Tice TPT Enhanced Line Conditioner Review

[polmuaddib]

Do they though?

Yes they do. Absolutely nothing for audio. Nor for anyhting else usefull. But they do nothing in a very similar fashion. That was my point.

 

[brandall10]

I'm not understanding the criticism in this thread of the testing and reason for testing. Amir spends his time to produce these review threads and the results are posted for free. If someone doesn't like what is posted, don't read it. Surely those doing so can understand how reading such comments would be disheartening for the person spending their time testing devices sent in by members?


JSmith

I haven’t read most of this thread, so I’m unsure if this is specifically in relation to my comment above or if there are others. If the former, I already stated that I don’t read most of these and will reiterate why I posted -

I've seen comments in many threads in the past asking if Amir will test this or that headphone/speaker/DAC/amp and it's been noted there's like a half year backlog. Amir is only one person and while other things occasionally get promoted to the front page, his work largely drives this site forward. Spend time on these things, other actual useful things don't get tested. If this were a full community effort, sure, who cares. Don't read it and move on.

What's the value here aside for entertainment and comic relief? Seriously, when the whole thread is filled with jokes and memes about snakeoil, what's the benefit aside from that, maybe just exposing yet another way a company is 'engineering' some deception?

If you're a physicist trying to educate how many ZPE and perpetual motion machines do you need to evaluate to convince your followers that they are bunk? The ongoing room temperature superconductor discussion (LK-99) has been great and meaningful because hey, despite it being the stuff of science fiction you get to see world class physicists actually consider that there is a there there (apparently there isn't, but it seemed there was for a week). The world gets to see science happen at a grand scale. The other hundreds of materials over the past decades? Eh, maybe for the curious learn about the others that had good potential, but more than that it's going to be mostly noise.

Also to be clear, the criticism comes from appreciation of the good stuff that has been done here... if there was some sort of audio industry Nobel prize Amir certainly deserves it. No one has likely had a bigger impact on all things audio in recent times. Literally has shaped the landscape and performance of the things we can buy. Can't tell how many times I've referred people here. It's just... SNR.

 

[amirm]

I've seen comments in many threads in the past asking if Amir will test this or that headphone/speaker/DAC/amp and it's been noted there's like a half year backlog. Amir is only one person and while other things occasionally get promoted to the front page, his work largely drives this site forward. Spend time on these things, other actual useful things don't get tested.

We have two missions:

1. Help you with selection of audio gear you want to buy.
2. Help you understand the underlying system so you can be more educated in general. And lift the overall knowledge of the community as a whole.

This review falls in category #2. By showing what these devices do and don't do, and why, education gest done and people will save money in the long run not buying into tweaks that don't do anything. This type of effort is transformative, helping cleanse this hobby of misinformation. Even for me it is educational to dig into products to see what really makes them tick (or not, pun intended).

I could do a 100 DAC reviews and still not accomplish #2. I see the impact this type of work has done and consider it a major accomplishment.

Let's remember that there has been plenty of people scuffing about products like this yet the trend continued toward more and more adoption, not less. We are the first force that has started to reverse that trend.

 

[JSmith]

What's the value here aside for entertainment and comic relief?

For people that think a power cable will change their audio so veils are lifted and angels sing.

Seriously, when the whole thread is filled with jokes and memes about snakeoil, what's the benefit aside from that, maybe just exposing yet another way a company is 'engineering' some deception?

A bit of fun?

Spend time on these things, other actual useful things don't get tested.

Not really... Amir has to agree to test something prior to a member sending it in, so surely that decision is best left to Amir himself as to what he spends time on? Anyway, I do appreciate your points nonetheless.


JSmith

 

[brandall10]

We have two missions:

1. Help you with selection of audio gear you want to buy.
2. Help you understand the underlying system so you can be more educated in general. And lift the overall knowledge of the community as a whole.

