Audiophoolery: the Bybee Quantum Purifier

[BrokenYugo]

The part of all this that really gets me is the quality of the speakers and the room's acoustics are demonstrably going to have far more of an impact than all but the shittiest amplifiers and connections, especially once you're at line level or higher.

Do any of these guys go to the effort of setting up a fairly flat mic and audio spectrum analyzer, and sweep their setup? I've never done it but I'd guess that's the way to do it if you're really after good sound reproduction and not expensive crap to brag about.

[wizard69]

I should have set up such a business!    Could be retired on a tropical island in the Philippines right now.

And the most outstanding feature is that it will deplete your bank account while helping us to make more money.

[wizard69]

The part of all this that really gets me is the quality of the speakers and the room's acoustics are demonstrably going to have far more of an impact than all but the shittiest amplifiers and connections, especially once you're at line level or higher.

absolutely true but there is a lot of snake oil around speakers too.

Do any of these guys go to the effort of setting up a fairly flat mic and audio spectrum analyzer, and sweep their setup? I've never done it but I'd guess that's the way to do it if you're really after good sound reproduction and not expensive crap to brag about.

Decades ago, well before cheap instrumentation, I walked into a hifi shop to look for an amplifier.   The sales rep came back with glowing reports on how this company used a spectrum analyzer to do this and that.    It was obvious that he had no idea what a spectrum analyzer was.    I listened for a bit and as the BS got deeper and deeper I turned around and left.   Never went into that store again, in fact it was a long time before going into any hi fidelity shop.

Even funnier back in that time frame equalizers where a big thing.   I just thought it was funny that some one could be convinced to buy an amp with a flat response well out beyond human hearing and at the same time be convinced of a need for an equalizer.

In the end I never really grew into listening to music the way some do.   That probably saved me a lot of money in records and equipment.   I ended up hacking in an FM tuner into an old receiver that had radio problem and just listened to the local college station most of the time.   Back ground fill if you will.

[xrunner]

I need to go read the warranty language of some of these audiophool products. A black box that sits there and absorbs negative audiophonic particles - it just sits there ...

How do you claim it isn't working correctly when there are no specifications - well really - nothing that can be measured?

[robca]

The part of all this that really gets me is the quality of the speakers and the room's acoustics are demonstrably going to have far more of an impact than all but the shittiest amplifiers and connections, especially once you're at line level or higher.

Do any of these guys go to the effort of setting up a fairly flat mic and audio spectrum analyzer, and sweep their setup? I've never done it but I'd guess that's the way to do it if you're really after good sound reproduction and not expensive crap to brag about.

These days a Umik-1 calibrated microphone and the free REW program allows you to take all sorts of in-room measurements for less than $100 (assuming you already own a PC/laptop, that is ). With the right DSP/equalizer, you can also use REW to optimize the sound. Anyone who wants to spend their money wisely goes that way, these days.

In 2020, active speakers with high quality DSP+DAC+Class D amplifier are, arguably, a much better use of money than the most expensive source/amplifier/speakers with no correction. Some of the newer designs like the Purifi Audio amplifiers have unbelievable specs, well above any audiophool amplifier https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-and-measurements-of-purifi-1et400a-amplifier.7984/. Active speakers designs like the LXmini (by Linkwitz of Linkwitz-Riley fame) sound better than speakers 10 times their cost https://www.linkwitzlab.com/LXmini/Introduction.htm, even when materials like schedule 40 PVC pipes are part of the design (obviously those can be improved by using audiophool grade Sc 40 PVC pipe  )

Class D amplifiers are so good, to the point that I have seen people add valve preamplifiers with 0 gain in the chain to "warm" the sound, since well designed class D amplifiers can sound too good for their ears 

[TimFox]

Personally, and I do not demand that you follow this prescription, I only trust the subjective opinions of audio critics who are familiar with live acoustic music performance, especially chamber music, Renaissance polyphony, and other music that needs to be reproduced cleanly.  My first bad memory of other types is when I was a poor college student and visited a legitimate high-end audio retailer.  I had to wait my turn, while a much richer customer auditioned full-size Klipschorns by listening to a recording of Paul Revere and the Raiders.

[robca]

I need to go read the warranty language of some of these audiophool products. A black box that sits there and absorbs negative audiophonic particles - it just sits there ...

How do you claim it isn't working correctly when there are no specifications - well really - nothing that can be measured?

Not only that. Pretty much all the audiophools products like this one always need a "break in period" of hundreds of hours. That pretty much guarantees that any potential problem (or lack of any effect) can be waved off with a "just wait". The best way to avoid a real ABX test of the product