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Post by thetragichero on Jan 12, 2019 14:49:58 GMT -5
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Post by reTrEaD on Jan 12, 2019 15:16:57 GMT -5
No rush on those. They have plenty in stock. However, these power cords are a limited run. Get one before they're gone forever! |
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Post by JohnH on Jan 12, 2019 18:03:05 GMT -5
No rush on those. They have plenty in stock. However, these power cords are a limited run. Get one before they're gone forever! I got a couple of those for the shed. They work great for running my bench saw and my angle-grinder. |
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Post by Yogi B on Jan 12, 2019 20:32:06 GMT -5
They work great for running my bench saw and my angle-grinder. You mean that the labels telling me to play vinyl at 45rpm / 33⅓rpm are holding me back from experiencing sonic euphoria and I should opt for playback at several thousand rpm instead? What have I been missing? |
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Post by thetragichero on Jan 12, 2019 21:48:08 GMT -5
I listen to all of my music on aluminum oxide discs these days
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Post by sumgai on Jan 12, 2019 22:49:47 GMT -5
My scam-detecting nose got bent pretty far out of shape when I saw that bit about the fuses, but the power cords? Sheer genius.... at separating idiots from their over-burdened wallets. I cast around a bit, and found this little bon-mot: Highend_Electronics, owned by Alfred Kainz, serves hand-picked highend audio components from around the world to discerning audiophiles.
I first ran across Kainz probably somewhere around 2 decades ago, and he was not operating according to Hoyle even then. I really had no idea that he didn't listen to all of the nay-sayers and pooh-poohers back then, that he just went ahead and continued to build an empire by fleecing unsuspecting (read: unknowledgable, and worse: fully immersed in their own bias-confirmation cocoons) people with money trees growing their back yards.
All I gotta say is, it's a damn shame that ignorance isn't painful. 
All c1 has to say is "some people's kids!" 
sumgai
p.s. Trag, why aren't you using Ad-Block Plus, or Ublock Origin, or something similar? 
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Post by newey on Jan 13, 2019 10:36:22 GMT -5
I think the only group more gullible than guitarists on this kind of thing are the high-end audiophiles. I should go into the high-end "tube fuse" business and convince all the Twin Reverb fanatics that their amp will sound better with my "Tube-Compliant Fuse". I'll make one for Twin Reverbs in purple, a blue one for Vibrochamps, a red one for Princetons, etc- and claim that each one is "uniquely designed to bring out the best in your rig". Then, I'll set up a passel of phony email accounts and give my fuses a bunch of 4-star reviews.  |
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Post by blademaster2 on Jan 14, 2019 15:59:20 GMT -5
I am quite sure that I would never hear the difference with different fuses or fuse technologies, and similarly I would never expect to hear the difference between enormous monster cables for power or for speakers.
I would not, however, be dismissive of others' opinions and claims.
Yes, there are placebo effects and the technology-illiterate are targets for salesmanship and the aforementioned snake oil. As I see it there *likely* is little or no difference to be heard and I would not spend the money - however I cannot say with certainty that there is no difference heard by other people. Power supply impedance and current step response could affect sound quality, a fuse is part of that chain (and by definition introduces a higher resistance into it), and the system's power supply capacitors also have their own ESR and inductance non-idealities, so who is to say?
I *do* know that the use of oscilloscopes and spectrum analyzers will not permit us to see the subtleties that we all hear with our own senses (just try and identify the differences between the oscilloscope traces of various plucked string instruments, or a cheap toy acoustic guitar versus a Taylor ...), so folks who point to those types of measurement results and claim that there is no difference to be heard are - in my opinion - being overly simplistic and not really looking at the true comparison.
Just like comparing a fine wine or single malt scotch, I would need to determine from my own senses/hearing what I wanted to buy and no one can convince me that I do, or do not, hear what I hear.
But in a truck, yeah I would avoid a high-priced solution as well.
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Post by blademaster2 on Jan 14, 2019 16:10:04 GMT -5
.... but yes, those fuses do seem like fiction to me, too.
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Post by blademaster2 on Jan 14, 2019 16:12:59 GMT -5
.. and the products on that website must be a joke, right?
