth at that time.

It would be an astonishingly poor coaxial cable which could not manage a few tens of MHz. Most are OK up to hundreds of MHz or beyond. As I said, I wonder what you were actually measuring.

 

[marce]

are you saying the only reason people use tubes in their stereos is that they glow and look pretty?

That's why I got mine.....
Well actually I have a choice of systems, valve, solid state, digital or LP and dependant on my mood and state of mind I can listen to LP or digital via a SET valve set up, or I can listen via a solid state set up, and I used to have a choice of speakers but room (or lack of it) means I am restricted to one set at the moment.
I even used silver cable with a transparent insulation because it looked pure bling...