Snake Oil Department, Top This

[Chrispy]

How about speaker cables with hand-stitched leather....

"Fono Acustica of Spain’s new Grandiosso-series speaker cable ($73,000/1.5m pair) and power cord ($23,800/1m). Grandiosso applies equally to looks, construction, and price.

'They contain very special-purity silver and gold which is very hard to find,' he said. 'Combining the two metals, coating them in Teflon and wrapping them in hand-stitched leather, and terminating the cabling with our own silver-and-gold-alloy connectors produces an organic, natural sound.' Attached to the cables are olive-wood boxes that contain a damping material and an internal grounding module claimed to enhance performance." From Stereophile.

Sound this good can only be achieved with (1) animal sacrifice, (2) "special-purity silver and gold" and (3) $73K....

LOL the silly claims aside, the aesthetic is still poor for that price.

 

[tw99]

I thought this was worthy of note. I mean there are plenty more expensive, and thus in audiophile terms, better, ethernet cables out there, but I haven't seen a design like this before where the twisted pairs have been separated out. Only £3250 for 1M:

Reiki Audio — JundoStream Reference network cable

Our reference “last link” network cable uses a revolutionary audio-optimised architecture to set a new benchmark for the sound quality available from networked audio.

www.reikiaudio.com

I rather like the way that they honestly admit they had no idea whether the idea would work before having it manufactured... And fortunately after the first audition "they didn't dare dream it would pay off as spectacularly as this". Phew ! And now the rest of us can benefit.

 

[totti1965]

I thought this was worthy of note. I mean there are plenty more expensive, and thus in audiophile terms, better, ethernet cables out there, but I haven't seen a design like this before where the twisted pairs have been separated out. Only £3250 for 1M:

Reiki Audio — JundoStream Reference network cable

Our reference “last link” network cable uses a revolutionary audio-optimised architecture to set a new benchmark for the sound quality available from networked audio.

www.reikiaudio.com

I rather like the way that they honestly admit they had no idea whether the idea would work before having it manufactured... And fortunately after the first audition "they didn't dare dream it would pay off as spectacularly as this". Phew ! And now the rest of us can benefit.

They can not deliver!!! I just Try to Add to Cart 1,000 items of the 2 meter version for only 3,25 Million pounds.
But: the automatically generated answer was-They have just 500 cables!!!
Perhaps I shall take 500 1 meters and 500 2 meters network cables….

Where should I put all my money now?

 

[Will_B]

How about speaker cables with hand-stitched leather....

"Fono Acustica of Spain’s new Grandiosso-series speaker cable ($73,000/1.5m pair) and power cord ($23,800/1m). Grandiosso applies equally to looks, construction, and price.

'They contain very special-purity silver and gold which is very hard to find,' he said. 'Combining the two metals, coating them in Teflon and wrapping them in hand-stitched leather, and terminating the cabling with our own silver-and-gold-alloy connectors produces an organic, natural sound.' Attached to the cables are olive-wood boxes that contain a damping material and an internal grounding module claimed to enhance performance." From Stereophile.

Sound this good can only be achieved with (1) animal sacrifice, (2) "special-purity silver and gold" and (3) $73K....

This reminds me that products like this exist for the one-percenters to buy things us reglar folks simply can't afford. This is true for any products. Wrist watches, handbags, jewellery, etc. The Apple Store has designer wristbands that cost more - much more - than the actual watch. Why? Because people with money want things other people can't afford. Many millionaires and billionaires wear an Apple Watch. I've seen it plenty. They like the integration with their iPhone and it's a low-key way to get around without signalling how wealthy you are. But many will buy the wristband that costs over a grand or more. I say go for it. The wealthy actually spend too little money. Every dollar they spend on overpriced items translates into jobs somewhere. Not only China either. It depends on the product. Let them have $500M yachts (many build in Europe), massive mansions, private jets (built in Europe, Canada, USA). It's all jobs. So if they want to add these cables to their million dollar HiFi setup I say do it. We can snigger at them for it and we should because we know that it's snake oil but that misses the point. But the worst millionaires and billionaires are the frugal ones. While they may lobby for big tax breaks - which they often get - they can spread the wealth by consumption (not the tuberculosis type). Let them be the job-creators they claim to be. Spend! Buy this stuff! Spain suffers from chronically high unemployment rates. They needs the jobs. Now specifically about these cables, even with the precious metals and hand-stitched leather and woodwork I'm sure the mark-up is significant for each unit sold so its ka-ching for the company selling them.

