What is an equivalent product to HiFi snake oil?

[ADU]

Interesting post. Thank you for sharing. I completely disagree with it.

I believe modern art is a flawed analogy to audio snake oil because it further confuses the act of artistic creation with the act of reproducing the creation as faithfully as possible. The former is mostly subjective, the latter is mostly objective. You hear audiophiles fall into this trap all the time when they attribute their emotional impact to the reproduction equipment rather than the recorded music event itself.

The modern art is more analogous to the conversation/debate we had a few months ago around the quality of contemporary music versus the music of decades past.

To make an art appreciation analogue to snake oil, you'd have to have things like specialized lights that bring out the resolution of the painting. Or pebbles that filter the air for spurious quantum light waves that add visual noise to your perception of the art.

Some good points.

I think there are some audiophiles who would view something like a nice amp, or maybe a set of speakers or headphones as works of art though. And also as symbols of their status. So I think there probably are some parallels between the two.

 

[pablolie]

...
I think there are some audiophiles who would view something like a nice amp, or maybe a set of speakers or headphones as works of art though. And also as symbols of their status. So I think there probably are some parallels between the two.

To me the key is simply if there is a fallacy at the core of the criteria that force the purchase.

I couldn't care less about people paying several $100k or Wilson Audio speakers or a Ferrari 812. But if they claim it's for the fact they can *experience* the performance, I'd laugh internally. There are basically 0% real life situations where you can truly experience the ultimate performance envelope of any of that. If u tell me it's simply because you can, hey, I am cool with that. I have a friend who has a show-off audio room, but does his preferred listening in a much smaller room with his 1990s equipment (which was pretty awesome to begin with).

 

[ADU]

Spurious claims are made about everything from boxes of cereal to luxury jets and yachts though. And people all over the world buy into it, every day, over and over, in the billions. Some would argue that is just good marketing and salesmanship. And we are all just voluntary suckers, looking for that next merch fix.

Robin Leach discussing his popular series "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" with Oprah in 1989...

 

[AdamG]

Cosmetic surgery is up there. Gym memberships, any Diet, Women’s anything, from cosmetics to hair products and skin lotions. Fashion Cycle. Warranties on just about everything, Extended Warranty on Cars/Trucks and all the tricks they play on you when trying to buy a new vehicle. Time Shares on Vacation destinations. Snake Oil exists in every industry including Medicine, Pharmaceutical, Vitamins and Supplements, and Dental Services and products. Cellphone contacts, Cable and Internet claims. But I think the beauty market has everyone beat.

Buyer Beware is more relevant now than ever.

 

[kemmler3D]

when I can see it's been produced with skill and care. ... demonstrably low quality and meaningless.

Respectfully, who are you (or really any of us here) to judge that? Do you really presume to tell people who find meaning in a given piece of art "no, it actually means nothing, I can see that for myself, just look at it"?

You're not wrong that art is often a vehicle for financial fraud of various sorts, but there's nothing about any particular style of art that would connect it to that.

 

[kemmler3D]

Just like audio, the smell can be rather subjective. My wife loves White Linen... it gives me a headache and makes me want to wretch. Perfume advertising frequently claims to make a person more attractive and using what are widely considered to be beautiful specimens implants the suggestion that the purchaser is also attractive. Furthermore, the margins in perfume are amongst the highest of any product very similar to audio snake oil like cables.

High margins and sexy ads don't make something snake oil. Snake oil is when bogus or even scientifically implausible / impossible claims are made.

 

[Recluse-Animator]

Cosmetic surgery is up there. Gym memberships, any Diet, Women’s anything, from cosmetics to hair products and skin lotions. Fashion Cycle. Warranties on just about everything, Extended Warranty on Cars/Trucks and all the tricks they play on you when trying to buy a new vehicle. Time Shares on Vacation destinations. Snake Oil exists in every industry including Medicine, Pharmaceutical, Vitamins and Supplements, and Dental Services and products. Cellphone contacts, Cable and Internet claims. But I think the beauty market has everyone beat.

Buyer Beware is more relevant now than ever.

I think you have misunderstood the definition of snake oil.

 

[PierreV]

credit

 

[DMill]

It is mostly semantics when someone talks about snake oil. I get what they trying to say. I’m a big fan of gear that looks good in a living space. I don’t have the luxury of having some Man-Cave in my house where I can hang Playboy centerfolds on the wall with Frank Miller Batman art and a Buffalo Bills banner. We overuse the term snake oil in audio. So you have my blessing if you’re significant other allows you a D’Agostino amp in your living room with your vintage Kristy McNichol poster from 1979.

 

[AdamG]

I think you have misunderstood the definition of snake oil.

snake oil
/ˈsnāk ˌoil/

noun
INFORMAL•NORTH AMERICAN
noun: snake oil; noun: snakeoil

1. a substance with no real medicinal value sold as a remedy for all diseases.
   • a product, policy, etc. of little real worth or value that is promoted as the solution to a problem.
     "the new tax plan was denounced as snake oil"

No, I think I got it just right. But you are certainly welcome to your own opinion.

 

[Axo1989]

piss all over Duchamp's Fountain

 

[Axo1989]

I make art. I find that I put in much more energy creating art than I receive from others, though that hasn't stopped me so far:

View attachment 236782

Nice. I wonder what the OP thinks about (the traditional practice of) creating that image as a sand mandala, then blowing it away?

 

[bkatbamna]

Accupuncture has been shown to be of some help.

Acupuncture: What You Need To Know

Information about acupuncture, including its safety and effectiveness in treating pain and other conditions.

www.nccih.nih.gov

 

[kemmler3D]

I'm glad someone caught that

 

[bkatbamna]

I've come to the conclusion that art is money laundering as I'm not aware of any other market where you can just take price tags from the ether.

And the best part of it is that you can store it in Geneva Freeport indefinitely and no grubby government is going to be able to confiscate your hard earned money in taxes.

 

[bkatbamna]

And for all those people mad at Big Pharma, the supplement industry is a multi-billion industry sells ineffective and sometimes dangerous products but fools keep buying them even though the ads say: "This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease."
I mean, the product itself is telling you it doesn't do anything but people still keep wasting money on them.

 

[ahofer]

Marijuana. Look at the language they use to describe the quality of the high. Can’t just be a mix between THC and CBD. No, no, no.

 

[Midnight Audiophile]

Snake oil in golf equipment is a good parallel to audio equipment. Many golfers are always chasing the next best product to improve their game. Lots of crazy products that promise to improve your game. There are camps that debate human testing versus robotics. Many subjective claims such as club “forgiveness”, and the prices for clubs alone reaches into the tens of thousands. I found too many examples to list but simply google “scientific testing of golf equipment”, “snake oil in golf equipment”, or most “expensive golf clubs” if you’re curious.

 

[ADU]

Buyer Beware is more relevant now than ever.

Dunno bout that.

Tansy and Pennyroyal are both herbs btw. According to Wikipedia, Tansy can cause "contact dermatitis", and is also an effective insecticide. Pennyroyal was used supposedly to promote perspiration and menstruation, and to repel fleas. But could also "induce seizures, organ failure, and death".

 

[Recluse-Animator]

Marijuana. Look at the language they use to describe the quality of the high. Can’t just be a mix between THC and CBD. No, no, no.

Same can be said of vine taste.