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stereo.net.au audiofoolery website

noiseangel

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Im starting this thread to critique the rubbish and propaganda that is published on this website to avoid being censored and/or banned/deleted for speaking out and telling the truth. They perform no scientific testing on anything they review. The reviews are done by people who have no engineering or science degrees. One plays a bass guitar, one is a former car audio hack, one masquerades as a HIFI journalist, whatever that is.

https://www.stereo.net.au/reviews/egm-audio-black-ml-reference-audio-power-cable-review

So lets start with the ridiculous "applause awards"

First off is this $400 mains cable. Now we all know about mains cables, what they are plugged into and what lies behind the wall. The $400 cable is plugged into a $5 power point found in every house in the country.

Lets get right to the review and what they say a power cable can do remembering its plugged into the same socket as every other appliance in the house.

SOUND QUALITY

What’s particularly conspicuous is the lowering of the noise floor, manifesting itself as a subtle but discernible quietening of the background, so that any minute detail of musical information is heard rather than being disguised or masked by the noise.

For instance, George Benson’s version of Rainy Night in Georgia has the organ producing background sound that fills the height of the soundstage, and with the EGM Black



Benson’s lovely guitar work also sounds more explicit, and there is extra front-to-back information plus a feeling of greater spaciousness. Kick drum and bass guitar are also punchier, apparently being hit harder.

I got the same extra feeling of positivity and scale with Donna Summer’s Hot Stuff, which has a punchy beat throughout – thanks to the gutsy kick and snare drum work. With this power cable, I heard it come across with more impact, with bass notes getting added depth, weight and impact. Bass lovers rejoice!

The obligatory company blurb. This is where the advertising money comes in to it.

The company is judicious in its choice of materials, all of which are geared to getting the best possible sound at the price. This cable uses seven cores of 99.9999% pure OFC electrolytic copper, each being 16AWG which makes for a total of 13AWG cable. Around the cable is a braided screen of tinned copper, for protecting from RFI and EMI and grounded safely to earth. The cable is terminated with attractive plug and socket ends with the pins made of a soft copper and tellurium composition. Its standard five-year warranty befits the general air of quality of the product.

All this from a power cable.

This is Audiophile snake oil at its finest.
Snake oil power cables.jpg
 
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lemnoc

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Just read it now :facepalm:

This cable uses seven cores of 99.9999% pure OFC electrolytic copper,

And 2 cm behind this uber expensive cable is 10-20 meters of this single core non shielded, non electrolytic OFC cable running all of the way to the meter box and beyond, and yet this uber expensive mains cable somehow miraculously increases the sound stage :facepalm: Honestly you literally have to suspend your disbelief to believe any of the garbage in these reviews. The old saying that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing applies here and like PT Barnum said there is a sucker born every minute !

3ff5a11a1e1c87a8ac9835825c16fd0b.jpg
 
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noiseangel

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What about a rack that improves the imaging and the soundstage? Everything stereo.net.au reviews, unscientifically of course, improves the imagining and the soundstage. Thats how they get the advertising dollars

https://www.stereo.net.au/reviews/solidsteel-hyperspike-hy-4-equipment-rack-review

Imaging proved rock-solid, and I was greeted by an expansive soundstage that extended well beyond the loudspeakers. Bass was taut and punchy, yet there was plenty of it when required.

Well worth an audition, if you're after a serious system support.

I am assuming that you can just sit there and listen to this rack on its own if this review is anything to by. It does say it can be auditioned.

Snake oil rack.jpg
 

restorer-john

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Personally, I don't have a problem if people want to spend that much on a high quality support system for their expensive gear. Especially if they use a turntable, the requirement for quality support is not just optional, it's essential. So yes, such a stand will result in better performance from TTs and some CD players, especially on timber or floating floors.

This is a typical actual customer application. (from Solidsteel's website)
1608755118319.png

And this:
1608755165734.png

So, as you clearly can see, not the typical ASR member with a pile of disparate cheap ChiFi and a pair of $80 Andrew Jones Pioneers...

With large and heavy gear, and lots of it, audiophiles need rock solid support as anything cheap simply cannot take the weight. For example, there's 80kg sitting on my audio stand (a solid timber buffet) and that's just 5 components.

We all know expensive power cords are a scam, but using ASR to attack Stereonet doesn't do anyone any favours. Let them be- they're happy in their delusions.
 
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ahofer

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My view is don't put a turd in their punchbowl until they do it to you.
 
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noiseangel

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@restorer-john So matey you actually condone and think it's ok for websites like stereo.net.au to spread disinformation that something like a metal rack can increase the soundstage? Explain your scientific rationale for this view. There are plenty of engineers on here who would be very interested in your scientifically proved theory. Or are you just defending them because you are a member there as well? Hell I like the rack for what it is, it's just a rack. Don't fill people with BS just to get some advertising bucks from people who make it.

I'm a member and I'm sick and tired of the outright BS they blurt out and the way when you question how this is possible that a steel audio rack can increase soundstage and then get deleted by the nazi-like owner.
 

restorer-john

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@noiseangel Trying to start a storm in a teacup or mobilize a lynch mob won't work. It's just Stereonet. Nobody in their right mind takes them seriously. It's just another site on the internet, and if you don't like it, why are you a member there? I'm certainly not and never have been.

I can see you're upset about having comments over there deleted/banned. Take it up with the admin on Stereonet. ASR is not the place to have a childish rant about another internet site.