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Post by blademaster2 on Jan 14, 2019 16:15:42 GMT -5
This product line .... www.airestech.com/Hmmmm. This seems more like snake oil than any audio product offering I have seen. |
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Post by sumgai on Jan 15, 2019 0:19:36 GMT -5
a couple of things..... One, blademaster, you put me in mind of A. C. Clarke's famous statment: When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
But there is a rub in that particular ointment. IMHO, of course.
............
Two, To Everyone:
I've said this before, but not for quite some time, so now seems like a good time to quote myself. 
I used to get really tired of self-infatuated absurdists spouting off all kinds of bias-confirmation crap about their having the creme-de-la-creme product in some particular niche. Still do, come to that.  So I devised a scientific way to shut them up. Next time the local braggart tries to give you "yeah, but you can't measure [insert BS spec here] so mine's better", try this:
(Invitation, speaking in the first person:)
Tell you what - let's have a double-blindfold test. You pay the necessary money to get to my house, and you can even bring along a friend. We'll both sit on one side of the wall, and an associate will run the test parameters on the other side of the wall. Said associate will not know, nor learn during the actual test, what is being compared - he'll see only "A" or "B", and record his actions as he peforms them. (i.e. did he choose "A" first, or "B" first, that kind of thing.) You will record your choices as well. If you brought a friend, that person can sit with the associate on the other side of the wall... sort of to give you a sense of confidence that no funny business is going on.
Now we'll compare the two sheets of recorded answers. If you accurately chose the correct product more than 50% of the time (out of a minimum of 20 test runs), then I'll pay both your cost to arrive at my home, and your way back. (Both parties, if you brought someone along.) And I'll print a public apology whereever you might wish to see it published.
Are you game?
(End of invitation)
To date, no one has taken me up on my offer. Can't really figure out why, but I have my suspicions....
sumgai
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Post by gumbo on Jan 15, 2019 6:05:17 GMT -5
"To date, no one has taken me up on my offer. Can't really figure out why, but I have my suspicions.... " They've probably seen your avatar...  g-f-b (in the third day in a row over 40C, so that could have something to do with it.......) |
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Post by reTrEaD on Jan 15, 2019 9:35:39 GMT -5
"To date, no one has taken me up on my offer. Can't really figure out why, but I have my suspicions.... " They've probably seen your avatar... g-f-b (in the third day in a row over 40C, so that could have something to do with it.......) That's a fairly serious fever. |
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Post by blademaster2 on Jan 15, 2019 9:55:13 GMT -5
Sumgai,
No question many claims are far fetched and do not seem to have a shred of technical plausibility. Many A/B comparisons lack the rigor of a true A/B for practical reasons. Then there are the human senses that are admittedly fraught with bias, change from day to day, and are extremely difficult to control even if no agenda is at play.
For many things the differences are too subtle for anyone - even the most bias-free - to nail down consistently. I would say that about guitar tone and audio systems (and fine wine/scotch, frankly). Specifically for me and the guitar, the differences are often so tactile and feedback-driven that I would not detect it if I am not playing it myself at that moment, making an A/B comparison even more difficult. I have recordings from years ago where I know I used one of my guitars but cannot recall which one. I cannot say from the tone that I hear which guitar it is, and yet the differences are definitely there when I play them.
On that note, I cannot usually tell if a guitar player is playing a particular guitar or quality of guitar on a recording (I can *usually* tell a humbucker from a single coil, especially if totally clean, but even then I am sure I could be fooled depending on the attack and playing style). For an acoustic, I doubt I could hear from someone else's playing what I sense myself when playing a "good" one versus a cheap one (which makes your blindfolded A/B test far more difficult). No one seems to notice that Tom Sholz played the intro to "More Than A Feeling" on a $100 Yamaha 12-string after he was not able to get the feel he wanted when trying to re-record it with the more expensive Taylor guitar he was given after they signed their record deal.
The differences in many of these cases might be akin to comparisons of Gaussian-distributed parameters that require a T test to determine if a statistical difference really exists. We are all splitting hairs in these types of debates and any single "result", or lack of result, will never fully convince me. 50% consistent you say? Certainly not for my senses.
Having said that, I will definitely not be spending money on fuses that are supposed to improve the sound of my stereo, nor on oxygen-free cables in my studio set up.