This review falls in category #2. By showing what these devices do and don't do, and why, education gest done and people will save money in the long run not buying into tweaks that don't do anything. This type of effort is transformative, helping cleanse this hobby of misinformation. Even for me it is educational to dig into products to see what really makes them tick (or not, pun intended).

I could do a 100 DAC reviews and still not accomplish #2. I see the impact this type of work has done and consider it a major accomplishment.

Let's remember that there has been plenty of people scuffing about products like this yet the trend continued toward more and more adoption, not less. We are the first force that has started to reverse that trend.

RE #2, by 'community' I guess that means folks who are audiophiles and not currently members. I'm not criticizing the fact that these reviews have been done in the past... to a point. If 10 cable reviews don't convince someone I don't see why another 20 will, line conditioners, etc. Esp when each one of these reviews has reasoning clearly explaining why as a class of devices they can't really provide the imagined gains. It's not about the science for those people. It's religious, they'll believe there's some unmeasurable, mystical property that is jiving with what they hear. Wealthy, well educated people (doctors, attorneys) with tons of $$ 'believe' this crap.

I'd argue measuring 100 DACs is definitely educational, for both that community and this one. Now you have this solid mapping of what price/performance is in this industry, you know what brands give a solid performance at all levels, you know what brands maybe give lopsided performance, you know what brands charge and arm and a leg and provide broken products. We also get to see the impact of this type of measurement over time on the engineering of these products and their resultant performance. The fact that you can now get dozens of things for under $1k that outperform the 'best' (Dave) is rather mind-blowing.

I was one of those audiophiles for about 15 years before finding this site 5 years ago. On head-fi 2003, owned about $50k of equipment over the years, hosted meets, went to CanJams, purchased plenty of cables, tube amps, something like 4-5 NOS DACs, etc. What got me over the hump was in fact the measurements here of the stuff that mattered, not the jewelry which I already knew was a big source of derision between the objectivists/subjectivists.

 

[polmuaddib]

If 10 cable reviews don't convince someone I don't see why another 20 will

I have to say I agree.
Amir can test thousands of cables and power conditioners, door stops and audiophile philosopher’s stones, in fact all of them and still not convince hard core subjectivists.
They will still say that some things can’t be measured and they’d rather trust their ears or some other corny line.
On the other hand, since Amir is our host, it’s his prerogative what he wants to review and what not and we have to respect that.

 

[BDWoody]

If 10 cable reviews don't convince someone I don't see why another 20 will, line conditioners, etc

They have to see them and read them and understand them to be convinced. The more reviews there are for people to stumble across, the more likely they are to be drawn in.

If you're a physicist trying to educate how many ZPE and perpetual motion machines do you need to evaluate to convince your followers that they are bunk?

It's not the 'followers' that need to be convinced typically.

We get around 1,000 new members a month, so whatever is driving that, the word is continuing to spread.

 

[Sal1950]

Seems like they just wrapped the wire every which way and then poured some kind of goop and cured hard giving the unit some weight.

So why would you now expect for it to show any measurable or audible improvements?
You broke it open and let all the magic out.

 

[Sal1950]

Let's remember that there has been plenty of people scuffing about products like this yet the trend continued toward more and more adoption, not less. We are the first force that has started to reverse that trend.

Amen partner.
Although there may be no hope for the hard-core believers, audio isn't a totally dead passion (yet).
New folks come along every day. The hope is to wise some newbie's up before their minds become infected from the BS.
There was a long time between the exit of people like Peter Aczel from the hobby before Amir's site arrived on the scene. AKA The Dark Ages
It's a partial answer to the question Peter asked so long ago that's in my signature.

"The gullibility of audiophiles is what astonishes me the most, even after all these years. How is it possible, how did it ever happen, that they trust fairy-tale purveyors and mystic gurus more than reliable sources of scientific information? "Peter Aczel"

 

[Jirams]

How do some folks fall for this crap?

