Myles B. Astor
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I saw one today that went off the charts.
What Pins Your High-End Audio BS Detectors?
- Thread starter Myles B. Astor
- Start date
1. Class D amps that claim to take 1000 hours to break in. Then need 48 hours more to break in if they are unplugged for a while.
2. Crazy expensive cables with little boxes.
3. Manufacturers claiming their products produce absolute neutrality.
4. Magazines that rave about a product, only to see a full page ad next to it. Meanwhile the competing magazine never even mentions the product and surprise, surprise, has no ad for that product either.
5. Most things JV says.
6. Audio voodoo type products.
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2. Crazy expensive cables with little boxes.
3. Manufacturers claiming their products produce absolute neutrality.
4. Magazines that rave about a product, only to see a full page ad next to it. Meanwhile the competing magazine never even mentions the product and surprise, surprise, has no ad for that product either.
5. Most things JV says.
6. Audio voodoo type products.
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Paul
Senior Member
No wonder why Mike don't buy the class D. He never able to break in. Lol
1. Magic pebbles. No, seriously, that's an actual thing.
2. To echo Mike - Manufacturers that claim their gear is completely neutral sounding.
3. Anytime a forum user climbs onto the proverbial mountaintop to profess how much better this new umpty-squat device is compared to everything else in its price class.
4. Anytime a reviewer (professional or amateur) makes the same claim.
5. Whenever an 'engineer' attempts to debunk the merits of resonance control or the use of quality transmission lines. OK, maybe that's more of a pet peeve.
6. Anytime a loudspeaker manufacturer claims to have done something amazing, when all they've really managed to do is stuff a bunch of drivers inside an MDF (or HDF) box.
7. Cables that cost more than a sports car. I mean, really.... who in the hell actually pays MSRP for this shiz?
8. Whenever a manufacturer touts measurements that are 'too good to be true'. Yeah, I'm looking at you, certain crowd-funded manufacturer who I won't name outright.
9. Pretty much anything a certain "head moonie" has to say. I know politics can be a part of the game, but dayum son....
2. To echo Mike - Manufacturers that claim their gear is completely neutral sounding.
3. Anytime a forum user climbs onto the proverbial mountaintop to profess how much better this new umpty-squat device is compared to everything else in its price class.
4. Anytime a reviewer (professional or amateur) makes the same claim.
5. Whenever an 'engineer' attempts to debunk the merits of resonance control or the use of quality transmission lines. OK, maybe that's more of a pet peeve.
6. Anytime a loudspeaker manufacturer claims to have done something amazing, when all they've really managed to do is stuff a bunch of drivers inside an MDF (or HDF) box.
7. Cables that cost more than a sports car. I mean, really.... who in the hell actually pays MSRP for this shiz?
8. Whenever a manufacturer touts measurements that are 'too good to be true'. Yeah, I'm looking at you, certain crowd-funded manufacturer who I won't name outright.
9. Pretty much anything a certain "head moonie" has to say. I know politics can be a part of the game, but dayum son....
Julot
New member
- Any audio claim that is based on so-called "science" (i.e. some model people think is the way the world is) instead of an empirical approach.
- "I want to turn the volume higher" seen as a claim that the sound is good.
- Measures as proof of sound quality (in particular when the measure is price!)
Oh, and I should add: our gear is perfectly neutral ;-) Well, not really, but it does strive to mess with the signal as little as possible
I'm not sure what "Audio Voodoo" means, but I've seen and mostly heard strange enough things that I won't rule anything out, especially based on some misguided certainties about how the world, physics or how our brain work
- "I want to turn the volume higher" seen as a claim that the sound is good.
- Measures as proof of sound quality (in particular when the measure is price!)
Oh, and I should add: our gear is perfectly neutral ;-) Well, not really, but it does strive to mess with the signal as little as possible
I'm not sure what "Audio Voodoo" means, but I've seen and mostly heard strange enough things that I won't rule anything out, especially based on some misguided certainties about how the world, physics or how our brain work
Julot
New member
+1 . Blind testing (or tasting) of anything is interesting, but the claim that it leads to more objective, truer results is just dumb.
Julot
New member
4. Where would you like them sitting ? 
6. Cryogenic what? :weird:
6. Cryogenic what? :weird:
Coconut Audio... Are you frickin' serious? :roflmao:
Pseudo-science marketing terminology. If there is no published scientific paper for consideration by the scientific community , then it is BULL SH#T. You can't hide testing methodologies and any reverse engineering behind a patent if it is a real invention.
Pseudo-science marketing terminology. If there is no published scientific paper for consideration by the scientific community , then it is BULL SH#T. You can't hide testing methodologies and any reverse engineering behind a patent if it is a real invention.
Myles B. Astor
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Does anyone really think Coconut Audio is real? Color me naive maybe but I always thought it was a big spoof.
