But are they cryogenically treated?
We get "China Copper" winding wires here, ductile iron wire plated with copper, and enameled for winding, for motors, chokes and so on.
Cheaper, and heavier feeling.
Easy to check with a magnet.
Until somebody uses non magnetic steel wire, which is still much cheaper then copper.
Cheaper, and heavier feeling.
Easy to check with a magnet.
Until somebody uses non magnetic steel wire, which is still much cheaper then copper.
The inspiration behind the weights in the amp was someone writing about some blind testing that he'd done, he'd included ( unknown to the blind testers ) a new Esoteric transport, their opinion was that it was light in the bass, but after the blind testing he said, " oh, by the way, I've just got the new Esoteric transport " and dumped the big heavy lump on someone's knee. After some " feel the weight " and general comments about the build quality they decided that it would be a good idea to give it a listen, and they all commented on the strong deep bass.
If the placebo effect works, is it immoral to use it?
The amps going to have about 75,000 Uf in the power supply, so it should have " weight " anyway.
If the placebo effect works, is it immoral to use it?
The amps going to have about 75,000 Uf in the power supply, so it should have " weight " anyway.
It's a form of Deception, and based on people's longtime, since birth, cultured superficiality.
Plain and simple, it's about lies.
Does it work in the opposite direction, perhaps a lot of people won't like class d amps because they're cheap, small and weigh very little ? - perhaps some will never take to digital because it's not a faff.
There was a program about the placebo effect, in some drug trials, they gave out placebos to a control group, it the placebo greatly reduced symptoms for one patient so much that when the trails finished she begged them to continue supplying the placebo, because even thought she found out that it was a placebo, it still worked. Is it immoral to give her the placebo, or immoral not to give her the placebo.
Having a couple of lbs ( Kgs ) of alloy casework and dummy side heatsinks wont improve the sound, is this immoral, or giving the customer what they want ?
It's difficult to know were giving the customer pride of ownership, and " brochure filler " turns into deception,
Having said all that, I'm tired of all the BS and hype, if a cheep motor run cap can sound as good as a fancy pants audiophile one, good, I can save money, if not, I want to know why.
There was a program about the placebo effect, in some drug trials, they gave out placebos to a control group, it the placebo greatly reduced symptoms for one patient so much that when the trails finished she begged them to continue supplying the placebo, because even thought she found out that it was a placebo, it still worked. Is it immoral to give her the placebo, or immoral not to give her the placebo.
Having a couple of lbs ( Kgs ) of alloy casework and dummy side heatsinks wont improve the sound, is this immoral, or giving the customer what they want ?
It's difficult to know were giving the customer pride of ownership, and " brochure filler " turns into deception,
Having said all that, I'm tired of all the BS and hype, if a cheep motor run cap can sound as good as a fancy pants audiophile one, good, I can save money, if not, I want to know why.
Not immoral by itself but that's not what the shills do. They cultivate (or try to) what the customers want by spreading FUD. "Those cheap plugs are junk" even if they work just fine.
Adding weight is a good idea for a headphone amplifier as it keeps it from moving around. I had a 1/4 steel plate on the bottom of one I made so it would not flop around on the desk. Yes steel. It was a clone RA-1 and the plate an inch away made no difference in sound. Steel's effects can be measured, so maybe a non-ferrous ballast is better. I have an Atom DAC and it's light weight is mitigated by being velcro'ed to the wall behind the server. It is so light the cables will make it move.
If you care to dig into the theory, you can find out where a cheap motor run cap may be the best choice, where to use an electrolytic or even an NPO ceramic. There are real differences, audible or not. With all parts, there is a point of diminishing returns, and in "audiofool" a point where the only effect is the grin on the seller on the way to the bank to make a boat payment from your perfect as said by advertising agents not engineers, part. Personally, I have not been convinced through speakers and my old ears if I can tell the difference between a poly-carb and a poly-pro cap in the audio path, let alone prestige brand names. In a passive crossover, I think I can tell a film from an electrolytic in the tweeter, but not in the woofer. I use film for long term stability as electrolytics age. Headphone listeners may differ as headphones have about 1/10 the distortion of speakers and far less ambient noise.
Is placebo effect immoral? Well, what is it worth to you to enjoy something? Have you ever gone to a magic show? I love to be lied to by a really good up-close slight of hand performer. Might it depend on the risk? Personally I would never volunteer for a blind life saving medical test unless I knew I was doomed anyway and the treatment I may or may not get was not actually going to save me.
