Extreme Snake Oil

[theREALdotnet]

Too close to the kitchen; this might invalidate the industry standard* spouse even heard the difference while doing the dishes test.

Ah yes, of course, I forgot about that.

 

[rdenney]

However in the context of say comparing a battery biased dielectric and “No dielectric,” they at least are achieving the claim that they are reducing the amount dielectric.

Snake-oil salesmen of old promised that their snake oil tasted bad, and that's what made it work. Sure enough, it tasted bad. But it didn't work.

The judge of any product is its efficacy in solving a problem as claimed, not in its achievement of some interior design goal that turns out to be unrelated to that efficacy.

That cables still manage to conduct electricity even when two inches in diameter and propped up on risers doesn't give them a pass.

Being over-decorated relative to functionality isn't the issue.

Rick "snake oil" Denney

 

[Audiofire]

People normally don't have a floor made of metal under their speaker cables. Wood has about the same dielectric constant as polyethylene and Teflon. Just 6 of these cable risers cost 300 euros:
"Along with absorbing the vibrations, the Reference Cable Bases also keep the cables at a distance to the floor. This reduces unwanted capacitances and reduces the effects on the electronics."

Reference Cable Base - Accessories :: in-akustik

in-akustik.de

 

[sq225917]

Too close to the kitchen; this might invalidate the industry standard* spouse even heard the difference while doing the dishes test.

Of course, prior to the standardization of methodology, there were competing, conflicting standards, driven by marketing no doubt.

View attachment 223268


_______________
* I believe this test was codified by the Institute for High Fidelity in 1957.

Cor, that's handy. Imagine how useful that is for checking how far from the kitchen your significant other can hear the improvement..

 

[DonR]

Cor, that's handy. Imagine how useful that is for checking how far from the kitchen your significant other can hear the improvement..

That is all dependent on kitchen acoustics and whether the significant other gives a sh!t or not.

 

[Count Arthur]

 

[mhardy6647]

Cor, that's handy. Imagine how useful that is for checking how far from the kitchen your significant other can hear the improvement..

Brilliant!
Heck, I can map out the research paper just sittin' here.
Does the 'spouse in kitchen' effect have a proximity threshold -- or linear, or logarithmic dependence on distance?
Is there any frequency dependence?
Does diffraction play any role?
Height of spouse?

Wanna be a coauthor?

 

[DonR]

View attachment 223304

11 ... ... such a great film.

 

[egellings]

Someone should build and market that Woo Woo Audio box. I bet it would sell if priced high enough.

 

[Ken1951]

View attachment 223304

OMG - that is just fricking hilarious!

 

[MarkS]

Those knobs should have a very silky smooth feel when turned, but not actually be connected to anything inside.

 

[Audiofire]

Those knobs should have a very silky smooth feel when turned, but not actually be connected to anything inside.

I bought some of the first loudspeakers made by DALI from the 1980s. There is a 2 dB switch for the mid-range speaker on the back, but it was not connected. Extremely disingenuous if this was omitted from marketing.

There was a whole other passive crossover inside like a later version of the loudspeakers that only have that crossover. The unconnected crossover just had some stickers on the cables shown in the image.

 

[theREALdotnet]

Cor, that's handy. Imagine how useful that is for checking how far from the kitchen your significant other can hear the improvement..

Bonus points for when she was blow drying her hair while hearing it.

 

[Holmz]

Snake-oil salesmen of old promised that their snake oil tasted bad, and that's what made it work. Sure enough, it tasted bad. But it didn't work.

The judge of any product is its efficacy in solving a problem as claimed, not in its achievement of some interior design goal that turns out to be unrelated to that efficacy.

That cables still manage to conduct electricity even when two inches in diameter and propped up on risers doesn't give them a pass.

Being over-decorated relative to functionality isn't the issue.

Rick "snake oil" Denney

The snake oil would claim to cure, gout, rhumatism, and every other thing under the sun.
But cure none of them.

These cables claim to cure the dielectric, and by definition of not having much dielectrics, then it does.
The battery biased AudioQuest also claim to cure the ills of dielectrics with a biasing voltage.

So the cable is distinctly different from pure snake oil.

Whether or not there are any dielectric ills, then we get more cables into the mix of snake oil than just this one.

 

[Audiofire]

The snake oil would claim to cure, gout, rhumatism, and every other thing under the sun.
But cure none of them.

These cables claim to cure the dielectric, and by definition of not having much dielectrics, then it does.
The battery biased AudioQuest also claim to cure the ills of dielectrics with a biasing voltage.

So the cable is distinctly different from pure snake oil.

Whether or not there are any dielectric ills, then we get more cables into the mix of snake oil than just this one.

Here is the pure snake oil:
"Basically, adding conductor material leads to an increase of the controlled currency throughput. The result is a highly dynamic, incredibly open sound with unprecedented detail."

Reference LS-4004 AIR - Speaker Cable :: in-akustik

in-akustik.de

 

[Holmz]

Here is the pure snake oil:
"Basically, adding conductor material leads to an increase of the controlled currency throughput. The result is a highly dynamic, incredibly open sound with unprecedented detail."

Reference LS-4004 AIR - Speaker Cable :: in-akustik

in-akustik.de

It is true going from 23ga to 20 ga for a speaker cable, but we loose anything other than theory arguments once we get down in the 14/16ga range.

 

[IPunchCholla]

It is true going from 23ga to 20 ga for a speaker cable, but we loose anything other than theory arguments once we get down in the 14/16ga range.

Anyone who use anything less than 25mm diameter solid core (pure silver) speaker wire is listening to unlistenable mud.

 

[Audiofire]

Anyone who use anything less than 25mm diameter solid core (pure silver) speaker wire is listening to unlistenable mud.

Looks like nobody bothered to measure the conductor size or anything else for the Reference LS-4004 AIR. Looks like the total conductor size could be 25 mm. The 12 gauge wire that is good enough for 2 ohm loudspeakers has 2.1 mm diameter.

 

[Holmz]

…
The 12 gauge wire that is good enough for 2 ohm loudspeakers has 2.1 mm diameter.

From memory, I recall that most of the charge rides on the outside.

 

[Audiofire]

From memory, I recall that most of the charge rides on the outside.

The skin depth of 2.1 mm diameter copper is 0.461 mm at 20 kHz. The velocity of propagation is slightly affected, but not any issue as the electrical resistance of 12 gauge is a benefit. There are some calculations here:

Technical Article: Does Audio Cable Skin Effect Matter

Outdoor cable has weather and UV ptotection. And then theres direct burial cable that has special insulation and is full of moisture repelling gel. The amount of engineering thats gone into "regular" (not audiophool) cable is enormous, many orders of magnitude more than one uneducated guy at...

audiosciencereview.com