Myles B. Astor
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Mike's #1 stole my #1. My only question; which comes first: 1000 hrs or the end of the warranty period?
#2: Designers that are self proclaimed geniuses. Or as Dick Sequerra once said to me, "I made that mistake thirty years ago."
#3: All out equipment raves on audio forums. More often than not, it's some shill or a manufacturer sockpuppet shilling a product. (see Audiogon.)
#4: New reviewers who first piece is an all out rave review. That product is pronounced the best thing since sliced bread not to mention better than ALL other speakers on the market. Whatever happened to the days of having to show reviewing competence first?
#2: Designers that are self proclaimed geniuses. Or as Dick Sequerra once said to me, "I made that mistake thirty years ago."
#3: All out equipment raves on audio forums. More often than not, it's some shill or a manufacturer sockpuppet shilling a product. (see Audiogon.)
#4: New reviewers who first piece is an all out rave review. That product is pronounced the best thing since sliced bread not to mention better than ALL other speakers on the market. Whatever happened to the days of having to show reviewing competence first?
A 1000 hours is 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for 6 months straight. Rubbish.
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Myles B. Astor
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I mean how can you say that with a straight face? So whenever someone says that product sounds bad, it's not broken in. What a brilliant piece of marketing. Right up there with Linn's toe tapping.
Mark Jones
Member
Cult like brands that are almost friggin religions. More of a pet peeve I guess.
After 1000 hours you just get used to the (bad) sound.
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Mark Jones
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BobM
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CPP
Active member
* Spending hundreds of dollars or even thousands on a six-foot replacement power cord and ignores the other hundred-odd feet of regular wire between the wall outlet and power pole.
* a old one and a good one, a replacement volume control knob that sells for $485. The ad copy proclaims, “The new knobs are custom made with beech wood and bronze … How can this make a difference??? Well, hearing is believing as we always say. The sound becomes much more open and free flowing with a nice improvement in resolution. Dynamics are better and overall naturalness is improved.
* vendor who says you must break in the product for 90 days to realize a benefit. Why 90 days? example because credit card purchases are protected for only 90 days. http://usa.visa.com/download/person...security-for-reloadable-visa-prepaid-card.pdf
* people that claim they can hear sounds above the measured ability of human hearing
and every other piece of BS those have mentioned before me.
* a old one and a good one, a replacement volume control knob that sells for $485. The ad copy proclaims, “The new knobs are custom made with beech wood and bronze … How can this make a difference??? Well, hearing is believing as we always say. The sound becomes much more open and free flowing with a nice improvement in resolution. Dynamics are better and overall naturalness is improved.
* vendor who says you must break in the product for 90 days to realize a benefit. Why 90 days? example because credit card purchases are protected for only 90 days. http://usa.visa.com/download/person...security-for-reloadable-visa-prepaid-card.pdf
* people that claim they can hear sounds above the measured ability of human hearing
and every other piece of BS those have mentioned before me.
Julot
New member
Your first and last one are good example of unfounded certainties -- you have a model that tells you that you just know how things can't be (which is an unscientific approach). There's no shortage of possibilities as to why those last few feet may make a difference ; and just because you don't know why something happens doesn't mean it doesn't. (but I agree ignoring the state of your electrical installation and focusing on power chord is a weird approach).
As for the ability of people to hear sound above the so-called measured ability, it's a good example of a limited understanding of how hearing works. How could a 80 year old conductor hear that some piccolo missed his entry? Certainly by the ear doctor's rule, he can't hear it. And yet they do, and examples abound. As do explanations -- we hear harmonics, not fundamentals ; we hear the effect of a sound on other sounds and have a systemic perception ; we hear with other organs than the mear tympans and ears ; etc.
Reducing complexity by laying out simple models is only smart because it lets us predict things and build devices that work ; it is illogical to use them to refute observations.
Is that 1000 hours break-in a real thing? I thought it was just hyperbole. And if 1000h break in for an amplifier sets off the BS detector, why doesn't the 300 or so hours claimed by Raidho?
As for the ability of people to hear sound above the so-called measured ability, it's a good example of a limited understanding of how hearing works. How could a 80 year old conductor hear that some piccolo missed his entry? Certainly by the ear doctor's rule, he can't hear it. And yet they do, and examples abound. As do explanations -- we hear harmonics, not fundamentals ; we hear the effect of a sound on other sounds and have a systemic perception ; we hear with other organs than the mear tympans and ears ; etc.
Reducing complexity by laying out simple models is only smart because it lets us predict things and build devices that work ; it is illogical to use them to refute observations.
Is that 1000 hours break-in a real thing? I thought it was just hyperbole. And if 1000h break in for an amplifier sets off the BS detector, why doesn't the 300 or so hours claimed by Raidho?