 

[MoreWatts]

I know we are discouraged from ragging on other forums, but this was simply too silly to ignore. Spied from a post on a forum @amirm helped create and is now banned from (WBF).

Here's someone who went down the 'Ethernet/Wifi carries/generates noise' hole way too deep. Fyi, 'LHY' is a manufacturer (a subsidiary of 'Jay's Audio'), and 'FMC' stands for fiber-optic media converter:

"Here are the items that I use on each of my Xfinity Cable Modem, Firewalla Gold Pro Hardware Firewall / Router, and LHY FMC:

1) LHY Linear Power Supply (for each the Cable Modem and Router)
2) Swiss Digital Fuse Box with Extreme Piggy Tail & Graphene Sluggo (for the Linear Power Supplies of Modem and Router, and for FMC)
3) Vanguard White Label Silver DC Cable (for the two Linear Power Supplies for Modem and Router)
4) Lessloss Prime Power Cord (A/C outlet to each of the two Linear Power Supplies and to the FMC)
5) Synergistic Research Atmosphere SX Reference Ethernet Cables (Modem to Router, and Router to FMC)
6) Synergistic Research MiG 3.0 Footers (Three under each of the Modem, Router, and FMC)

The LHY FMC connects to LHY SW-6 switch via 30 meters of Optospan LCELite Ultra Low Loss Fiber Optic cable and Optospan 'PSFP-11DT31K002' SFP's. LHY SW-6 connects to DAC / Streamer via Synergistic Research Atmosphere SX Reference Ethernet Cable.

Thus, I do not use WiFi in streaming music. I do use one ethernet port from the Firewalla Gold Pro Hardware Firewall / Router to connect to a Firewalla AP7 which feeds other AP7's for mesh network to support WiFi needs of non-audio devices.

I'm getting ready to set up the audio system devices on a separate VLAN in my firewall / router to isolate it from other devices. Will report back if it makes an audible difference."

This is a recent post, and he has not posted a follow-up report about this. But he did make a post about how every SMPS in your house needs to be replaced with a linear power supply....

Notice he uses ~3 of each of the items listed, on various devices. I don't have the patience to look up prices, but my estimate is that this guy spent over $10K to improve his $200 modem/router....

Someone named Holmz at WBF, not sure if it is our @Holmz, has asked in various 'digital noise' threads at WBF, "What noise?" They just refer him to "the obvious noise...."

So true audiophiles, with Golden Ears, can hear 'digital noise,' but can't hear record-surface noise, tube noise or tape hiss.

Isn't it scary how sanity in this hobby depends entirely on which forums or websites are used for information....

 

[Short38]

Well of course they can hear digital noise because 0’s and 1’s are abrasive as they tumble through the cables. Analog is just swooshy and soothing, interrupted only by the occasional click and pop. Thoughts and prayers for those who hear the gritty grinding of the 0’s and 1’s.

 

[MarkS]

Isn't it scary how sanity in this hobby depends entirely on which forums are used for information....

What's scary to me is how nobody ever tries to check anything for themselves. My friends and I were doing blind listening tests back in the 70s ...

 

[Holmz]

I know we are discouraged from ragging on other forums, but this was simply too silly to ignore. Spied from a post on a forum @amirm helped create and is now banned from (WBF).

Here's someone who went down the 'Ethernet/Wifi carries/generates noise' hole way too deep. Fyi, 'LHY' is a manufacturer (a subsidiary of 'Jay's Audio'), and 'FMC' stands for fiber-optic media converter:

"Here are the items that I use on each of my Xfinity Cable Modem, Firewalla Gold Pro Hardware Firewall / Router, and LHY FMC:

1) LHY Linear Power Supply (for each the Cable Modem and Router)
2) Swiss Digital Fuse Box with Extreme Piggy Tail & Graphene Sluggo (for the Linear Power Supplies of Modem and Router, and for FMC)
3) Vanguard White Label Silver DC Cable (for the two Linear Power Supplies for Modem and Router)
4) Lessloss Prime Power Cord (A/C outlet to each of the two Linear Power Supplies and to the FMC)
5) Synergistic Research Atmosphere SX Reference Ethernet Cables (Modem to Router, and Router to FMC)
6) Synergistic Research MiG 3.0 Footers (Three under each of the Modem, Router, and FMC)

The LHY FMC connects to LHY SW-6 switch via 30 meters of Optospan LCELite Ultra Low Loss Fiber Optic cable and Optospan 'PSFP-11DT31K002' SFP's. LHY SW-6 connects to DAC / Streamer via Synergistic Research Atmosphere SX Reference Ethernet Cable.

