Audiophoolery to the max

[jozer12]

Just saw this cable on amazon
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009RUS23Q?psc=1
A 3ft IEC cable which is $538.75....
WTF
the worst part is that there seems to be at least 2 people who bought the cable and wrote good reviews about it, it makes me feel a bit sorry for them:
"The NRG-10 is a fine upgrade from the NRG-4, and worth the price. Bass is deeper and more refined, mid-range richer, and top end sweeter (NRG-4 can be too brilliant). Good on soprano sax and trumpet. If your system is too brilliant with the NRG-4, go with the NRG-10 on your amp to power source."

A little bit more searching yields an even better IEC cable, this one is just a mere $6,899.75. Oh and guess what, you get FREE shipping! what a bargain! -.-

http://www.amazon.com/AudioQuest-NRG-WEL-Signature-Series/dp/B0055OM9WS/ref=pd_sim_sbs_23_3?ie=UTF8&dpID=41vXaLvNdiL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=0HC0F4CV42MS8JZJPD5F

Surely no one actually purchased the last one....right?....right?!

[XOIIO]

My god. You know, considering the crap luck I've had making money, making some sort of audiophile accessory sure seems tempting, I mean $1500 from 3 sales is pretty darn good lol.

[VK5RC]

I think the third review was taking the micky, there are quite a few deliberately over the top review of some of the audiophoolery 'equipment' e.g. magnets, special rocks etc .
Also if you just spent $500 you will convince yourself it sounds better! Placebo effect.

[Gyro]

No, the magnets are just rubbish! but the special rocks 

 

[george graves]

Ha!  I know - I get a kick out of these audiophoolery stuff to.  What's it called when you revel in the fact you know more then someone else?  I swear there is a name for it.  (I assume it's German or something. They have names for all sorts of things that others dont - like schadenfreude) It's on the tip of my brain - but can't think of it's name.

[MrSlack]

Klangscheisse?

Disclaimer: I made that up and I only got a D in German at school.

[dannyf]

"What's it called when you revel in the fact you know more then someone else?  "

What's it called when you think you know more than others but you don't?

What's it called when you know so much more than others but not enough to name it?

What's it called when your knowing a little bit more than others is such a big deal to you?

....


Just to give it a perspective.

[Neilm]

What a shame - it doesn't have British plugs - I'll have to use a £1 adapter which will ruin it...

[dannyf]

I have been building amps since the 1970s and have had my fair share of foolery, mistakes and successes.

I think it is fair to say that life is full of surprises. Just when you think you have understood something, a new puzzle shows up and challenges your "understanding".

The only constant foolery, in my view, is ones insistence that he or she holds the only ultimate truth.

So when you laugh at others for supposed foolery, think about the possibility that the only foolery may be you.

[hopski]

Most of the Amazon reviews on that link seemed to be from guy's taking the mickey out of it.
I'm a just a humble scientist so if I see a paper with all the experimental data showong how something works and why it works then I might be inclined to take a look
Otherwise I'll assume it's snake oil.

[Gyro]

Actually it's worth giving some those reviews a look, there's some real comedy talent buried in there! 

[janoc]

Just saw this cable on amazon
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009RUS23Q?psc=1
A 3ft IEC cable which is $538.75....
WTF
the worst part is that there seems to be at least 2 people who bought the cable and wrote good reviews about it, it makes me feel a bit sorry for them:
"The NRG-10 is a fine upgrade from the NRG-4, and worth the price. Bass is deeper and more refined, mid-range richer, and top end sweeter (NRG-4 can be too brilliant). Good on soprano sax and trumpet. If your system is too brilliant with the NRG-4, go with the NRG-10 on your amp to power source."

That review could be very well a fake one - the seller tooting their own horn.

[Augustus]

What's it called when you revel in the fact you know more then someone else?  I swear there is a name for it.  (I assume it's German or something. They have names for all sorts of things that others dont - like schadenfreude)

Pick one... 

Besserwisser,
Klugredner,
Klugscheißer,
Klugschwätzer,
Naseweis,
Rechthaber,
Schlauberger,
Schlaumeier,
Wichtigtuer,
Gscheidhaferl,
Oberlehrer,
Streber,
Aufschneider,
Prahler,
Prahlhans,
Grossmaul,
Maulheld,
Grossprecher,
Salbader,
Sprücheklopfer,
Angeber,
Gernegross,
Schaumschläger

[Mechanical Menace]

...snip...

