Funniest snake oil theories

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#6,941
It is a cliché used far to often to highlight the fact that some minor mod or new cable has had such a dramatic effect on the sound quality that... even the wife in the kitchen notices, as long as she is not a audiophool.
Here are a few of my "pejoratively" wife in the kitchen based quips 🙂

http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/lounge/234829-funniest-snake-oil-theories-693.html#post4071370
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pc-based/257526-non-powered-usb-cable-4.html#post3966652
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/lounge/256699-diy-capacitor-burner-3.html#post3941799
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/lounge/234829-funniest-snake-oil-theories-527.html#post3925427
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/loun...ch-preamplifier-part-ii-5136.html#post3906722
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/cons...fidelity-diy-interconnects-2.html#post3788194
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pc-based/243782-diy-usb-cable-15.html#post3731538
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/lounge/234829-funniest-snake-oil-theories-281.html#post3685086
 
#6,943
My g/f doesn't have accurate hearing, nor smell, or taste.
On the other hand, she doesn't care what she listens to, as long as it produces 'sound'.
When she forgot to push the on-button, she manufactures 'sound' herself.

Rather fatigueing, as she knows the lyrics of next to every song by heart, but has the singing capability of a crow.
During the rare few occasions that she 'cooks', she turns up the volume of both her and the stereo. Which is the moment I tend to leave the premises.

(I spent a third of my anticipated working life wearing ear protection, live in a spot that's <30db for 90% of the time)
 
#6,945
jacco vermeulen said:
My g/f doesn't have accurate hearing, nor smell, or taste...she knows the lyrics of next to every song by heart, but has the singing capability of a crow.
During the rare few occasions that she 'cooks', she turns up the volume of both her and the stereo. Which is the moment I tend to leave the premises.
Click to expand...

I had that problem but a few minor tweaks made my wife sound sooo much better!

Its all about getting the little things right. I get her to sing really difficult stuff, and then I listen intently for the faults. It takes a trained ear and a lot of practise, but on those moments when I crack it its like not being there.

After a lot of time spent trying stuff I have now found she sounds best in a bikini, bringing me a cool beer and cooking a fillet steak hamburger.

The bikini is important - not just any run-of-the-mill bikini will do. This, for example sounds clouded and muffled, the highs are suppressed and the lows are very wallowy

il_570xN.162875607.jpg


I do this all this tuning by eye. Instrumentation is for people who are not 100% convinced of their superiority.

At the moment this is my set-up.

http://cdn1.wickedweasel.com/assets...ages/0107/9338/mermaid_449_312.jpg?1411693834

As you can see its very transperent and open.

Once I get it right, I often get the guys coming from around the neighbourhood, asking what I changed because they could tell from thier garage that the sound had improved.

What can I say - its a skill
 
#6,950
Just read an interesting post on the ittsb.eu forum , testing electrolytic caps. These were found to vary far from manufacturer specified capacitance after being exposed to AC voltage , and "reform" close to original specified value after steady exposure to DC voltage.
Are all caps subject to this? Could this be why different shunt caps in a power supply affect my preamplifier's sound quality so audibly ?
The implication here that capacitors made of varying construction may be more or less resistant to this AC effect, leading to problematic variances in the desired characteristics of power supply caps . True? Not true? Yes, no, and sometimes maybe?
The link is at ITTSB Test & Measurement equipment reviews blog / Community Forum - Index
 
#6,951
Hi,

It seems one can't actually find the topic discussed. Neither from a search on the forum nor the link provided.

Not having read the discussion, I'd still say yes to:

Are all caps subject to this?
Click to expand...

One of my personal eye-openers as to the influence of electrolytic caps (for PSU service in casu) was the auditioning of plain electrolytic caps versus Ben Duncan's Slit foil caps on an external PSU for a NAIM amp.

No idea why this never took off commercially but the difference is not subtle.

If the discussion is about something else entirely then I apologize fro interfering.

Cheers, 😉
 
#6,953
My philosophy is that all electrolytics are garbage, 😛, and any equipment using them is not to be taken seriously until the components are heavily exercised for at least an hour or so - this is the only simple way I've found to get consistent decent results. I automatically assume any system, irrespective of cost, will fairly noxious for the first hour or so - only take any notice of what it really sounds like from that point onward ...
 
#6,956
MITsound said:
Just read an interesting post on the ittsb.eu forum , testing electrolytic caps. These were found to vary far from manufacturer specified capacitance after being exposed to AC voltage , and "reform" close to original specified value after steady exposure to DC voltage.
Are all caps subject to this?
Click to expand...
The dielectric in an electrolytic cap is the oxide layer. This can vary in thickness according to the recent past history of applied voltage. Hence it is not surprising that varying the voltage can vary the capacitance a little. Hence it is unwise to use electrolytics in situations where the exact capacitance value is important. Circuit designers know this. Applying raw AC to a polar cap will degrade the oxide layer and is not recommended - in most well-designed circuits this does not happen so is not a problem.

Electrolytic caps are fine when correctly used for the purposes for which they were intended.
 
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