 

[mhardy6647]

Oddly enough, my favorite speaker cable, Canare 4S11 (as well as various microphone cables) uses pretty much what you show above as a structural winding element around 4 conductors to maintain its cable’s “Star Quad” architecture. Benchmark has posted data on that stuff, helpful in long runs. Even in short runs it’s just good cable. But I digress.

I, too, use Canare on one system.

 

[ErVikingo]

How do some folks fall for this crap?

I'll quote some lyrics:

They repeated every test
They checked out all the data on their lists
And then, the alien anthropologists
Admitted they were still perplexed
But on eliminating every other reason
For our sad demise
They logged the only explanation left
This species has amused itself to death

 

[AudioSceptic]

Really! This is just a wire coiled up in a box that I'm guessing isn't even creating somekind of circuit, so I'm thinking it literally does nothing - isn't it just like plugging a power cord that isn't attached to anything into the next wall socket, with your audio hifi system connected to the neighbouring socket in the wall?

And how would that be different to *anything* plugged into another socket on the same circuit but not actually in use, i.e., *any* mains-powered thing you have?

 

[Robbo99999]

And how would that be different to *anything* plugged into another socket on the same circuit but not actually in use, i.e., *any* mains-powered thing you have?

Well, most devices constantly sip some power even when they're off, either in standby or the power bricks for example, so that would be a circuit. But anyway, I was trying to explain my understanding of what this silly product actually is, and it seems to be literally the same as an unconnected AC power cord plugged into the neighbouring socket, except they've decided to wind said cable up in a wooden box, lol - so I was trying to explain & confirm exactly what this product was.

 

[MingChops]

Typically dismissive attitude here as I’ve come to expect. I’ve had one of these for years, actually found replacing the potting compound with silicone helped the sound even more, more elasticity to the bass..

Also use one in the kitchen next to the oven, I was burning food left, right, and centre before. It’s working its magic here too as the oven temp is far better regulated with it, managed to cook a snake meat pizza of all things and no burning, finally..

 

[AudiOhm]

Would the wire in the wall feeding the next receptacle, and the next no be doing the same?

Ohms

 

[fpitas]

I think I can safely say we aren't yet ready to understand the science behind this unit.

 

[pseudoid]

The cancelled odd-harmonic currents of this synergistic design is based on a Helmoltz coil and can readily be heard by gently resting one's ear on the top surface of the wooden box.
No comments!

 

[mhardy6647]

I think I can safely say we aren't yet ready to understand the science behind this unit.

Fortunately, when the whistleblowers finish outing the real deal behind the UAPs, and we're all up to speed on the real physics -- this will all make perfect sense.

 

[solderdude]

How do some folks fall for this crap?

Because some 'golden eared reviewers' say it works and when you buy one or more you bet they will work as expected and the sound will improve.
Not because of any technical reason but because that's how human brains work.
For that reason it 'works' for a lot of people who believe in this (and buy it based on recommendations) and many other 'products' like this.

Unless you actually test it you never know for sure so it is a good thing people send it in and Amir takes the effort to put it to the test.

As a product it works and thus voted great. It really does 'something' and that is change the mindset of owners that bought it and believe in it.
For them the perceived 'improvement' is probably worth it.

No test on ASR is ever going to change minds of the majority of owners who 'heard' the improvements.
It is fun to see them measured and taken apart and will discourage people that want something that really works from throwing away money.

They clearly are not intended for 'objectivists' and 'ordinary people' but is aimed at the folks that believe everything matters. I don't mind if those people get cheated out of the abundance of money they usually own. There are lots more of people praying on that money and do so successfully.

So as a product it is great. It generates money and basically 'steals money from the rich' at very little cost, yet is a waste of money at the same time when expecting actual technical functionality but maybe not if one believes.

The addition of placebo switches was a brilliant move and probably made the seller make even more money. It shows how powerful suggestion is.

Around 2001, after grabbing money for over 15 year they seem to have made enough money and disappeared.