Ethan Winer Builds a Wire Null Tester

[SIY]

The real problem with Paul's "proof" that his products work is that he never shows a reduction in noise and hum etc at the output of the connected audio equipment. That's all that matters! If his $5,000 "power plant" nonsense reduces noise riding on the AC line from 3 millivolts to 0.3 millivolts, he claims a 20 dB improvement, when in fact there is zero improvement in the actual audio.

Exactly. This is a point I've made over and over for many years to various people suckered in by the FUD Team.

 

[Thomas savage]

Ha ha , if you keep talking about this plank I’m going to be forced to watch one of his videos.

 

[Purité Audio]

Has Ps Audio made an even half decent product?
Keith

 

[Thomas savage]

Has Ps Audio made an even half decent product?
Keith

Entertaining YouTube videos count ?

 

[Deleted member 2944]

I get a kick out of Paul's videos. He drones on for seven or eight minutes and (usually) never answers the question posed.
I'm wondering if any of the questions are actually legit or if he's just making them up.

 

[Thomas savage]

I get a kick out of Paul's videos. He drones on for seven or eight minutes and (usually) never answers the question posed.
I'm wondering if any of the questions are actually legit or if he's just making them up.

If he’s making them up then waxing on but not answering them I’d have to say he might be a comedian by nature.

 

[SIY]

I get a kick out of Paul's videos. He drones on for seven or eight minutes and (usually) never answers the question posed.
I'm wondering if any of the questions are actually legit or if he's just making them up.

"My next question is from Mr. Richard Feder from Fort Lee, New Jersey..."

 

[mansr]

"My next question is from Mr. Richard Feder from Fort Lee, New Jersey..."

Maybe he's using the FCC's submission system where even dead people can post comments.

 

[JJB70]

Cable pushers use a couple of very common but very effective tricks and plays on perceived wisdom.

The first and most important one is that the most effective lies are based around a kernel of truth, this anchors the lie and propaganda masters and political despots have always understood that if you want to mislead people and convince them to believe stupid things and generally just swallow untruths it helps awfully if you can make reference to something that it true. Whether or not that truth is germane to the matter at hand is completely irrelevant. Remember, we're trying to convince people to part with $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$'s to buy hideously expensive snake oil, we're not here to educate. So for example a well made cable with high quality connections and materials can be expected to be more durable. Cables do have to be suitable for the load. The infamous skin effect which cable freaks obsess about is real. By tying your spin to some of these truths it gives you greater perceived credibility and allow to sow confusion by throwing this stuff into arguments as a weapon of mass distraction and putting conflating myth and reality in the minds of the gullible.

Secondly, develop ideas which are perfectly reasonable in terms of lay persons intuitive understanding and which fit well with the sort of analogies used to simplify understanding of complex ideas which don't hold water but which are cleverly crafted to dupe the easily impressed by making them feel more clever and informed than they are. This works particularly well on magazine reviewers and the media in general. Take a look at almost any magazine reviewer trying to sell the benefits of high-resolution, multi-bit DACs, analogue etc and you can generally recognise the spin which has been spoon fed to reviewers by manufacturers. I regularly read media articles on emissions for which I recognise the syntax and know who supplied the words (and it isn't the journalist claiming to be the author).

One of the most simple tricks is to play on peoples natural sentiment that if something is more expensive it should be better. This is something most of us suffer from, and in many aspects of life it is perfectly true that quality costs and as you go up the price scale you get a better product. This is also true in hi-fi, for example Accuphase equipment has never been cheap. However many brands in hi-fi have exploited this and created a demand for poorly engineered, shoddily made tat.

Develop the sort of affable everyman persona which convinces people you're a straight talking guy, it's amazing how people will believe somebody that they like and who pretends to be a straight talker even if they're a manipulative and deceitful prick. Lie with conviction and say it in a nice way which appeals to people and it's amazing what you can get away with. Manipulate peoples sense of identity and create a perception of being part of a group and an insider with privileged knowledge and understanding. There is a good reason so many manufacturers of so many different goods invest the time and effort necessary to participate in internet forums, making youtube videos etc, it is an extremely effective way to play on emotions and create brand loyalty and suppress reasoned analysis as people get dazzled by the thought of having an inside track to the man.