Thus, I do not use WiFi in streaming music. I do use one ethernet port from the Firewalla Gold Pro Hardware Firewall / Router to connect to a Firewalla AP7 which feeds other AP7's for mesh network to support WiFi needs of non-audio devices.

I'm getting ready to set up the audio system devices on a separate VLAN in my firewall / router to isolate it from other devices. Will report back if it makes an audible difference."

This is a recent post, and he has not posted a follow-up report about this. But he did make a post about how every SMPS in your house needs to be replaced with a linear power supply....

Notice he uses ~3 of each of the items listed, on various devices. I don't have the patience to look up prices, but my estimate is that this guy spent over $10K to improve his $200 modem/router....

Someone named Holmz at WBF, not sure if it is our @Holmz, has asked in various 'digital noise' threads at WBF, "What noise?" They just refer him to "the obvious noise...."

So true audiophiles, with Golden Ears, can hear 'digital noise,' but can't hear record-surface noise, tube noise or tape hiss.

Isn't it scary how sanity in this hobby depends entirely on which forums or websites are used for information....

It’s so obvious, but no one tells me what it is, other than “just listen”.

 

[Mart68]

Reminds me of a recent news story about a man who was convinced vampires were after him. He had garlic, mirrors and crucifixes all over his house to keep them away.

I suppose if you'd asked him how if worked he'd say 'Well, do you see any vampires?'

 

[Holmz]

Reminds me of a recent news story about a man who was convinced vampires were after him. He had garlic, mirrors and crucifixes all over his house to keep them away.

I suppose if you'd asked him how if worked he'd say 'Well, do you see any vampires?'

I think I know that guy.
Is it Antonio, Allesandro, Benito, Matteo or Mario?

 

[egellings]

I'd get rid of all that vampire stuff, but I'd keep the garlic.

 

[Holmz]

I'd get rid of all that vampire stuff, but I'd keep the garlic.

You’ll need some tomatoes I’ll bet.

 

[Short38]

In my earlier post about the abrasive noise created by tumbling 0’s and 1’s I failed to provide the obvious solution which is to place cables in an electro magnetic field to hold the bits upright during transit. I apologize for the omission.

 

[egellings]

In my earlier post about the abrasive noise created by tumbling 0’s and 1’s I failed to provide the obvious solution which is to place cables in an electro magnetic field to hold the bits upright during transit. I apologize for the omission.

The abrasive noise gets sanded off, leaving a nice smooth music signal, by the reconstruction filter in the playback equipment.

 

[kemmler3D]

I know we are discouraged from ragging on other forums, but this was simply too silly to ignore. Spied from a post on a forum @amirm helped create and is now banned from (WBF).

Here's someone who went down the 'Ethernet/Wifi carries/generates noise' hole way too deep. Fyi, 'LHY' is a manufacturer (a subsidiary of 'Jay's Audio'), and 'FMC' stands for fiber-optic media converter:

"Here are the items that I use on each of my Xfinity Cable Modem, Firewalla Gold Pro Hardware Firewall / Router, and LHY FMC:

1) LHY Linear Power Supply (for each the Cable Modem and Router)
2) Swiss Digital Fuse Box with Extreme Piggy Tail & Graphene Sluggo (for the Linear Power Supplies of Modem and Router, and for FMC)
3) Vanguard White Label Silver DC Cable (for the two Linear Power Supplies for Modem and Router)
4) Lessloss Prime Power Cord (A/C outlet to each of the two Linear Power Supplies and to the FMC)
5) Synergistic Research Atmosphere SX Reference Ethernet Cables (Modem to Router, and Router to FMC)
6) Synergistic Research MiG 3.0 Footers (Three under each of the Modem, Router, and FMC)

The LHY FMC connects to LHY SW-6 switch via 30 meters of Optospan LCELite Ultra Low Loss Fiber Optic cable and Optospan 'PSFP-11DT31K002' SFP's. LHY SW-6 connects to DAC / Streamer via Synergistic Research Atmosphere SX Reference Ethernet Cable.

