I've loved music and sound systems in general, everything from headphones to big floor standing speakers with power amplifiers, but i've always viewed the audio industry as one of the worst offenders when it comes to snake oil products, particularly when it comes to cables. As long as a cable is not defective, or behaving like an antenna and picking up noise, or if the cable is over 3 meter, you're not gonna hear a difference between them. Spending money above the point of being functional should only be to improve either visual appeal or better build quality, not sound. For anyone who wants to argue, there is a standing offer out on the net from James Randi that if you can pass a double blind test, you'll get a million dollars.
tldr.
So every now and then when i need a good laugh, i go read Stereophile or some other website whose motto is "a fool and his money are soon parted" and check out a review. Here is a review of a pair of 1m speaker cables that cost $29,999. The analog interconnect is another $19,999, and the POWER CORD is $16,999... gurgle.... help!! i'm drowning in snake oil.
https://www.nordost.com/assets/images/review-images/review-pdf/127555.pdfAn excerpt:
A fortissimo, preceded either by a pause or pianissimo pas-
sage, appears, more often than not, to emerge from
nowhere. The ability of the Odin to convey the percus-
sive effects of a piano may be unrivaled, partly because
of the transient speed. All of this adds up to a sum of
the parts being larger than the whole. The fact is that
the longer I listen, the more I’m convinced that it cannot
be sufficiently emphasized that micro-detail, particular-
ly on classical or jazz music, is at the heart of creating a
convincing simulacrum of an original performance.
Then there is the sheer speed of the Odin 2. Nor-
dost cables have long been renowned for their alacrity
but the Odin 2 takes transient speed to a new level. In some
ways, the rapidity of the Odin 2 translates into its own
form of dynamic power. The cable’s ability to deliver com-
manding transients will leave even the most experienced
listeners slack-jawed. Consid- er the cut “Secret Love” on
the album Love for Sale, which features Hank Jones, Bust-
er Williams, and Tony Williams. The opening drumroll
sounds like an AK-47 is firing away in the front of my
listening room. Or take the EMI LP of Shostakovich’s
Cello Concert No. 1 with the legendary French cellist
Paul Tortelier and the Bournemouth Symphony Orches-
tra. Not only is the overall resolution off the charts with
the Odin 2, but the timpani whacks sound like hand gre-
nades exploding. You get the mallet whistling down, the
impact, and then the explosion of air. Bass could hardly
be more taut with the Odin 2. And it’s not just that the
cable possesses the ability to deliver a bullwhip quali-
ty in the nether regions. It’s that the definition is also su-
perlative. This isn’t bass as a mushy, indistinct blob; on
the contrary, every nuance and shading is delivered with
ravishing finesse. On the opening cut “Café” on the
Impulse! label’s recording of the Art Blakey Quartet, Art
Davis’ bass plucks are perfectly enunciated and defined
in space with not a hint of bloat or splashing. The sense
of decay is spooky and there is simply no overhang with
the Odin 2.
I am impressed at the creative writing skills of the author though. I bet he writes romance novels on the side. lol.
Do cables of those prices EVER manage to sell even ONE unit?
All those things have to be some sort of money laundering scheme.
That's a shame. I used to read Stereophile in the late 1960s, when it was edited by J Gordon Holt (1930-2009).
Although he was a bit subjective for my taste, he would use temperate prose somewhat similar to that quoted here to describe loudspeakers and phono cartridges, where the variation from model to model was significant.
I suspect ChatGPT credited as copywriter followed by Google
Translate disambiguate. "You get the mallet whistling down, the impact, and then the explosion of air." I'll check Spotify, otherwise that's a killer rock ballad lyric. "A bullwhip quality in the nether regions." Priceless.
You're right about audio-fakery. A few year's ago a coworker was selling around the office
gold plated TOS Link cables. Asked what the difference between plastic and gold connectors was, the gold was more conductive and improved overall audio quality? Where there's a scammer, there are the scammed
Pure BS. An equipment report with no measurements. Just a word salad of the fanciest words he can muster.
As some would say, numbers (i.e., quantitative measurements) are for losers.