Funniest snake oil theories

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Guys,

That's why I smell such an awful odor. I see an article on Company X using nanotube/nanofiber/nanowhatever and they give some fairly straight forward explanation on how it works, omitting the finer details, of course, because they are trying to make a profit.

You can even pick up car shampoo with nanobeads of wax with an explanation of how it works so that you can both have nice suds on your car only to be washed away and have a nice wax shine. It works! And the explanation makes sense!

So here we get an explanation akin to the Roswell incident...secret UFO tech...can't share...you won't understand it even if I do tell you...but enjoy the enhancement you hear!!! huh?!?
 
Because all the best ones, you have to have security clearance to obtain the information and/or the explanations are just to technical for us mere humans to understand...
don't forget the pseudo-philosophy:
science is not the answer to everything (like... do you meditate when you have a bad tood or do you go to the dentist?)
or...
the existence of microbs was first rejected by the medical community (but accepted upon solid, verifiable proof)
or...
there are things you can hear but can't measure (like... what? the gallop of the unicorns in your head?)
or...
blood letting was the norm until quite recently (and one day we'll all have electric cars... and that proves...?)
or...
you objectivists never test your musings in real life (except we do, do you?)
or...
the best of all anti-objectivist charms
(drum roll)
YOU DON'T HAVE A HIGH-END SYSTEM!!!

works every time.
 
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😀

Back on topic...so no answer on why the dearth of solid, scientific data on tweaks? Why so elusive???

If they'd really work they'd be used in physics laboratories where precision is tantamount and much more important than cost.

They could still work in a euphonic way ie making things sound 'nice' while making any measurements look worse. This could explain a lack of published data.
 
If they'd really work they'd be used in physics laboratories where precision is tantamount and much more important than cost.

They could still work in a euphonic way ie making things sound 'nice' while making any measurements look worse. This could explain a lack of published data.

I agree. Mark Brasfield convinced me to try the Nat Semi LME chips and I threw a quick circuit together and was just floored with the detail. WOW!!! Like razor sharp! Then one of my good buddies here, udailey, sent me a usb oscope that he had laying around so I could check a few things out. Darn if I find out the thing is oscillating!!! I had it on a breadboard and something wasn't just right. I started messing around with the connections and solved the problem. Oscillation gone. Totally changed the character of the sound.

But if you had asked me which I preferred, I was enamored with the detail of the sound...not knowing the chip was oscillating.

I think the voltage regulator comparison in Linear Audio even favored the least performing one (spec-wise). IIRC
 
I think a lot of it is because noise tailors the sound. I am not immune to this, I have two set ups for amplification, a pretty neutral SS system, and a SET class A valve set up, two different presentations both that I enjoy, depending on my mood, what I want to listen to etc. And if I am feeling really retro, I will break out the records and valve combination.
Whether either is perfect does not enter my mind, I just enjoy listening to the music, and use one or the other to suit my mood. it is also fun as you hear slightly different things depending on the source and amplification (cool and clinical, WAV/SS or relaxed and laid back smooth LP/Valve).
What I don't do is sit there clinically assessing the system and listening for digitalitis or other phenomena that seems to upset quite a few, and makes listening to music sound like a chore.
🙂
 
marce,

Cool post. Yep, I agree there. I don't like to sit, listen, and get audio nerviosa because I may have been better served by a nude Vishay in the feedback loop over a Dale resistor.

I know JC and Charles Hansen may worry, but that's their job and the arena they play in.
 
Correct, but with 4 kids, much comes into play whether I pick the nude Vishay or the Dale resistor. 😉 So I don't get audio nerviosa over it. When time and money permit, I may try it.

For them, and I don't know exactly how they feel, but the stakes are higher in their arena where a reviewer may open the hood and see that nude Vishay and squeal with delight.

Whatever I do is just for me and any family member or friend that may want me to build something for them.
 
Ohhh, don't remind me of that! How many Stereophile reviews/articles can you name where they take the hood off and knock off the list of super caps/super resistors they see there? 😛

Remember in the 80's when it was the rage to mention "Wima" in the article? A great cap, yes, but funny how often I recall the mention back then. No Wimas? No super caps? bahhh...this unit sounds strident! 😀
 
Ohhh, don't remind me of that! How many Stereophile reviews/articles can you name where they take the hood off and knock off the list of super caps/super resistors they see there? 😛
I was "barely' around in the 80s... but. I know of one review in a local webzine where the reviewer was giving positive comments ("high quality caps", "short signal path" are exact quotes) on what was flawed layout 🙂

so, they used to drool over Wimas? oh, my. it must've been a sad time, no Duelunds...
 
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so, they used to drool over Wimas? oh, my. it must've been a sad time, no Duelunds...

Yeah, the dark times! hehe

Seriously, I think some companies advanced by simply lifting ideas from John Curl. I had a buddy who worked at the high end shop here in Austin and he noted who was copying Levinson over the years. Heck, he even lifted some ideas when he started selling his own advanced version of the Aunt Corey.
 
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