Axxcess Forte 1 with 'Tesla Coils' - legit or snakeoil?

[alpha_logic]

I've never seen an amp with what they call 'Tesla Coils' which apparently serve the purpose of dealing with voltage spikes. Would love to hear what the community has to say about this topic : )

Axxess Forté 1 - All-in-One Player

Axxess Forté is a high performance all-in-one player featuring Streamer, DAC, Integrated Amplifier & Headphone Amplifier and is available in three levels - Forté 1, 2 and 3. All three models contain identical primary components and boast the same broad specifications. The only difference between...

online.nextlevelhifi.com

 

[Ze Frog]

I've never seen an amp with what they call 'Tesla Coils' which apparently serve the purpose of dealing with voltage spikes. Would love to hear what the community has to say about this topic : )

Axxess Forté 1 - All-in-One Player

Axxess Forté is a high performance all-in-one player featuring Streamer, DAC, Integrated Amplifier & Headphone Amplifier and is available in three levels - Forté 1, 2 and 3. All three models contain identical primary components and boast the same broad specifications. The only difference between...

online.nextlevelhifi.com

View attachment 348078

Lol, I would love to see Amir test this, absolutely reels of snake oil.

 

[alpha_logic]

Lol, I would love to see Amir test this, absolutely reels of snake oil.

Me too : ) I do know that those are not Tesla Coils, which consist of a primary and secondary coil, where the secondary coil generates higher voltage current by eletromagnetic induction. These 'counterwound' coils looks like what is called in esoteric circles a 'Caduceaus Coil', and probably work in the same way - pure 'magic' : )

 

[sq225917]

They're not claiming anything. The claim could be, instead of negative feedback we use these coils to correct signal passing through the coils. But how is that correction applied, what position are used in, the psu, or a section of the circuit handling output signal?

It's just another untestable piece of marketing copy bollocks, because there is no claim made. What they state is correct, two interwound coils will transform current and voltage like any other transformer.

Would anyone swap a pair of coils for a high bandwidth negative feedback active circuit, F no.

 

[DVDdoug]

Probably nonsense. Noise isn't a problem with most DACs anyway. Let's see the measurements.

I know Tesla coils can create huge voltage spikes!

They're not claiming anything.

They are claiming "noise control" and something about "analog dither". Dither is added noise.

 

[alpha_logic]

The claim could be, instead of negative feedback we use these coils to correct signal passing through the coils. But how is that correction applied, what position are used

That would at least offer something in the way of explanation, thanks for pointing that out. I do wish companies would be more specific on their design choices and be more explicit, e.g. "We don't like negative feedback circuits, and we're using these coils instead because of .... x/y/z reasons." - it would avoid confusion.

 

[sq225917]

It's written that way because it's untestable, can't be disproven, can't be sued for false claims, just flat earth mumbo jumbo

 

[MAB]

I think they mean bifilar wound coils.
Yes, Tesla patented them.
They are what allows non-inductive wirewound resistors to have negligible inductance. You can get one for a few cents. I guess if you put Tesla's name on them you make outrageous claims and charge much more...

 

[kemmler3D]

"Analog dither" is a new one. I guess they are out of ideas and have fallen back on adding noise on purpose now...

 

[MAB]

I don't normally do this, but I followed the clickbait link to the manufacturer's website and looked at the pictures.
It seems they only have one end of each coil wired to the product, I see only one soldered wire per coil. Also, they vaguely reference antennae effects, with other random word salad phrases. It appears these are very low value bifilar inductors, wired as if they are antennae, serving no purpose except to satisfy delusions about RF interference, antennae effects, etc.

This will actually be a potential source of noise if they are actually wired to circuitry, maybe they hang them off a ground. Would be better to non-electrically connect them with epoxy and just leave them as window dressing, maybe includ a transparent cover so you can see them gleaming inside the chassis. In any case they will cause noise due to the rolling motion of Nikola Tesla in his grave (or rather his ashes gyrating in a sphere in Belgrade).

 

[Philbo King]

Me & a buddy built a 12 MV Tesla coil in the early 90s. It was fun casting 18 foot arcs and lighting florescent lights 25 feet away. But it did wipe out RF communication for most of the county when it was on. Didn't do any audio magic though...

