Townsend Isolda cable

[Max Townshend]

So Dr Murray is still alive is he? How old is he now, surely he must be 100+ years old?

I recently (a few years ago) restored and tested one his creations (a Murray integrated amplifier K106) for my (85yo) audiophile father, as he likes to buy odd and rare pieces from the 1970s to play with (and get me to 'look at' i.e. fix if they need it...) This amp is a classic 1970s design. All Philips semis, classic BC549C (ooh, low noise) TO92s, motorola T03s, a beautiful flux strapped Aussie made transformer, heaps of tantalums and a PA amplifier type construction. That said, the chassis is aluminium, countersunk flush screws and clearly utilized considerable thought in design. All the PCBs are fibreglass and stacked, edge connected and nicely hand routed.

Issues are numerous and the frequency response plot has to be seen to be believed. It is the worst I have ever seen in any commercial product.

I kid you not. (if you want to see it, just ask)

View attachment 24180 (internet pic)

Just saw this post. Cyril Murry agreed in 1980 that this was correct.

 

[Max Townshend]

TIME AND PLACE

6PM GMT December 5. 2020.

 

[Max Townshend]

Do you have any controlled listening test results that can demonstrate this is an issue that anyone on this planet needs to be concerned with?

I am not interested in being told to try it myself, read the reviews, talk to others, or anything else. I would like to see that you believe in this product enough to do what is required to provide that information.

Should be easy based on your claims.

If you could do it, you'd get a ton of buyers. We have.

Course, I'd bet you can't.




Is belief required? That certainly explains a lot. How about evidence?

There is a problem with double-blind tests in audio because the protagonists for these tests don't understand how the human brain works when under control.

How come lumped parameters give correct answers?

The unlabeled y-axis is a nice touch.

dB

 

[SIY]

dB referenced to what?

So peeking is necessary to hear things. And controls somehow cloud the brain. Don’t you feel even a little embarrassed?

 

[mansr]

Don’t you feel even a little embarrassed?

Where would the profit be in that?

 

[SIY]

BTW, there’s an intentional/unintentional loop error in the measurement setup.

 

[BDWoody]

There is a problem with double-blind tests in audio because the protagonists for these tests don't understand how the human brain works when under control.

I think you may have it backwards there...it's more that an understanding of the human brain leads to the conclusion that controls are required in order to be meaningful as some kind of data point when you are trying to evaluate what is being heard. You are basically admitting that belief IS required?

 

[Max Townshend]

dB referenced to what?

So peeking is necessary to hear things. And controls somehow cloud the brain. Don’t you feel even a little embarrassed?

Alpha brain waves are needed to really hear these small differences in audio. For the experienced listener, given the right conditions, this is not too difficult, but when under control doing A/B/blind testing, the stressed brain is in Beta waves and all-important small differences are very difficult, if not impossible to hear. I certainly wouldn't want to participate in one of your tests. It's a bit like saying "have an orgasm now".

 

[Purité Audio]

Chance would be a fine thing.
Keith

 

[SIY]

Alpha brain waves are needed to really hear these small differences in audio. For the experienced listener, given the right conditions, this is not too difficult, but when under control doing A/B/blind testing, the stressed brain is in Beta waves and all-important small differences are very difficult, if not impossible to hear. I certainly wouldn't want to participate in one of your tests. It's a bit like saying "have an orgasm now".

That’s even more embarrassing. But yes, I can well understand why you would decline participation in an honest test of your products.

 

[Max Townshend]

That’s even more embarrassing. But yes, I can well understand why you would decline participation in an honest test of your products.

The honest test we do is to supply our cables, on a sale-or-return basis worldwide, for the end-user to make up their own mind. Our returns department is very dusty.

 

[SIY]

That’s a novel definition of “honest.”

 

[Max Townshend]

That’s a novel definition of “honest.”

honest
/ˈɒnɪst/
Learn to pronounce

adjective

1. free of deceit; truthful and sincere.
   "I haven't been totally honest with you"
   
   Similar:
   truthful
   
   
   sincere
   
   
   candid
   
   
   frank
   
   
   direct
   
   
   open
   
   
   forthright
   
   
   straight
   
   
   straightforward
   
   
   genuine
   
   
   blunt
   
   
   plain-spoken
   
   
   plain-speaking
   
   
   matter-of-fact
   
   
   outspoken
   
   
   as straight as a die
   
   
   straight from the shoulder
   
   
   upfront
   
   
   free-spoken
   
   
   objective
   
   
   impartial
   
   
   unbiased
   
   
   balanced
   
   
   unprejudiced
   
   
   disinterested
   
   
   even-handed
   
   
   fair
   
   
   just
   
   
   equitable
   
   
   
   Opposite:
   insincere
   
   
   biased
   
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adverb
INFORMAL

1. used to persuade someone of the truth of something.
   "you'll like it when you get there, honest"

 

[Universal Cereal Bus]

That’s a novel definition of “honest.”

The man's not wrong. This is exactly the level of care and customer support we expect from top honest merchants of homeopathic concoctions, spoiled food, leaded toys, diesel VWs...

 

[RickSanchez]

Perhaps I'm not understanding your perspective on the Isolda cable (and audio in general). From the video test that you posted you claim that hearing the performance improvement in your cable is easy even when a listener doesn't have your cables installed in their home:

The sound you hear, is from the microphone in the camera, positioned about 3 feet away from the speaker and is a little "shrill" sounding due to the appalling acoustics. But you can still hear the difference, even on your phone!

That appears to me to contradict what you're now saying, that audio products such as yours are only meant for experienced listeners under a very specific set of conditions which you don't elaborate on. (Emphasis mine):

Alpha brain waves are needed to really hear these small differences in audio. For the experienced listener, given the right conditions, this is not too difficult

Based on the second quote it seems like your cables have an incredibly small customer base, and that offering a video of the differences between Isolda cables and competitor cables would be insufficient to prove your case that your cables are better.

 

[mansr]

adverb
INFORMAL

1. used to persuade someone of the truth of something.
   "you'll like it when you get there, honest"

I guess that's not too far off, actually.

 

[Soniclife]

Alpha brain waves are needed to really hear these small differences in audio.

Can you provide proof of that please.

 

[SIY]

Can you provide proof of that please.

Not to mention how people using basic controls can detect tiny differences in level, frequency response, data compression, interchannel delay... but somehow it doesn’t work for the products Max is peddling because of brainwaves.

 

[Universal Cereal Bus]

Hi Folks, Just wanted to revisit this thread with my latest findings: "The Sound Of Music and Errors in Speaker Cables"

https://mcusercontent.com/37242be22...Music_and_Error_in_Your_Speaker_Cables_1_.pdf

Hi Max, my job is to help inventors monetize their inventions. I'm fascinated by your innovative approach to transmission line theory. All of the conventional texts written on this subject use inside-the-box thinking. They're also full of Smith charts, which are very fancy-schmancy sciencey-looking and I reckon you could quadruple sales in the next quarter by simply including a few finely crafted Smith charts into your paper. I have taken the liberty of preparing an initial draft for your review. As a courtesy, feel free to use this first one free of charge. If the resulting explosion in sales are to your satisfaction, I'd love to discuss a fee arrangement for further charts. My typical hourly rate is 990 Rupees/hr; however, in view of your significant contribution to the public domain, I'm willing to offer an initial flat fee of 2000 Cronuts per chart. Eagerly awaiting your response, faithfully yours,
-UCB

 

[Max Townshend]

Nobody has explained the graphs in fig 3.