Funniest snake oil theories

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RayCtech said:
what can you possibly know ?
I'm now drooling on the ground, just like Stuart sometimes does.

CopperTop said:
Can anyone explain how and why it works?
It probably adds 'euphonic' distortion. I can't think of any other reason to add non-linearity and even some signal memory to a cable. Far from 'purifying' the signal it deliberately mucks it up. It might even add some microphony. A more benign explanation is that it filters RF, but we already know how to do that with lossy ferromagnetics.
 
The only thing they're on to is marketing. That's all the quacks and charlatans you seem to be such an easy target for have ever delivered.

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When you posted this, I think of all those old videos of early flight and those persons who had no idea about how flight worked. Those videos bring a quick laugh but I wonder how they convinced everyone it would fly. 😕 In their case, several probably ended up dead or permanently injured during their wacky experiments.

Even an aviation innovator, like Burt Rutan, is quite skeptical of those who oversell but have no technical merit behind it.
 
According to this, it is advantageous to surround a conductor, or more than one conductor, in ferroelectric beads e.g. Rochelle salt within the cable sleeving. Looking at Wikipedia we see that such substances generate a voltage when flexed or vice versa, and when used as a dielectric, form a capacitor with hysteresis, which can even be used as a memory. I have never heard of such a thing being used in a cable. Can anyone explain how and why it works?
I haven't looked at these products at all, but as I suggested earlier, it appears that they've picked something up, cottoned on to the fact that there are benefits in not always assuming a cable works as a simple, benign, electrical connection device. This is subtle stuff, but once you realise that there is something going on, it can drive you crazy!

I spent years going in circles on this one - still use ordinary cable, but take care in how I use it ...
 
No, nice try.

My phrasing is fine.

you chose an angle where solder (the smallest amount possible, usually small fractions of a mm) is used extensively, I chose to explain further why a metal to metal or cold weld is preferred and explained a process that would result in the minimum amount of solder between parts. you focused on convenient automated SMD assembly and how the fact that works allows you to rest your point (ignoring that all the terminals are welded/wirebonded internally) I focused on an area that might be more familiar to humans. neither actually contradicts the other, each is correct in a different application; completely pointless conversation

btw I work almost exclusively in SMD and leadless/passivated die more and more of that and i'm putting together a reflow setup, so of course I know solder works. the small size and low inductance more than make up for it, but truly modern automated assembly is moving back towards wirebonding for higher performance areas and durability

I use a clear conformal coating after soldering/cleaning
 
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fas42 said:
I haven't looked at these products at all, but as I suggested earlier, it appears that they've picked something up, cottoned on to the fact that there are benefits in not always assuming a cable works as a simple, benign, electrical connection device.
There are certainly benefits in convincing your customers that a cable should not be a simple, benign, electrical connection device - and then selling them one which isn't a simple, benign, electrical connection device.

Regarding 'balanced power', if 60-60 is so much better than 0-120 should not 0-240 be much worse? That is, true hi-fi is impossible in Europe. Perhaps someone should have warned us over here that we are all wasting our time?
 
Experimentation has shown me that cables issues do make a difference. If some people choose to charge outrageous prices for "modified" cables, and others to pay up, that's their choice -- this silliness could be largely countered if more thorough research was done, to nail precisely what the factors at play here are ...
 
Thorough research usually shows that there are no factors at play here. That is why the cable debate continues: anecdote says 'yes', theory and evidence say 'no'. All the cable fans have to do is come up with solid evidence, ideally accompanied with a plausible explanation rather than the pseudo-science nonsense or misleading graphs they usually employ.

Some expensive cables (and DIY cables) will of course sound different from normal cables, but this is because of poor material choice or construction so they pick up interference or are microphonic.
 
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