What's it called when you know more than others but don't realise it?

Honestly? I've met a couple of absolute geniuses who don't seem to realise not everyone knows everything they do

Pick one... 

I love compound words. Such a shame that they're so unpopular in English while being technically valid.

[janoc]

Well, if you like compound words, German is the language to learn. Then you get to use gems like the infamous Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz ("law for the delegation of monitoring beef labelling"). Fortunately that particular law was repealed after the BSE crisis ...

[rrinker]

 German is like the RISC of languages. There really aren't that many basic words to know, but knowing those, you can make up words to describe anything possible. 

 No offense to Germans, I'm of German background myself, and it was my language of choice in school. Unfortunately I missed out on my chance at a trip to Germany and put it to practical use, and while I can pick up on what people are saying if they don't talk too fast, I really have no hope at all of making myself understood if I tried speaking it. One of these days I hope to travel there.  I do drive a German car - though some would say that just makes me an autophool.

[Tinkerer]

Yea, I really could use some more money. I am so tempted to take money from these idiots so they cant hurt themselves if they get the idea that explosions add to their sound setup.

So, question, is it ethical or moral to take money from a moron?

[MrSlack]

So, question, is it ethical or moral to take money from a moron?

If it makes them feel better, why not?

The whole homeopathic industry is based on the same shit.

[Neilm]

The whole homeopathic industry is based on the same shit.

Placebos have a documented effect.

[MrSlack]

The whole homeopathic industry is based on the same shit.

Placebos have a documented effect.

The prescription of a placebo has an effect. The placebo itself doesn't. Perhaps these are placebo cables?

[iampoor]

This thread seems to appear ~ once every week.....

[dannyf]

This discussion reflects a lack of understanding of the purpose of consumption: to make us happy.

Your money is well spent if the expenditure makes you happy, regardless of if it actually improves the sound.

Conversely, your money is ill spent if the expenditure doesn't make you happy, regardless of if it actually improves the sound.

Any expenditure that improves your happiness is a good expenditure.

[hopski]

This discussion reflects a lack of understanding of the purpose of consumption: to make us happy.

Your money is well spent if the expenditure makes you happy, regardless of if it actually improves the sound.

Conversely, your money is ill spent if the expenditure doesn't make you happy, regardless of if it actually improves the sound.

Any expenditure that improves your happiness is a good expenditure.

And don't forget it's making the snake oil salesman very happy and funding his snake oil production.     

[tooki]

Well, if you like compound words, German is the language to learn. Then you get to use gems like the infamous Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz ("law for the delegation of monitoring beef labelling"). Fortunately that particular law was repealed after the BSE crisis ...

Finnish allows conjugated compounds, which theoretically have no limit to length (and basically resemble entire sentences)!! WP lists this artificial word at 102 letters: kumarreksituteskenteleentuvaisehkollaismaisekkuudellisenneskenteluttelemattomammuuksissansakaankopahan. Sadly, I have no idea what it means.

[linguist]
Languages have varying degrees of … shall we call it word magnetism? On the one extreme of the continuum, you have so-called analytic languages like Chinese where words do not compound. On the other, you have so-called synthetic languages like Finnish, which allow essentially unlimited compounding. Most languages are somewhere in between. English is slightly on the analytic side, German (like most Germanic languages) more on the synthetic side.

Another thing to consider is that when we talk about compounds, we often are looking only at the surface spelling, not the underlying grammar. Critically, in English, a compound need not be a single word. English has three types of compounds (with regards to spelling): open (space between the words, as in "wood rot"), hyphenated (as in "freeze-dried"), and closed (as in "artwork"). Notably, this has no bearing on the pronunciation, and indeed, many compounds are spelled inconsistently, and they often change over time. And if the pronunciation does change, that is usually a sign that the compound has actually ceased to be a compound, and instead has become its own independent noun! (Classic example is newspaper, which is no longer pronounced the same as the compound "news paper".)

In contrast, German doesn't allow open compounds, instead allowing only closed or hyphenated ones, like Holzfäule, gefriergetrocknet, and Kunstwerk for the three examples above. (Well, traditionally at least. The influence of English is causing open compounds to be encountered, even if they're technically incorrect.) I leave you with this amazing nugget of German tongue-twisting compounding, with English translation in the description:
[/linguist]

[XOIIO]

[/linguist]

My god, it's amazing.