Stereophile doubles down on the snake oil!

[Vacceo]

Not surprising. I read a bit more on his site. He doesn't think measurements are worth anything, all good designers "tune" their electronics, etc.

And by the same token, I think his reviews are completely worthless as I have opinions too. Mine, from just listening to something, are as valid and useless as his.

 

[ahofer]

Wondering what @Kal Rubinson and @John Atkinson think

I’m sure if there was any opposition, it was voiced privately.

 

[Sal1950]

We can’t access Darko ( no loss whatsoever) but does he choose to only review products that pay him?
Keith

??? What's he afraid of. LOL

 

[Chrispy]

I know this is slight off the Op topic now but except for ASR and AVforums (been a member since 2006), what other sites / who else should I be following / viewing?

Audioholics still has worthy content, never found Avforums to be worth much, but avsforum.com has some good stuff. Perhaps check out https://archimago.blogspot.com/

 

[blueone]

I do blame much of the demise of midl level home audio on the basic influence of High-End audio, cables, and all the rest.
Looking back all my boomer gen friends have been discuraged by the goings-on of High End.
About 15 years back my GF at the time went to BB or alike and bought a inexpensive surround system in a box without me and came home
with a bag full of AQ cables that cost almost as much as the system. I told her to return them but refused as the salesman (a professional right?) ensured her she wouldn't get good sound without them, WTF do I know. Some time later I showed her some online info that finally convinced her she had been screwed but now of course she has a bad taste about the whole industry.

I haven't noticed this phenomenon. Mostly what I've noticed is a different perspective about how you listen to music. It's mostly just background music, not the main event.

I just got back from the gym, and the universe is apparently trying to teach me not use a few random data points to draw a conclusion. I noticed more than twenty men wearing over the ear headphones while they were working out, contrary to the stereotype I described in my previous post.

 

[JSmith]

Audioquest

AudioQuest 8' Dragon BiWire COMBO Speaker Cable w/ ZERO for Treble + BASS for Bass - Pair - 2 x Male U-Spade > 4 x Male U-Spade - Silver

Designed specifically to optimize the performance of biwireable loudspeakers, Dragon BiWire COMBO speaker cables comprise a Dragon ZERO and Dragon BASS, conveniently joined at the amp end.

www.audioquest.com

There are no words...


JSmith

 

[Audiofire]

There are no words...

Indeed, not the manufacturer nor Stereophile is able to make sense of it

 

[Palladium]

There are no words...


JSmith

It's pretty funny once you learned voice coil heating alone causes infinitely more non-linearity than any cable from a loudspeaker design textbook.

 

[Somafunk]

View attachment 453572

AudioQuest 8' Dragon BiWire COMBO Speaker Cable w/ ZERO for Treble + BASS for Bass - Pair - 2 x Male U-Spade > 4 x Male U-Spade - Silver

Designed specifically to optimize the performance of biwireable loudspeakers, Dragon BiWire COMBO speaker cables comprise a Dragon ZERO and Dragon BASS, conveniently joined at the amp end.

www.audioquest.com

There are no words...


JSmith

I could think of quite a few words………enough to make a sentence…….in fact i could come up with an opening paragraph but I fear it would get me banned for breaking the forum rules on abusive comments.

 

[MattHooper]

I like this quote from the article's comments section...

"To dismiss cabling at particular price point is naive until one has used it for themselves. One simply doesn't know until so. All else is conjecture."

So, if you've never tried $23 300 cabling, then how can you know Plus, I really need to get me some "ultra-quiet" insulated wires - I think I can hear my neighbour's voices through my fifty dollar pair.

Apparently, quite a number of patents have been submitted to the patent office for perpetual motion machine machines.

I wonder if Colloms has reserved judgement on those until he has direct experience himself with their machines.

 

[JSmith]

Martin Colloms has been muddying the hi-fi waters for long time

Pages 3 - 5;

https://hifiplanet.com.br/clube/diversos/Cables%20part%203.pdf

JSmith

 

[lini]

(...) The writer should be feathered and tarred, as used to be the custom to handle snake oil sales men.

Hmmm - unless you'd actually be aiming for a tar-coated guy with a heap of feathers with some tar drops on it around his feet, I'd suggest to rethink the sequence of application.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[Sal1950]

Indeed, not the manufacturer nor Stereophile is able to make sense of it

They make plenty good sense of it, advertiser dollars..
Like for the jail house occupants and lawyers, the phase of the day will always be,
Lie and deny.

I haven't noticed this phenomenon. Mostly what I've noticed is a different perspective about how you listen to music. It's mostly just background music, not the main event.

Well then whatever you believe the reason, the same question still remains,
Why have people given up on having a dedicated quality music reproduction system in their homes ?
Listening on buds for background noise at the gym or where ever is a completely different thing.
They still mostly all have TV screens at home, bigger and better than ever for creating a immersive video experience.
But Attentive listening to "music" at home is a dying thing that everyone from the Stereophile writers down will agree with.
Riddle me this Batman

 

[Mart68]

This reminds me of a recent Darko post, where he describes going into a listening room at High-End Munich where Audioquest had three somewhat identical setups each using different "levels" of Audioquest cables. As if Audioquest was REALLY trying to subjectively demonstrate the "value" of their cables on sound quality.

Darko was very delicate in his "review" stating there seemed to be differences in sound quality, but qualified as "not being sure" if it was due to the cables.

Of course Audioquest is a frequent sponsor of his Youtube channel.

Yes I also watched that broadcast. He comes to the conclusion that there's no point going to shows to audition source components since the noisy environment means he can't hear the differences, and so all he's hearing is loudspeakers and rooms.

He just needs to make that little leap to realise the whole hi-fi thing is really just loudspeakers and rooms. Maybe one day he will get there. Possibly once he retires and doesn't need the Audioquest (et al) coin anymore.

 

[JiiPee]

Hmmm - unless you'd actually be aiming for a tar-coated guy with a heap of feathers with some tar drops on it around his feet, I'd suggest to rethink the sequence of application.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

Mea culpa.

Uli Der Fehlerteufel

 

[Sal1950]

Mea culpa.

Uli Der Fehlerteufel

English Please

 

[JiiPee]

English Please

Mea culpa = "I confess, I'm guilty" Honestly, I thought this Latin phrase was universally commonly known thing, but apparently I was wrong, so mea culpa again

I sincerely hope nobody wasted their tar and feathers by applying them in wrong order, as I in haste wrote them in wrong order in my original post...

As my lapse was pointed out by Manfred from Munich, I signed my confession as Uli Der Fehlerteufel. I'm fairly sure he knows the meaning of it. For those who don't, here is a brief explanation: Uli Der Fehlerteufel

 

[Ken1951]

the whole hi-fi thing is really just loudspeakers and rooms.

This! Unless something is seriously broken in the electronics chain this is what you've got. LPs - well that's a different story, and plenty to deal with there. But electronics and cables (good grief) not so much.

 

[Sal1950]

This! Unless something is seriously broken in the electronics chain this is what you've got. LPs - well that's a different story, and plenty to deal with there. But electronics and cables (good grief) not so much.

Mainly factual but there are also many highly colored tube type components that receive high praise for their warm and inviting character in some publications both print and internet. There's also a small number of intentionally voiced SS gear, but they are quite few.

 

[Holmz]

The signal propagation speed in a copper wire is roughly ⅔ lightspeed. Meaning, in a 10m wire we're looking at a travel time of 50 nanoseconds.

^This^ is almost totally untrue.
- The propagation is largely outside the wire, or on the surface of the wire.
- The speed is primarily determined by the dielectric constant of insulation.
- If it is all delayed by the same amount, then who cares?