If you care to dig into the theory, you can find out where a cheap motor run cap may be the best choice, where to use an electrolytic or even an NPO ceramic. There are real differences, audible or not. With all parts, there is a point of diminishing returns, and in "audiofool" a point where the only effect is the grin on the seller on the way to the bank to make a boat payment from your perfect as said by advertising agents not engineers, part. Personally, I have not been convinced through speakers and my old ears if I can tell the difference between a poly-carb and a poly-pro cap in the audio path, let alone prestige brand names. In a passive crossover, I think I can tell a film from an electrolytic in the tweeter, but not in the woofer. I use film for long term stability as electrolytics age. Headphone listeners may differ as headphones have about 1/10 the distortion of speakers and far less ambient noise.
Is placebo effect immoral? Well, what is it worth to you to enjoy something? Have you ever gone to a magic show? I love to be lied to by a really good up-close slight of hand performer. Might it depend on the risk? Personally I would never volunteer for a blind life saving medical test unless I knew I was doomed anyway and the treatment I may or may not get was not actually going to save me.
In your case, the steel plate was functional, useful, and valid.
Telephones, like the "Princess" model, used a hefty pot-metal or lead weight in them to prevent them from falling off the table if you yanked on the cord too hard.
But what goes on around here (and many other audio related forums) is, such person would go around and post claims as if it's a fact. When challenged, they respond with the likes of "If you don't hear the difference, your system isn't resolving enough or your hearing isn't good enough".
While people are daft enough to fall for snake oil the vendors will keep on churning it out at great cost.
I can agree with that, to a point.
But that basically applies to the "non technical" and "inexperienced" crowd.
As for people like me, with decades of "hands on" professional experience, I call BS when I see it, in order to lessen the spread of misinformation as I see it.
And yeah, I get "challenged" sometimes, some people don't like to be corrected, or are stubborn.
For instance, if someone posts their view of an incorrect answer relating to the established Ohms Law, physics, etc, and I correct them, they get nasty.
You can't make your own rules of Ohms Law, period.
Done a couple double blind tests of different opamp ICs, plugged into the same socket of a headphone amp.
I, in California, purchase several different opamp chips, sand off the part numbers, and paint the sanded area with different colors of model airplane paint. OPA134 = red, LT1122 = green, LM741 = blue, et cetera.
Then I put these in a box and ship them to my testing buddies in Arizona. They listen to the headphone amp with various opamp ICs, knowing the colors but not the part numbers. Take all the time they want, hours, days, or weeks. Doesn't matter.
Then they present their listening results: preferences, discussions of the sonic virtues and weaknesses, the whole business. "The red opamp gave flabby bass but exceptional female vocals!", that sort of stuff. Then I gave them the color table: which opamp was painted what color.
Perhaps surprisingly the 741 never finished in last place. Some listeners liked it a lot.
I, in California, purchase several different opamp chips, sand off the part numbers, and paint the sanded area with different colors of model airplane paint. OPA134 = red, LT1122 = green, LM741 = blue, et cetera.
Then I put these in a box and ship them to my testing buddies in Arizona. They listen to the headphone amp with various opamp ICs, knowing the colors but not the part numbers. Take all the time they want, hours, days, or weeks. Doesn't matter.
Then they present their listening results: preferences, discussions of the sonic virtues and weaknesses, the whole business. "The red opamp gave flabby bass but exceptional female vocals!", that sort of stuff. Then I gave them the color table: which opamp was painted what color.
Perhaps surprisingly the 741 never finished in last place. Some listeners liked it a lot.
A Fender Twin Reverb fitted with 2x JBL D120 does not need additional concrete.
That reminds me of putting my younger "perfect ears" neighbor who only likes "high-end" stereo components to a listening test in my living room.
A/B switching between my home made EL84 tube amp, fed from the Technics preamp, and the solid state Technics receiver's amp.
Same volume levels on both, with instantaneous switching....
He "claims" he can hear a marked difference between them.....
Guess what?
I had a second, "dummy" switch wired up which didn't do anything, just for looks, only used for the loud "snap" sound to make it appear that I switched amps.
During the test, I asked him which amp was playing.... he was wrong most of the time.
I rest my case. 😎
Would have been more scientific if you told the test subject there would be a click but the amplifier may or may not be switched, so listen carefully to the amplifier sound. If he can do it right without being deceived then that would a different quality of result.
I recall reading about a speaker listening test done by Stereo Review magazine (I think) in the mid 70's. College students were invited to evaluate 3 different speaker models, which were only identified by the color of the grill cloth, Red, Green and Blue. Turns out the speakers were all the same model, yet the results indicated the "Red" speakers had a warmer sound, "Blue" was cooler, etc. It's amazing how easily the mind can be tricked.
I really wish I could find the original article to reference here, and I've searched the magazine archives to no avail. I hope someone here might know where to find it...
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