 

[kemmler3D]

I don't normally do this, but I followed the clickbait link to the manufacturer's website and looked at the pictures.
It seems they only have one end of each coil wired to the product, I see only one soldered wire per coil. Also, they vaguely reference antennae effects, with other random word salad phrases. It appears these are very low value bifilar inductors, wired as if they are antennae, serving no purpose except to satisfy delusions about RF interference, antennae effects, etc.

This will actually be a potential source of noise if they are actually wired to circuitry, maybe they hang them off a ground. Would be better to non-electrically connect them with epoxy and just leave them as window dressing, maybe includ a transparent cover so you can see them gleaming inside the chassis. In any case they will cause noise due to the rolling motion of Nikola Tesla in his grave (or rather his ashes gyrating in a sphere in Belgrade).

Oh man, not just snake oil, but cold-pressed first-press extra virgin snake oil. Only $5500 for the very best.

 

[Capitulo]

What do you call opinions based on very little information nor any no hands-on? Thats snake oil information.

 

[kemmler3D]

What do you call opinions based on very little information nor any no hands-on? Thats snake oil information.

What do you call an account that's been dormant for over a year and finally pops up to - let's be clear here - not defend ridiculous marketing claims, but attack the people mocking those claims?

If you know of a reason that these weird antennae or "analog dithering" should improve sound quality, let's hear it...?

If you're just going to reply "you can't know unless you listen to it" or some variation on that, then please just click that little X near the top of the screen and save us all the trouble.

If any of this crap worked, they would show us the proof. They would probably never shut up about the proof. There is no proof because either it doesn't work or the manufacturer doesn't know how to prove it works.

 

[MAB]

What do you call opinions based on very little information nor any no hands-on? Thats snake oil information.

When I see a coil with only one end soldered...
When I see bifilar coils called Tesla Coils...
Let me ask you this: if you saw a car with square wheels would you say it can be considered seriously?

 

[JeffGB]

I would expect all of those coils to add RF to the unit and ruin it's performance. I doubt I'll ever hear about them again . If they really had an idea that worked, they would provide test data. They may sell a few to well heeled hobbyist's but it's unlikely to go further, in my opinion.

 

[MAB]

Your post starts with “it seems”, and right after that, you start making statements as if it were fact. Lame.

You refer to that merchant site as a manufacturers website, wrong. You looked at the grainy photos of the boards. I saw the same photos, theyre not clear enough to be sure about anything.

Here is the manufacturers website https://audiogroupdenmark.com/product/axxess-amplifier-forte/

There are no photos of boards. Youre either flat out wrong or just a liar about what you looked at.

What a crock a chit.

Not grainy at all, and quite clear:

Clearly bifilar, clearly only one end is wired. Seems odd right? Just like square wheels seem odd.
Sorry about my word choice, it may seem like it leaves room for uncertainty, but not really.
Solder joints seem good though...

 

[JSmith]

What do you call opinions based on very little information nor any no hands-on? Thats snake oil information.

So you joined in Nov 2022 and just made your first 2 posts today in this thread? ... ok. Oh and it's "crock of shit" btw.


JSmith

 

[MAB]

What do you call opinions based on very little information nor any no hands-on? Thats snake oil information.

Also, while you deleted your previous post, it did challenge what many people with basic circuit experience consider obvious.

Perhaps you know all about this device, and understand inductors, noise reduction, etc. Maybe you can illuminate us on what those bifilar-inductors cum antennae are actually doing, complete with the circuit and operational characteristics. Would be good to get a full noise reduction in electronics passdown from you. In the mean time, if I see a high resolution image with a resistor, capacitor, or inductor with only one end wired, I will continue to call it out. Same for cars with square wheels, I will point out they they will run rough, and if I use the word 'seem' and you can't get it, then you should buy the car...

Also, why they are misusing the term Tesla Coil? It's actually already used for a much different device, often seen at science expos.

Edit: typo

 

[JSmith]

Not grainy at all, and quite clear:

Ah, I see where you got that from.


JSmith