Snake Oil Department, Top This

[fatoldgit]

Likewise, I will just leave this with you to ponder... just one of several models they have of varying price.. this appears to be in the middle of the pricing ladder.

No mention of "quantum" but the panzerholz shelves cost an extra €200-€300 each and we all know panzerholz is almost as good as quantum.

So four cylindrical posts (with pointy bits at one end), some cross members, what might be some "slidey" bits with isolators and Bob's ya Uncle, that will cost you a minimum of €5600.

Peter

 

[BeeKay]

Wondering why a label like "AI optimized" yet hasn’t made into the audio snake-oil business. Probably just weeks away.

 

[kemmler3D]

Wondering why a label like "AI optimized" yet hasn’t made into the audio snake-oil business. Probably just weeks away.

Good point. But given that the snake-oil fans are skeptical of real science or modern innovations, (it's taken them decades just to get on board with digital audio) AI-optimized for them would probably make the sound "artificial" or "tinny" or "vague" or "robotic".

 

[AdrianusG]

Likewise, I will just leave this with you to ponder... just one of several models they have of varying price.. this appears to be in the middle of the pricing ladder.

No mention of "quantum" but the panzerholz shelves cost an extra €200-€300 each and we all know panzerholz is almost as good as quantum.

So four cylindrical posts (with pointy bits at one end), some cross members, what might be some "slidey" bits with isolators and Bob's ya Uncle, that will cost you a minimum of €5600.

Peter

View attachment 412988

Yeah, i'm just gonna skip this one, anything less than Vibranium (for absorbing al those nasty vibrations!) just doesn't cut it for me.
Or does Vibranium enhance vibrations? , damn it, im gonna have to re-watch each and every MCU movie now

 

[Somafunk]

Likewise, I will just leave this with you to ponder... just one of several models they have of varying price.. this appears to be in the middle of the pricing ladder.

I imagine they sell something very similar in IKEA, probably called the Gülliblë

 

[Petrushka]

Every luxury brand is like that. Do you really think a Lexus is massively more expensive to produce than a Toyota? Brand engineering is not a scam. It is a key element of product positioning, like it or not, and the concept of "perceived value" has always been at the core of many pricing discussions in market economy.

The difference between buying a Hermes Birkin bag or buying a 10k speaker cable is that the latter will sell the benefits with pseudoscience lies. Hermes doesn't - people just want one because of what it is, and the value proposition is just about feeling good. Some watch brands have tried that at times, pushing a movement that operates at 36k bpm as being more accurate than the typical 28k bpm. Which of course is stupid and dishonest (and I don't think they do it anymore).

And that's a huge difference, in my opinion. Try that is the supplement industry ("Our smart pills will improve your IQ") and the FDA will shut you down. I don't understand why some audio snake oil companies get away with it, but I guess it's simply because their customers don't sue over such claims.

I’m pretty sure sure luxury cars have a better paint job than cheaper cars. Not more durable, but shinier. Hand rubbed? Dunno.

The higher price of luxury cars usually reflects some extra labor in the details.

I don’t own one. My top of the line Subaru has every functional feature of a Volvo at $10,000 less. Maybe 15,000.

 

[pablolie]

I’m pretty sure sure luxury cars have a better paint job than cheaper cars. Not more durable, but shinier. Hand rubbed? Dunno.

The higher price of luxury cars usually reflects some extra labor in the details.

I don’t own one. My top of the line Subaru has every functional feature of a Volvo at $10,000 less. Maybe 15,000.

Maybe more premium materials like softer leather, more wood... but as to manufacturing, low volume and more manual work often means more hands-on after-care. I have owned "luxury cars" and -while some were great- none of them was ever as reliable as my bomb-proof Fiat Uno. I didn't have money to really maintain it well, but it never once stopped working. A lot of this stuff is simply brand recognition and perception. For example, Toyota never had the need to come out with a luxury brand name in Japan. Its reputation for quality was well-established there, and they made luxury sedans and limos. It was only Western luxury culture perception that made them create the Lexus brand.