However even with that it's quite hard to convince people to believe an absolute lie (although plenty can pull it off) hence the need to hang these things onto a kernel of truth and/or arguments which can make perfect sense in isolation. So for example, it seems eminently reasonable and sensible that a clean electrical supply will improve hi-fi performance and to then develop this into creating a demand for power supplies costing $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$'s. None of these tricks are new or unknown to most people, but they still work and are very effective. And of course, the value of tame magazine reviewers who know what's expected of them should never be underestimated.

And as I write all that, I look at these people making a tidy living and basking in the glow of adulation from their fans and ask who are the idiots in this world really?

 

[invaderzim]

<snip> I'll add that this past August I emailed Paul and asked him to do Skype video with me where we discuss this stuff then put it on YouTube. At first he said it wouldn't be useful (yeah, right), but eventually I convinced him and he said he'd try to find the time. I'll email him again now and tell him "it's time" to do this.

I will eat my exotic PIO capacitor collection if he follows through. He is a great story teller and fantastic at intertwining emotion with merchandising but one can't win an argument with those skills. They are great tools for rallying his supporters, however they don't work well against facts.

When I first got into audio I fell for the same crud he tends to spew and it wouldn't bother me if he were only selling his imagination enhancers to the rich but those that can't really afford it are putting money into their systems where it will do no good at all. And just because they believe it has improved the sound doesn't make the money spent worth while. I put an $800 DAC in my system and thought it was amazing. Then I blind A/B'd it with my D30 and only slightly better than half the time guessed right at which one was playing. Thank goodness for easy returns.

The saddest thing for me is I used to enjoy reading and watching reviews but I just can't respect anyones opinion that goes on about things that are clearly false as being amazing so there aren't many left to read or watch.

 

[SIY]

@JJB70 The idiots are those of us who let honesty and integrity stand in the way of making money.

But at least we can sleep at night.

 

[Blumlein 88]

@JJB70 The idiots are those of us who let honesty and integrity stand in the way of making money.

But at least we can sleep at night.

I've had several ideas for taking advantage of the situation and making money. I'm not alone by any means to have seen someone later do exactly that and make money (or in some cases not). I couldn't feel good about it. Then again maybe I should have given it a whirl. Maybe with a stable of young hookers and blow my conscience may have been happier than I expected.

 

[svart-hvitt]

Cable pushers use a couple of very common but very effective tricks and plays on perceived wisdom.

The first and most important one is that the most effective lies are based around a kernel of truth, this anchors the lie and propaganda masters and political despots have always understood that if you want to mislead people and convince them to believe stupid things and generally just swallow untruths it helps awfully if you can make reference to something that it true. Whether or not that truth is germane to the matter at hand is completely irrelevant. Remember, we're trying to convince people to part with $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$'s to buy hideously expensive snake oil, we're not here to educate. So for example a well made cable with high quality connections and materials can be expected to be more durable. Cables do have to be suitable for the load. The infamous skin effect which cable freaks obsess about is real. By tying your spin to some of these truths it gives you greater perceived credibility and allow to sow confusion by throwing this stuff into arguments as a weapon of mass distraction and putting conflating myth and reality in the minds of the gullible.

Secondly, develop ideas which are perfectly reasonable in terms of lay persons intuitive understanding and which fit well with the sort of analogies used to simplify understanding of complex ideas which don't hold water but which are cleverly crafted to dupe the easily impressed by making them feel more clever and informed than they are. This works particularly well on magazine reviewers and the media in general. Take a look at almost any magazine reviewer trying to sell the benefits of high-resolution, multi-bit DACs, analogue etc and you can generally recognise the spin which has been spoon fed to reviewers by manufacturers. I regularly read media articles on emissions for which I recognise the syntax and know who supplied the words (and it isn't the journalist claiming to be the author).

