Tice Power Conductor 2 Vintage AC Cable Review

[fpitas]

So now it's just insults?
I don't mind a knowledgeable difference of opinion, but if you don't have that.......??

Amir just posted and made a fine outline for his point-of-view on this topic. I don't necessarily agree with all of it, but it's well stated.
Maybe try something like that??

Anyways, I don't see the point in testing stupid gadgets like this that haven't even been available for over thirty years. Tice gadgets have long since been laughed into the scrap heap of audio-foolery. Ancient history.

I'm just saying you seem to have an agenda. No one here understands your point, yet you beat it home and let us know we can't understand such abstruse thinking.

 

[SuicideSquid]

Someone send @amirm some Monster Cables...

There's nothing remarkable about Monster. They just took the high-end audiophile nonsense and put it into a package that normal people could afford (but that was still priced 5-10x what it was worse). They'll measure exactly the same as any other cable.

In Monster's defence, unlike a lot of audiophile brand garbage, their stuff is actually fairly well put together, they just used bullshit to market it. Which actually makes it *less* interesting to have Amir look at, because it's *just* a cable.

 

[SuicideSquid]

Anyways, I don't see the point in testing stupid gadgets like this that haven't even been available for over thirty years. Tice gadgets have long since been laughed into the scrap heap of audio-foolery. Ancient history.

It's interesting to know how we got from the early days of audio, without any of the contemporary audiophile nonsense, to there being so much of it. Reviewing these gadgets helps to chart that path.

And we can make reasonable predictions and inferences about how this device is likely to perform, but until it's actually tested, we don't know for sure.

Testing such devices is both interesting and useful.

 

[fpitas]

There's nothing remarkable about Monster. They just took the high-end audiophile nonsense and put it into a package that normal people could afford (but that was still priced 5-10x what it was worse). They'll measure exactly the same as any other cable.

In Monster's defence, unlike a lot of audiophile brand garbage, their stuff is actually fairly well put together, they just used bullshit to market it. Which actually makes it *less* interesting to have Amir look at, because it's *just* a cable.

I have heard that some Monster cables had a 100 ohm RF termination resistor, which could conceivably help amplifier stability, especially back in the bad old days.

 

[fpitas]

What is it you think my "agenda" is???

Trolling?

 

[fpitas]

You came here and all you have done is tell us our efforts are worthless. You offer very unconvincing arguments.

 

[naviivan]

On studying the photographs I can tell the circuit board has been bathed in the blood of a thousand virgins that imparts a purity to the sound. Im adding this to my Highly recommended for all audio equipment.

 

[Soria Moria]

Correction, 'you' don't grasp it.

I can understand Amir's POV on this though. I just feel these are just battles to a war that's already been lost. The high-end audio business is very weird and the ship is not going to be righted in a few years by a single guy with a website. Call me cynical and insult me if you like, but I'm just being realistic....from my point of view.
ASR has been OTA for seven years now. How much effect on the audio snake oil market to you think it's had? And can you quantify it?

When I was being foolishly scammed by snake oil products 2~ish years ago I often had Amir’s reviews come up as the first result when looking up reviews and sometimes for cables as well, and it did dissuade me at times. I’m thankful they exist and I certainly think we would be worse off without ASR.

 

[ocinn]

what's so special about them? they are not cheap but not expensive either

I'm too young to remember the specifics but back in the day, they were one of the first mainstream companies to bring the "cables affect sound" thought process to the forefront of consumers' minds. They were sold at major retailers and the salesman were prompted to inject that rhetoric when making system sales. IIRC they were basically a bigger version of what Audioquest is today.

 

[restorer-john]

My question is why does he continue to test them ? It is waste of time, effort and server space so what is the point ? Seems to me this is just a low hanging fruit in order to have something, anything really new to post on the first page.

It is disappointing isn't it?

No technical measurements of the cable, the length, the gauge of the conductors, the 3 resistance measurements of the cable- standard and with switches A and B switched on.

We all know they are a complete scam, it's not rocket science is it? Nothing is being exposed But at what point is Amir going to actually measure the devices instead of a Topping DAC attached? These 'reviews' are essentially just click bait, an attempt to get 'engagement' and faux outrage in the comments section.

That's two Tices in a row. I guess next week it'll be PS Audio's turn again...

 

[ocinn]

This sort of thing is a complete waste of time and I'm disappointed Amir continues with it.
There are, no doubt, interesting products waiting in his testing queue.