 

[EERecordist]

Capacitors, to make your audio coherent...

 

[xray]

Capacitors, to make your audio coherent...

and organic. But not sugar free since the treble is sweet.

 

[OldHvyMec]

Capacitors, to make your audio coherent...

You lost me. How is this snake oil? You mean the name? What about "Wonder or Clarity caps"? It's just a name, and BTW Duelund makes some very good caps.
I used their copper or silver bypass (.01) or WiMa 2% PP all the time. Either or, just a price difference.

Magic rock, flux capacitors, and fog lifters are snake oil. Even 20K cables WORK, they just cost to much. 1-200.00 usd 3-meter speaker cables look and work perfectly for me. I use a lot of SOOW or JSoow cabling, 2 or 4 wire 16-#8 for passive/sub/bass cabinets and car wiring. All OFC .9999 domestic 4N copper. Add armor, ST, and terminal ends, they look like something expensive. They work like something expensive, too, as if there is a sound difference. Not so far unless they add an inline fixed or adjustable network like MIT. I just use tone controls. Better than eatin' bugs and a lot less expensive.

Regards

 

[JSmith]

You lost me. How is this snake oil? You mean the name?

I'd suggest this part is nothing but garbage;

JSmith

 

[MattHooper]

From the recent Malaysian audio show:

Cable noise suppressors in the shape of spiders:

Price is only around $9,000 after conversion… maybe more with tariffs…

 

[Audiofire]

 

[BeeKay]

Millions of years of evolution didn’t work out for some. .

 

[kyuu]

You lost me. How is this snake oil? You mean the name? What about "Wonder or Clarity caps"? It's just a name, and BTW Duelund makes some very good caps.
I used their copper or silver bypass (.01) or WiMa 2% PP all the time. Either or, just a price difference.

Magic rock, flux capacitors, and fog lifters are snake oil. Even 20K cables WORK, they just cost to much.

Snake oil does a perfectly good job of being an oil made from a snake. It just doesn't do the things the purveyors of the snake oil claim (cure-all, libido enhancer, whatever).

It doesn't matter if the capacitors are perfectly good capacitors. They don't (and indeed cannot) have the effects that are claimed and which are justification for the sky-high pricing. Qualifies as snake oil in my book.

 

[ta240]

I’m pretty sure sure luxury cars have a better paint job than cheaper cars. Not more durable, but shinier. Hand rubbed? Dunno.

The higher price of luxury cars usually reflects some extra labor in the details.

I don’t own one. My top of the line Subaru has every functional feature of a Volvo at $10,000 less. Maybe 15,000.

It may have changed more recently, but back when I frequented detailing forums there were a lot of posts of new car details on high end Aston Martins and the sort where the finish was pretty bad.
Another fun one was on Top Gear, they'd take high end cars out and there would be rattles and the windows would whistle. Over the years that seemed to improve but it was always funny to see cars that expensive with that bad of fit and finish.
It often seemed that the lower the production numbers the more problems they had.

 

[ta240]

..... Even 20K cables WORK, they just cost to much.....

If they said "these cables work and they look amazing" it wouldn't be snake oil.
But I haven't found one yet that doesn't make claims beyond that, or they use the modern one step removed method of making the claims by posting reviews on their site that say they do more than just 'work'.

 

[Audiofire]

Snake oil is not science, and audiophoolery is never an audio science review.

 

[Mart68]

It may have changed more recently, but back when I frequented detailing forums there were a lot of posts of new car details on high end Aston Martins and the sort where the finish was pretty bad.
Another fun one was on Top Gear, they'd take high end cars out and there would be rattles and the windows would whistle. Over the years that seemed to improve but it was always funny to see cars that expensive with that bad of fit and finish.
It often seemed that the lower the production numbers the more problems they had.

Up to the point where the Germans bought the Italian supercar companies, really.

 

[BeeKay]

Up to the point where the Germans bought the Italian supercar companies, really.

While we, again, focussed on outgoing technology and left EV supercars to others. We continue working hard on a second Nokia disaster. I mean, why not …