• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Snake Oil Department, Top This

Somafunk

Major Contributor
Joined
Mar 1, 2021
Messages
1,461
Likes
3,436
Location
Scotland
Flat cable for flat earthers?
 

MarkS

Major Contributor
Joined
Apr 3, 2021
Messages
1,089
Likes
1,539
From the Nordost press release: "Attendees of the Hong Kong High End Audio Visual Show were the first to view Nordost’s innovative new Supreme Reference line, Odin Gold."

Emphasis added. It is of course true that viewing them is the important thing, since if you listened without viewing, you would hear no difference at all.

I have to admit that they look pretty darn cool. If I had unlimited wealth, and unlimited selfishness, I would buy them.
 

richard12511

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 23, 2020
Messages
4,350
Likes
6,728
Get 'em while they're hot, boys!

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/ar...s-new-supreme-reference-cable-range-odin-gold

It's like there is no end to the sonic improvements in cables, and audiophiles have some limitless capability of hearing down in to the noise floor. At this point scientists could employ audiophiles to listen to the signal left over from the Big Bang!

It seems basically like the task of selling Coca Cola. How do you keep selling essentially the same thing for 100 years, but keep making it seem fresh and new? Well, with cables, just keep changing the tint or shape or look of the cables, and claim they come along with "technological development," it seems.

The fact that 1m of those cables cost more than arguably the best speakers in the world :facepalm:.
 

rdenney

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Dec 30, 2020
Messages
2,297
Likes
4,036
Flat cable for flat earthers?
I like flat cable for not making a bump in the rug.

But I'm running 12-gauge zip cord under an area rug and on top of wall-to-wall carpeting in my listening room, and don't feel a bump anyway.

Rick "who'd pay, like, an extra ten bucks to not have a bump if there was one" Denney
 

audio2design

Major Contributor
Joined
Nov 29, 2020
Messages
1,769
Likes
1,842
Since Rick is "coming out" I will admit I own lots of Monster Cable. In my defence, my local surplus store always gets shipments in and sells them for a fraction of typical retail even that nice flat stuff. I sometimes parallel runs. I also have comparatively "nice" power cords that cost me about $100 each on average. The guy at the show was nice, if misguided, but they are all custom length with the right angle connectors I wanted. When I considered my time to build them myself which I was planning, the price was very fair.

P.S. The voltage waveform may be 50/60 Hz, but the power waveform is harmonics of that with significant harmonics usually up to a few Khz. Then again, why is some skin resistance a bad thing. Other than losing a fraction of a db at the top end, I expect with almost no exceptions, the level of noise on the DC will go down with some resistance in the AC. The only issue may be ground voltage variations between connected equipment. Cheaper ways to solve that.
 

MattHooper

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 27, 2019
Messages
7,491
Likes
12,638
My 40ft length of Belden speaker wire travels behind walls, under floors, only to run along a shag rug to the bottom connection of my speakers, leaving the cables buried invisibly in the rug.

The cable lifter crowd would be horrified.
 

Wseaton

Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2021
Messages
42
Likes
61
I've heard more logical explanations come from carnival barkers on meth trying to get you to climb a rope ladder. The dieletric of air is also something like a few 10k volts per linear inch depending on humidity. The amount of volts moving through a speaker cable is meaningless in comparison. So, now cable snobs are claiming insulation is bad? Why then...just strip the insulation off speaker cables and run them bare to get the right dielectric break down.....or just use shielded cable. The foil wrapping has and even lesser dielectric than air, so it's better, right? Or is it worse? If you actually take the claims of cable snobs seriously they present a universe where the crossover inductor coil inside their speakers couldn't even function.
 

Spkrdctr

Major Contributor
Joined
Apr 22, 2021
Messages
2,234
Likes
2,966
I wasted my time reading that pseudo-science claptrap. Technical jargon nonsense. As usual someone takes a measurement of a VERY, VERY small electrical value and proclaims other non-measured theories and claims. There is zero evidence that what the article mentions has ANY effect on the sound of ANY speaker. There are so many factors that negate what they are claiming that it is appalling they make the claims they do. I shouldn't even respond but someone on this forum "might" think, "ok, that sounds interesting", when it is total rubbish and the musings of twisted minds. I don't know how to say it any more forceful. Deluded, sick, twisted, scamming, lying minds spout this stuff. Writing this bunk should be cause for a visit to a mental institution.

As you can tell my BS meter was pegged. I should never read that crap. I got suckered, again. At least I know that most people here see it for what it is.
 

egellings

Major Contributor
Joined
Feb 6, 2020
Messages
4,146
Likes
3,388
If the lifters actually had any effect at all, it would be microscopic-inaudible and not measurable, either. Lifters work because their owners believe that they do, and beliefs may modify the sound processing center in the brain to give the gullible listener the impression that there is a difference, regardless of what's actually in the nerve signal coming from the ear. Believe! Just believe, and the scales will fall from your eyes, er, ears!
 

gfinlays

Active Member
Joined
May 30, 2020
Messages
179
Likes
333
If the lifters actually had any effect at all, it would be microscopic-inaudible and not measurable, either. Lifters work because their owners believe that they do, and beliefs may modify the sound processing center in the brain to give the gullible listener the impression that there is a difference, regardless of what's actually in the nerve signal coming from the ear. Believe! Just believe, and the scales will fall from your eyes, er, ears!
I've had many a similar discussion on the Roon Community. There's a hardcore of die-hard audiophiles over there who swear they can hear "improvements" using amongst other things the Uptone etherRegen, "audiophile" network switches, network cables and power cables, fibre converters, power conditioners and all other manner of other snake-oil products. It all descends into hissy-fits and name calling as soon as blind A/B/X testing, expectation or confirmation bias are mentioned......
 
Top Bottom