Extreme Snake Oil

[A Cute Earring]

A chemistry podcast mentioned cables and other snake oil:

140: Chemical Paranoia - The History of Chemistry

We start with the first chemical conspiracy theory from 1996, "chemtrails." Then we move to another popular chemical hoax, "alkaline water" somehow being healthy for you. Related to that are the bizarre "hexagonal water" and water memory ideas. Ot...

thehistoryofchemistry.buzzsprout.com

 

[AdVis]

And that power cable... ugh. Completely illegal to sell in the EU, I guess.

That thing should be able to give you about 110 Volts on the speaker terminals too

 

[notinuse]

Then how does a CD player, which is strictly limited to a tad over 20kHz, get it done? It can't generate a legitimate audio signal above that.

And what about vinyl records, oh, never mind.

 

[VMAT4]

Then how does a CD player, which is strictly limited to a tad over 20kHz, get it done? It can't generate a legitimate audio signal above that.

I don't know many people that can or could hear above 20 kHz once they were beyond their teens. How old are you? Are you sure it's an issue to be able to hear over 14,080 Hz (A9)? I'm not sure I can. I'm 61 years old.

 

[Descartes]

I admit I tried these (loaner). Not sure what I was expecting.View attachment 391175

To meditate calm the soul and be zen!

 

[BDWoody]

I think we need more audio illusions (like optical illusions) so people realize they can't truly trust their ears in these situations.

Thought this was interesting:

Can We Hear Magic? The Struggle to Create Auditory Illusions - Neuroscience News

A new study explores why magic tricks based solely on sound are rare, despite the many auditory illusions we encounter in everyday life.

neurosciencenews.com

Referenced article:

https://www.cell.com/trends/cognitive-sciences/fulltext/S1364-6613(24)00223-7

 

[Kblade]

https://soundapproach.com/wireworld-gold-eclipse-8-ges-bulk-speaker-cable-spool.html

Do people really buy this? This is parody to me. I can’t even comprehend this. All I can do is laugh

 

[Doodski]

Somebody is looking to cash in on the lunacy.

 

[Kblade]

Somebody is looking to cash in on the lunacy.

This absolutely just blows my mind. I thought I spent a ton of money on silverback wire on Amazon.

 

[Doodski]

this absolutely just blows my mind. I thought I spent a ton of money on silverback wire on Amazon.

A good question for Paul over at PS Audio would be, "What is the difference between this $62,500.00 speaker wire and your speaker wire?" Hehe...

 

[paulcc]

A good question for Paul over at PS Audio would be, "What is the difference between this $62,500.00 speaker wire and your speaker wire?" Hehe...

$62,480

 

[anphex]

> Aiming at wealthy voodoo-audio-high-end-people
> offers a coupon

You didn't understand you target group at all, bud!

 

[voodooless]

Why is it called “gold eclipse” if the conductor is pure silver?

Prise wise, such a cable contains about 25 Kg of silver. That would set you back about $ 9000. That’s still a long way removed from the $ 62k the thing costs.

 

[Petrushka]

Why is it called “gold eclipse” if the conductor is pure silver?

Prise wise, such a cable contains about 25 Kg of silver. That would set you back about $ 9000. That’s still a long way removed from the $ 62k the thing costs.

Aside from whether it can be justified, small lots of wire have to have manufacturing costs. I read on this very site that manufacturing costs are typically 10 percent of retail price.

 

[voodooless]

I read on this very site that manufacturing costs are typically 10 percent of retail price.

I think that is a vast oversimplification. Certainly this is true for some products, but definitely not for others. No way for instance that you can manufacture a $€£ 1000 x3800h AVR for $€£ 100. Margins on that kind of stuff are very thin. And also remember that there is a massive amount of development into those products as well.

A speaker cable, in comparison is relatively simple. I see no reason for it to have a 10x markup, other than to create a silly boutique product.

 

[Petrushka]

I think that is a vast oversimplification. Certainly this is true for some products, but definitely not for others. No way for instance that you can manufacture a $€£ 1000 x3800h AVR for $€£ 100. Margins on that kind of stuff are very thin. And also remember that there is a massive amount of development into those products as well.

A speaker cable, in comparison is relatively simple. I see no reason for it to have a 10x markup, other than to create a silly boutique product.

Are they just repackaging a readily available wire?

 

[voodooless]

Are they just repackaging a readily available wire?

Clearly not, is it a very specific configuration:

Note, that I assumes 6mm2 per flat wire. If it’s 6mm2 in total, you’ll have to divide my numbers by 8, making it even more silly.

 

[Kblade]

I should’ve just bought another pair of M106’s and these cables. Would have definitely outperformed the 208’s

 

[voodooless]

I should’ve just bought another pair of M106’s and these cables.

The price seems to be a steal! I’ve seen 2m for 10k! You could make a profit selling these

 

[mhardy6647]

The price seems to be a steal! I’ve seen 2m for 10k! You could make a profit selling these

Looks like a business opportunity!

So... this stuff is square, is it?

I mean, that's worth a premium right there.
Like square watermelons -- or square eggs.