Thus, I do not use WiFi in streaming music. I do use one ethernet port from the Firewalla Gold Pro Hardware Firewall / Router to connect to a Firewalla AP7 which feeds other AP7's for mesh network to support WiFi needs of non-audio devices.

I'm getting ready to set up the audio system devices on a separate VLAN in my firewall / router to isolate it from other devices. Will report back if it makes an audible difference."

This is a recent post, and he has not posted a follow-up report about this. But he did make a post about how every SMPS in your house needs to be replaced with a linear power supply....

Notice he uses ~3 of each of the items listed, on various devices. I don't have the patience to look up prices, but my estimate is that this guy spent over $10K to improve his $200 modem/router....

Someone named Holmz at WBF, not sure if it is our @Holmz, has asked in various 'digital noise' threads at WBF, "What noise?" They just refer him to "the obvious noise...."

So true audiophiles, with Golden Ears, can hear 'digital noise,' but can't hear record-surface noise, tube noise or tape hiss.

Isn't it scary how sanity in this hobby depends entirely on which forums or websites are used for information....

If you could somehow pipe all the noise in these power supplies directly to your speakers, I'm sure you could buy filters to effectively remove it for less than this.

Also, for a person this concerned with AC noise to pointedly not use WiFi... He's drinking a lot of snake oil, the hard way.

It's pretty wild that people will spend $1000s on cables but won't spend 2 hours on a blind test to see if they worked.

e: I looked it up and the power supplies are around $300, fuse box $500, power cable $500, the ethernet cable is $1K...

For all this he could have bought a really nice set of speakers or headphones. Or an AVR with really nice room correction features like ART.

 

[MarkS]

So back in the late 70s, specialty speaker cables were just starting to be a thing. An audiophile friend and I started talking about whether this could possibly be something we should pay attention to. We were thinking of the cable as a transmission line and wondering if impedance matching would matter. After all the wavelength of a 10kHz note was only an inch or so, much shorter than the cable ... then my friend said, "Wait, it's still an electrical signal", and I had a forehead-slapping moment of realization that the wavelength calculation of an inch or so was using the speed of sound, and for an electrical signal we should be using the speed of light. Now the wavelength was a gazillion miles, and transmission-line effects were completely negligible. Only the lumped RLC of the cable could possibly matter, and it would be R that would have the biggest (though still tiny) effect for almost all cases ...

 

[kemmler3D]

So back in the late 70s, specialty speaker cables were just starting to be a thing. An audiophile friend and I started talking about whether this could possibly be something we should pay attention to. We were thinking of the cable as a transmission line and wondering if impedance matching would matter. After all the wavelength of a 10kHz note was only an inch or so, much shorter than the cable ... then my friend said, "Wait, it's still an electrical signal", and I had a forehead-slapping moment of realization that the wavelength calculation of an inch or so was using the speed of sound, and for an electrical signal we should be using the speed of light. Now the wavelength was a gazillion miles, and transmission-line effects were completely negligible. Only the lumped RLC of the cable could possibly matter, and it would be R that would have the biggest (though still tiny) effect for almost all cases ...

I think you've cracked it. Maybe if we go around slapping people's foreheads they'll have the same realization?

 

[xanalog]

Reminds me of a recent news story about a man who was convinced vampires were after him. He had garlic, mirrors and crucifixes all over his house to keep them away.

I thought the punch line was going to be that he got abducted anyway by forgetting to shut the front door.

 

[egellings]

So back in the late 70s, specialty speaker cables were just starting to be a thing. An audiophile friend and I started talking about whether this could possibly be something we should pay attention to. We were thinking of the cable as a transmission line and wondering if impedance matching would matter. After all the wavelength of a 10kHz note was only an inch or so, much shorter than the cable ... then my friend said, "Wait, it's still an electrical signal", and I had a forehead-slapping moment of realization that the wavelength calculation of an inch or so was using the speed of sound, and for an electrical signal we should be using the speed of light. Now the wavelength was a gazillion miles, and transmission-line effects were completely negligible. Only the lumped RLC of the cable could possibly matter, and it would be R that would have the biggest (though still tiny) effect for almost all cases ...

Agree. At audio frequencies, the voltage at both ends of the wire is the same except for tiny deviations due to R, mostly. The upper end of the audio frequency range is just too small to matter. As an RF engineer once told me, "At that frequency, we just get out and walk.".