What, like another one of the million <$400 115+ SINAD DACs that are released a year? Yawn. At least this is an interesting, and funny read/discussion, unlike the 150th flawless ES9038/9Pro or Purifi implementation in a row.

 

[amirm]

No technical measurements of the cable, the length, the gauge of the conductors, the 3 resistance measurements of the cable- standard and with switches A and B switched on.

I measured all that. It was useless data so I did not post them. You understand that paralleling a 18 or whatever gauge wire with a 12/14 gauge one and expecting difference like that is spitting in the air, yes? Or do you expect the resistance difference in this cable after dozens of feet/meters of the cable in the wall makes a difference?

I don't measure just to fill a page. My job is to figure out the story of a product and tell that. The story here is what the cable was made to do. You want everything from color of the wire or how many strands it has, hire your own lab to do that testing for you. I have better things to do than that.

 

[amirm]

But at what point is Amir going to actually measure the devices instead of a Topping DAC attached?

Oh, excuse me for putting value on the sound that comes out of our audio devices than some component way upstream of it. Seems if it were you, a car reviewer would have to print the specs for the bolts that hold the engine down as opposed to how fast it drives.

So no, the device *was* measured in the way it would get used. Not as a science project.

 

[restorer-john]

I measured all that. It was useless data so I did not post them. You understand that paralleling a 18 or whatever gauge wire with a 12/14 gauge one and expecting difference like that is spitting in the air, yes? Or do you expect the resistance difference in this cable after dozens of feet/meters of the cable in the wall makes a difference?

I don't measure just to fill a page. My job is to figure out the story of a product and tell that. The story here is what the cable was made to do. You want everything from color of the wire or how many strands it has, hire your own lab to do that testing for you. I have better things to do than that.

Amir, if you think the technical meaurements of the device you are 'reviewing' is 'useless data' and not worth posting, then why bother in the first place?

 

[restorer-john]

Oh, excuse me for putting value on the sound that comes out of our audio devices than some component way upstream of it. Seems if it were you, a car reviewer would have to print the specs for the bolts that hold the engine down as opposed to how fast it drives.

With that logic, your technical review of a trailer would be all about how well the car drove when pulling it.

 

[restorer-john]

But us two disagreeing is also engagement and potential clickbait. Can't win. LOL.

 

[amirm]

Amir, if you think the technical meaurements of the device you are 'reviewing' is 'useless data' and not worth posting, then why bother in the first place?

No one would give a darn about the measurements you asked about. Objectivists or subjectivists. Who cares if the resistance is 2 mohm instead of 4? What are you going to do with that info? Ditto for capacitance, etc. This is an AC cable. It is sub component of a complete device. It is being offered as an upgrade for an audio product. So I show what happens in that audio product when you replace its stock cable with this one. This is the precise application.

The fact that the output of the audio device did not change is powerful counterevidence to those who say the sound changes. What the measurements of the wire are will not do a darn thing on that front.

Now, if we had found some measurable difference in the output of audio device, then we may want to work backward to find out why.

 

[amirm]

But us two disagreeing is also engagement and potential clickbait. Can't win. LOL.

Tell me about it. A person is arguing repeatedly why I tested this product at all while you ask me to count the number of copper atoms in the wire to satisfy your, what need, I don't know. It seems you just woke up and thought that a) complaining would be good and b) my time is free an infinite so should be spent whatever someone dreams about.

 

[sealman]

There's nothing remarkable about Monster. They just took the high-end audiophile nonsense and put it into a package that normal people could afford (but that was still priced 5-10x what it was worse). They'll measure exactly the same as any other cable.

In Monster's defence, unlike a lot of audiophile brand garbage, their stuff is actually fairly well put together, they just used bullshit to market it. Which actually makes it *less* interesting to have Amir look at, because it's *just* a cable.

I bought into the Monster hype 20-25 years ago. I probably had around 800.00 worth in RCA's and S-Video etc. I had more of them fail than any other brand I have ever owned (before during or since then) with the possible exception of the throw away cables that get packaged in everything.

To be fair it was not the materials but the poor soldering that always failed.

 

[AndreaT]

Time we have left is a continuously decreasing quantity. I was sinning when I spent time to make money to buy dubious improvements (I had my share of Nordost cables, among other things), and more time to drive to the audio store, drive home, recycle the packaging, assemble the cables in the system, persuade myself it was money (and time) well spent, and then dedicate more thoughts about how silly it was to have spent all that money (and time). Amir’s reviews are among the greatest items to save time (and money) and focus instead on what works to better reproduce Music. I am glad, very glad about it, because I spend more time listening.