Anyway, it's Christmas. :)
 

lemnoc

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@noiseangel Trying to start a storm in a teacup or mobilize a lynch mob won't work. It's just Stereonet. Nobody in their right mind takes them seriously. It's just another site on the internet, and if you don't like it, why are you a member there? I'm certainly not and never have been.

I can see you're upset about having comments over there deleted/banned. Take it up with the admin on Stereonet. ASR is not the place to have a childish rant about another internet site.

Anyway, it's Christmas. :)

Good luck dealing with that megalomaniac. He bans people for stating the obvious and censors threads or for example closes threads down on class-D amps for no apparent reason but will keep the cable threads going ad-infinitum. :facepalm: Surely you don't think you are going to have a rational conversation with someone who is driven by profits and has no electrical engineering background do you ??

Honestly speaking stereonet is just a glorified advertising platform and the owner is just a shill for all of the importers. It is not a forum for rational conversation.

It's fair game that stereonet cops some criticism for the rubbish they publish. I don't know why you are defending it being a regular frequenter to this forum. Try having a proper debate on stereonet like you do here and see how long you or your threads last :(

And BTW ASR gets a bagging from some of the posters on stereonet from time to time too and those posts are never deleted.
 
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Massimo

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Good luck dealing with that megalomaniac. He bans people for stating the obvious and censors threads or for example closes threads down on class-D amps for no apparent reason but will keep the cable threads going ad-infinitum. :facepalm: Surely you don't think you are going to have a rational conversation with someone who is driven by profits and has no electrical engineering background do you ??

Honestly speaking stereonet is just a glorified advertising platform and the owner is just a shill for all of the importers. It is not a forum for rational conversation.

It's fair game that stereonet cops some criticism for the rubbish they publish. I don't know why you are defending it being a regular frequenter to this forum. Try having a proper debate on stereonet like you do here and see how long you or your threads last :(

And BTW ASR gets a bagging from some of the posters on stereonet from time to time too and those posts are never deleted.

Money talks. The cable threads pay the bills and EGM is a major sponsor. Stereonet reviews are packed with audiophile superlatives, zero measurements and read like infomercials.
 

restorer-john

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Good luck dealing with that megalomaniac.

Honestly speaking stereonet is just a glorified advertising platform and the owner is just a shill for all of the importers. It is not a forum for rational conversation.

Well, why bother giving the "megolomanic", and the site any airtime at all? Do people feel the need to publicly keel-haul everyone they don't agree with as a matter of course these days? It's so puerile and unsophisticated.

Come to your own informed conclusions and make your own decisions. I don't care for anybody's choices in that regard, except my own.

I don't know why you are defending it being a regular frequenter to this forum.

One of the attractive things about ASR is the ability to put forward a contrary or dissenting view. Doing so, is not "defending" anything.
 

lemnoc

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Well, why bother giving the "megolomanic", and the site any airtime at all? Do people feel the need to publicly keel-haul everyone they don't agree with as a matter of course these days? It's so puerile and unsophisticated.

Come to your own informed conclusions and make your own decisions. I don't care for anybody's choices in that regard, except my own.



One of the attractive things about ASR is the ability to put forward a contrary or dissenting view. Doing so, is not "defending" anything.

And that's exactly what we are doing without being censored, banned or the thread deleted !!

These days there seems to be some sort of unwritten rule that when it comes to audio-foolery and snake-oil websites you should not be able to criticize their bullshit and you should let the gullible get ripped off because they should know better and it's a case of buyer beware. Sorry don't agree with that.
 

solderdude

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The last meter....

It always seems to come down to the last meter of wire.
In mains cable vendors pretend their cables can do the same (or even better) than a good RF mains filter which usually is also applied in the last meter and 'helps' against garbage on the mains.

For interlinks that meter also brings pure bliss when inserted between copper traces on PCB's (or generic wiring)

For speaker cables the same. it brings pure joy after the copper traces/wires, relay and or switch in an amp and in the speaker itself followed by generic wires and inductors made out of plain copper wire.

We can get mad at snake-oil sellers but in the end most ASR members won't fall for the nonsense. Their potential customers won't be visiting ASR (are warned not to on other sites) and will keep on spending their cash on various frivolous audio wonders from the industry.. your know ...the ones that really know high end stuff, are inquisitive and open to anything that is said (unless technical which is abracadabra to them), are weary of measurements and trust their ears and reviewers.

Just let them be and do their thing. When you are smart you get into the same nonsense and grab some of that money. Those buying into the nonsense deserve to be ripped off.

Not all expensive stuff is a rip-off though. The out of the ordinary hyper expensive stuff usually is. Use common sense.
 
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noiseangel

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@solderdude

Just let them be and do their thing. When you are smart you get into the same nonsense and grab some of that money. Those buying into the nonsense deserve to be ripped off.

I'm in what do you suggest. Audiophile speaker connection grease perhaps?
 

RayDunzl

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noiseangel

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RayDunzl

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Damn. Missed out again.

Thats not the same thing though. It doesn't increase sound stage the way my grease will.


"Any kind
Of lube'll do
Maybe from another
Part of you"

 

Thomas savage

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There's like a infinite number of things to promote outrage before we get to some geezer putting audio equipment on a $500 a level support thing .

Whenever I read this kind of thing I wonder about what we are all doing here .

Put your energy into important matters , this kind of thing borders on the offensive in my eyes . Its a slight to real things in life.

Oh and as a community looking to promote audio with sound sense and argument to the benefit of reason this sort of thing also makes us look like a bunch of nutcases who retain no measure of normalcy or character.

Thing thing thing , there's a lot of thing here .. I blame the tin bottom morning beers .
 
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