Funniest snake oil theories

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You need to buy a centre channel.

After losing count of how many centre channels I've bought or made over the years, I'm convinced the only ones who need you to buy a centre channel are those who'll sell one to you. Years ago, I even encountered a store owner who hard selled 2 of them- one above, and one below the screen.
Since my ears are on the side of my head, it seems to me there's a lot more information going directly in from the left and right front speakers, than the centre speaker(s).
Not sure how pretty much all reflected sound is easier for my head to decode than the output of 2 good left and right speakers is.
Even using 4 or 5 different models of identical speakers as LCR front channels over several years, perfect timbre matching was never possible for me, and having most of the sound coming from one speaker, the dynamics never approached the abilities of 2 LR speakers sharing centre channel duties between them.
Saving the expense and clutter, of another speaker and amp appeals to my sense of cheapness, especially if it sounds better.
In my room, less is more.
 
If the timbral character of the center channel doesn't match that of my L/R mains, it drives me absolutely batty. Since I don't currently own a center channel that has the timbral character of my Aerial 10Ts, I don't usually use the center channel.

I'm on the lookout for a CC3 or CC5 which should be a lot better.
 
One of my power amps dropped a channel awhile back, and I haven't gotten around to fixing it. So I pulled my center channel speaker, reassigned the center signal to L & R at -3 dB each (miniDSP config), and I must admit I don't really miss it. Even though my LCR speakers are the same model, and are conventional, vertically-oriented 2-ways, I was still working on getting that damn center speaker to sound as smooth as the L-R pair in my living room. It wasn't terrible or anything like that, but I still prefer the sound of the phantom center I'm listening to now. And since I'm by myself here in the sweet spot most of the time (sniffle), I probably won't be in a rush to fix that power amp channel.
 
One of my power amps dropped a channel awhile back, and I haven't gotten around to fixing it. So I pulled my center channel speaker, reassigned the center signal to L & R at -3 dB each (miniDSP config), and I must admit I don't really miss it. Even though my LCR speakers are the same model, and are conventional, vertically-oriented 2-ways, I was still working on getting that damn center speaker to sound as smooth as the L-R pair in my living room. It wasn't terrible or anything like that, but I still prefer the sound of the phantom center I'm listening to now. And since I'm by myself here in the sweet spot most of the time (sniffle), I probably won't be in a rush to fix that power amp channel.
Since one's system plays the speakers, and the speakers play the room, there's no way a centre channel can sound the same as the LR pair- the placement reinforcements and reflections are most likely completely different.

On the other hand, you are absolute Ruler of the Remote.
 
Interesting. I've abandoned, for a while at least, giant speakers. I can't consolidate the best bass with the best imaging in 2 boxes.
My Onkens have a new front baffle, their horn decommissioned to accommodate dual 15" Celestion woofers, for front corner loaded bass bins. As satellites, I'm using an efficient 7" planar tweeter atop sealed cabinets with 2 vintage 6.5" midwoofers in each. ( remember M&K S1B speakers?) Like those but bigger.
Actively crossed, passively Solen Splitting the two Peerless at 350hz removes any boxy resonances, I get imaging that needs no rear channels, and massive bass with hardly any power.
Should have tried this years ago... would have saved a lot of time and effort.
 
Oh, I agree - my speakers aren't that big (Sony SS-M3, also modded for active) - they're just way out from the walls, on stands. Nearer thy field to me! (The subs are back there where they belong.)

It's nice wraparound stage in stereo as well, but I'm also having great fun with some of these 5.1 surround mixes. They can be a bit of a crap shoot, but when they're good, they're really good. :)
 
What's with all these people hearing differences with speaker cables?
Are passive crossovers in commercial speakers so sensitive to cables?

Also, what's the deal with power conditioners? I simply cannot believe that any device cares about the quality of the commercial AC, since it gets rectified, filtered, the noise gets rejected by transformers, and in some cases there's even PFC.
 
What's with all these people hearing differences with speaker cables?
Are passive crossovers in commercial speakers so sensitive to cables?

Also, what's the deal with power conditioners? I simply cannot believe that any device cares about the quality of the commercial AC, since it gets rectified, filtered, the noise gets rejected by transformers, and in some cases there's even PFC.

I'm guilty of wiring my speakers with silver plated copper wire, Teflon insulated, because silver oxide is a better conductor than copper oxide.
I've also made a power conditioner, of sorts, by treating each of 3 double receptacles as follows:
8 wraps around a ferrite ring with the hot wire, which has a 0.01uF cap in front of that ferrite ring, shunting to ground. The ground also has the same ferrite treatment, and it too is between the component side, and the wall plug in side.
Whether this reduces stray RFI or not, I have no way of measuring.
But to me, midday music sounds subjectively more like latenight music.
Of course, aural memory is only reliable for a few moments, but it's satisfying that I've done something to help my system, with spare parts I already had at hand, with no out of pocket expense.
 
Those people are what is known as "sources of income " for people who are unscrupulous and prey on the uninformed gullible and perhaps less shall we say..... "top heavy". A very bad combo but one the industry is sorrowfully riddled with, (the very subject of this thread.)Those who prey have my contempt. Those who buy into it have my sympathy. It is simply sad
What's with all these people hearing differences with speaker cables?
Are passive crossovers in commercial speakers so sensitive to cables?

Also, what's the deal with power conditioners? I simply cannot believe that any device cares about the quality of the commercial AC, since it gets rectified, filtered, the noise gets rejected by transformers, and in some cases there's even PFC.
 
What's with all these people hearing differences with speaker cables?
Are passive crossovers in commercial speakers so sensitive to cables?

Also, what's the deal with power conditioners? I simply cannot believe that any device cares about the quality of the commercial AC, since it gets rectified, filtered, the noise gets rejected by transformers, and in some cases there's even PFC.

The deal with power conditioners is that most mains transformers, diode bridges and power elco's in audio equipment are almost fully transparant to any HF signal due to parasitc inter winding capacitance in the transformer, transformer core sautration due to DC elements in the mains. Non linearities and parasitic capacitance in the rectifiers and voltage regulators together with limted bandwith of the reservoir capacitors and HF ringing of this whole resonance system of capacitance and stray inductance of the witing/pcb layout. So maybe you can imagine a good calculated mains filter that is designed upon the equipment it has to feed (this excludes most of the shelf solutions) can indeed make a difference

Now if all these elements a power supply consist of where theoretically ideal components then you are absolutely right, any mains grunge does not have a change to come through but unfortunatly in the real world these componesnts are rarely perfect.
 
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