I had not looked at this thread for two months but it came up again today with a new post, which was when I saw this ridiculous post. It is perfectly ridiculous. Fraud is committed whenever a false representation is made when selling a product. A false representation is made with power cords whenever the seller claims or even insinuates that the aftermarket power cord will improve sound quality. It is a false claim, therefore it is fraud. To look at it any other way is to pretend that it is more complex than it truly is. And as for fiction, my 1000% number is quite obviously a guesstimate, but even though it is only a guesstimate, it is in all likelihood a pretty good guesstimate because it is difficult to fathom how a damned power cord could cost more than about $30 to manufacture, and $300 is greater than $30 by 1000%. In fact, the manufacturing cost for a power made in certain Asian countries is probably not more than $10. So it isn't fiction, and you have no reason at all to call it fiction unless you have reliable data on the manufacturing cost of a power cable made in the places where such things are usually made. The whole power cord business is a RACKET, plain and simple, and everyone on the planet who isn't an idiot knows perfectly well that it is.
Fraud in the audio business ?!!! Hard to tell when someone declares that they hear something different than yourself. Of course there is blatant fraud in the marketing of many manufacturers, for example one leading speaker brand routinely overstates the sensitivity of their speakers when no objective 3rd party can reproduce the specs. Others claim impedance "nominals" when objective measurements say otherwise. More difficult to claim actual fraud when hearing varies so widely. Me ? I can't the difference between amps, speakers, room corrections, eq, etc, etc so I'm not in a position to judge about wires, connectors, & components so, fortunately, for me, it's just a hobby and I can choose where I spend my $$.
I had not looked at this thread for two months but it came up again today with a new post, which was when I saw this ridiculous post. It is perfectly ridiculous. Fraud is committed whenever a false representation is made when selling a product. A false representation is made with power cords whenever the seller claims or even insinuates that the aftermarket power cord will improve sound quality. It is a false claim, therefore it is fraud. To look at it any other way is to pretend that it is more complex than it truly is. And as for fiction, my 1000% number is quite obviously a guesstimate, but even though it is only a guesstimate, it is in all likelihood a pretty good guesstimate because it is difficult to fathom how a damned power cord could cost more than about $30 to manufacture, and $300 is greater than $30 by 1000%. In fact, the manufacturing cost for a power made in certain Asian countries is probably not more than $10. So it isn't fiction, and you have no reason at all to call it fiction unless you have reliable data on the manufacturing cost of a power cable made in the places where such things are usually made. The whole power cord business is a RACKET, plain and simple, and everyone on the planet who isn't an idiot knows perfectly well that it is.
By Mr. Peabody's standards every marketing department for products from toothpaste to autos commit fraud on a daily basis. Spending on a HOBBY is up to the individual - period. Just like spending choices for anything else. There are thousands of products made in "certain Asian countries" with large markups much more important to daily life than power cables. Marketing hype and markup is a fact of life in every business. Charging what the market will bear is another business fact. The marketplace will ultimately decide who remains standing.
Managed a wiring harness and cable manufacturing facility for 20 years so know very well the realities of that market. Wild guesstimates by Mr. Peabody have no basis in fact and prove nothing related to fraud. Selective indignation fueled by Internet bravado related to cables or anything else in the audio HOBBY is ridiculous. You want to tilt and windmills, crusade for something that actually makes life better.
Mr. Peabody, thanks for replying just as I expected. Long rambling reply filled with un-related tangents and distortions. You are the one with no clue about proof of fraud, claiming your personal opinion to be a fact. Danny R sells at a fantastic markup? What nonsensical hyperbole. If you are this worked up by Danny R, can't imagine your level of rage about guys that sell $10K cables. Please, don't have a stroke over a HOBBY.
I am not so much worked up by Danny Richie as I am worked up by you coming here and attacking me, Amir and others for doing nothing more than pointing out a simple truth: that when Richie claims that power cords influence sound quality and that speaker cables are subject to RF interference, he is lying.
Any unshielded wire is an antenna. That is an engineering fact known longer than you have been alive.
I am not so much worked up by Danny Richie as I am worked up by you coming here and attacking me, Amir and others for doing nothing more than pointing out a simple truth: that when Richie claims that power cords influence sound quality and that speaker cables are subject to RF interference, he is lying.
Problem is, Mr. Peabody, your idea of simple truth is neither simple or the truth. Any unshielded wire is an antenna. That is an engineering fact known longer than you have been alive. Pause, breathe and absorb that truth.
Is RF going to be heard coming out of your speakers? NO.
Can RF infiltrate your electronics via a power cord or speaker wire? YES. RF has a nasty habit of finding a path. Another well know engineering truth.
Do well designed electronics provide RF suppression? YES, at least SHOULD.
Is RF suppression 100% effective in all audio electronics? NO, but in most home audio situations not a problem.
Should John Q. Public have the option to assume RF is not an issue? YES
Should John Q. Public have the option to NOT ass-u-me and purchase a product from ANY source that will reduce conducted RF/EMI/RFI to virtually zero? YES
No, dude, the only real problem here is that you can't stand for other people to state simple, obvious truths in a perfectly matter-of-fact way. You have made this perfectly apparent.
Of your own free will you decided to make yourself the chief apologist for Danny Richie, someone who is strongly disliked by many people who participate here. People who dislike him do so for perfectly good reasons that are perfectly obvious. For just one of numerous reasons, he made a video where he endeavored to convince people who trust him that speaker cables are susceptible to RF interference and that this affects the sound you hear from your speakers. He would not have made this video if he did not think that many people would believe him and that this would stimulate them to buy speaker cables from him.
You have surely noticed by now that a major theme of this site is debunking audio myths and exposing audio fraud. This is manifestly a large part of what ASR is about, and given that you are obviously, strongly averse to this kind of activity, a question that begs asking is why you choose to do what you are doing. It seems very peculiar to me.
I find it annoying whenever someone who endeavors to make some claim is not willing to state the claim in a plain, straightforward manner. You are obviously trying to say, now, that power cords are susceptible to RF interference and that sound quality of an amplifier is affected by this phenomenon. (I'm focusing specifically on power cords because you said that RF interference isn't heard through a speaker.) Okay, so why don't you just say, in a plain and direct way, that power cords are susceptible to picking up RF interference and that when this happens the sound quality of the amplifier will be affected? What is the reason that you said this in the particular and very peculiar way in which you said it, instead of saying it in a plain, direct way?
I took a minute or two to search for audio power cables on AliBaba. I'm providing a link to the results that were returned. There are ten pages of results, and it looks like they are all for just one seller. The full listing for power cords is no doubt far greater than this. Of course the prices cover a good range, but the pertinent observation is that there are a very great many that cost (retail) less than 1/10 what Richie charges for his power cords. I have no doubt that you will now assert that these power cords are of lesser quality vs. the power cords that Richie sells, and that you will do this thing absent any genuine reason to think that it is true.
https://viborgaudio.aliexpress.com/store/group/HiFI-Power-cables/405877_210931458.html#!
Yea, it enables that “liquid” sound…Wait, you mean I shouldn't have my speaker wire sitting in puddled water? Well, that sure changes things........