One of the most simple tricks is to play on peoples natural sentiment that if something is more expensive it should be better. This is something most of us suffer from, and in many aspects of life it is perfectly true that quality costs and as you go up the price scale you get a better product. This is also true in hi-fi, for example Accuphase equipment has never been cheap. However many brands in hi-fi have exploited this and created a demand for poorly engineered, shoddily made tat.

Develop the sort of affable everyman persona which convinces people you're a straight talking guy, it's amazing how people will believe somebody that they like and who pretends to be a straight talker even if they're a manipulative and deceitful prick. Lie with conviction and say it in a nice way which appeals to people and it's amazing what you can get away with. Manipulate peoples sense of identity and create a perception of being part of a group and an insider with privileged knowledge and understanding. There is a good reason so many manufacturers of so many different goods invest the time and effort necessary to participate in internet forums, making youtube videos etc, it is an extremely effective way to play on emotions and create brand loyalty and suppress reasoned analysis as people get dazzled by the thought of having an inside track to the man.

However even with that it's quite hard to convince people to believe an absolute lie (although plenty can pull it off) hence the need to hang these things onto a kernel of truth and/or arguments which can make perfect sense in isolation. So for example, it seems eminently reasonable and sensible that a clean electrical supply will improve hi-fi performance and to then develop this into creating a demand for power supplies costing $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$'s. None of these tricks are new or unknown to most people, but they still work and are very effective. And of course, the value of tame magazine reviewers who know what's expected of them should never be underestimated.

And as I write all that, I look at these people making a tidy living and basking in the glow of adulation from their fans and ask who are the idiots in this world really?

Long but true.

I used to be «there», not long ago, as I started my exploration into hifi as opposed to lifestyle. Luckily, my costliest mistake was to buy an Audioquest Diamond USB cable. It could have been worse...

 

[Soniclife]

@JJB70 The idiots are those of us who let honesty and integrity stand in the way of making money.

But at least we can sleep at night.

Seems like the right time for this to be posted again.

 

[Sergei]

The saddest thing for me is I used to enjoy reading and watching reviews but I just can't respect anyones opinion that goes on about things that are clearly false as being amazing so there aren't many left to read or watch.

I still occasionally read the qualitative reviews. Once I mapped them to ranges of quantitive measurements, they started serving as a quick separator of "enhanced sound" and "relatively neutral" products.

For instance, "warm" usually means that the device "enhances" via adding even-order harmonics predominately to frequencies below 500Hz. PS Audio flagship DACs are like that, even though PS Audio dialed it down lately with firmware updates (https://www.stereophile.com/content/ps-audio-perfectwave-directstream-da-processor-measurements).

"Sterile", on the other hand, indicates something I may be interested in hearing more about, or even trying out, as it usually refers to Pro-audio and similar gear.

 

[Sergei]

The idiots are those of us who let honesty and integrity stand in the way of making money.

Believe it or not, research shows that honest and dishonest ways of making money are equivalent in terms of average income per hour spent. It also shows that the distribution of income per management layer as percentage of an organization's profit is very close in criminal syndicates and legitimate enterprises.

 

[mansr]

He is a great story teller and fantastic at intertwining emotion with merchandising but one can't win an argument with those skills.

He doesn't need to win. He only needs to give the appearance of having won. One way of accomplishing this is by saying something so utterly ridiculous that a fact based refutation is simply impossible, something that is "not even wrong."

 

[SIY]

Maybe with a stable of young hookers and blow my conscience may have been happier than I expected.

John McAfee is my spirit animal.

 

[invaderzim]

@JJB70 The idiots are those of us who let honesty and integrity stand in the way of making money.

But at least we can sleep at night.

I get the feeling that many of the people selling and reviewing these types of things actually believe what they say. It is easy to convince ourselves of what we want to think. I would have told everyone that the $800 DAC was well worth the money had I not A/B tested it. It should sound better and I wanted it to sound better so to me it did sound better. Now if I'd put a doorstop on top of it the sound would have been otherworldly.

 

[amirm]

I get the feeling that many of the people selling and reviewing these types of things actually believe what they say. It is easy to convince ourselves of what we want to think.

I suspect that is true too.