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Post by reTrEaD on Jan 15, 2019 10:58:31 GMT -5
I am quite sure that I would never hear the difference with different fuses or fuse technologies, and similarly I would never expect to hear the difference between enormous monster cables for power or for speakers.I would not, however, be dismissive of others' opinions and claims. Yes, there are placebo effects and the technology-illiterate are targets for salesmanship and the aforementioned snake oil. As I see it there *likely* is little or no difference to be heard and I would not spend the money - however I cannot say with certainty that there is no difference heard by other people. Power supply impedance and current step response could affect sound quality, a fuse is part of that chain (and by definition introduces a higher resistance into it), and the system's power supply capacitors also have their own ESR and inductance non-idealities, so who is to say? I *do* know that the use of oscilloscopes and spectrum analyzers will not permit us to see the subtleties that we all hear with our own senses (just try and identify the differences between the oscilloscope traces of various plucked string instruments, or a cheap toy acoustic guitar versus a Taylor ...), so folks who point to those types of measurement results and claim that there is no difference to be heard are - in my opinion - being overly simplistic and not really looking at the true comparison. Just like comparing a fine wine or single malt scotch, I would need to determine from my own senses/hearing what I wanted to buy and no one can convince me that I do, or do not, hear what I hear. But in a truck, yeah I would avoid a high-priced solution as well. Hi blademaster2Some of the advertising for esoteric products plays on the faulty supposition that if a little is good a lot is necessarily much, much better. For instance speaker cables. For medium long runs, say 50ft, and a 4 ohm load, if you're using an economy grade speaker cable of 24gauge copper, the resistance is (2 x 50ft) 100 ft x 0.026 ohms per ft = 2.6 ohms. Yikes! Not only are you wasting a significant amount of power heating the cable but the damping factor goes swirling down the drain. The bass will become 'flabby' since the amp no longer has the ability to closely control the motion of the cone. The inertia and natural resonance will dominate. Simply increasing the size helps immensely. A 12 gauge cable for the same length drops the series resistance down to 0.16 ohms. This is tolerable and you will hear the difference. The cost won't break the bank and you'll definitely hear the difference. Incremental improvements over this at exorbitant prices don't yield the same bang for the buck. |
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Post by blademaster2 on Jan 15, 2019 11:19:50 GMT -5
Agreed, ReTrEaD. For that length and gauge change I would expect to hear the difference myself
One of my regrettable experiences in detecting subtle differences came when I expected no difference at all: My first solid body guitar, built from soft but resonant mahogany, sounded amazing. It was rich but with bite, and would feedback notes like a cello. I assumed that this was only because of the pickups (DiMarzio Dual Sound), and since I had not been pleased with my polyurethane finish I dismantled the guitar and sent the body off to a (not very skilled) guy to refinish it with lacquer so it would look more professional.
He applied a thick lacquer coat, just as I had requested. It had a much better looking surface (after I polished it myself).
When I reassembled the guitar I did not at first notice any change, but eventually I recalled that the richness of the tone I used to hear and (most notably) its ability to feedback notes was substantially reduced. It still sounded good, but it required much higher volumes on the same amplifier to feedback those same notes (actually, fewer notes would respond like that) in the same room at the same distance. It also seemed to sound less warm overall. I believe the new finish penetrated deeper into the wood and stiffened it up, thereby changing its acoustic properties.
All of this was very subtle, mostly based on impressions except for the elevated volume setting on the amplifier needed for feedback. I doubt I would have detected it with a blindfolded test. The difference was totally unexpected and certainly not a product of bias - except that my initial bias was to expect no difference at all.
If I could "undo" that refinish job I definitely would.
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Post by thetragichero on Jan 15, 2019 19:44:29 GMT -5
I guess we've mainly gone past the cryo fad (although ghs still sells strings that have been made really cold and then brought back room temperature), but maybe 10 years ago (when i started coming around these parts) I remember places like callahan (who make a great tele bridge, although the inside rusted in like a year) would offer cryogenic process as an upcharge for anything - pots, switches, output jacks, strat pickup baseplates (thankfully our very active pickup section myth busted the tonal effects of sheet steel under a strat pickup), etc
a fuse is just a wire that breaks connection when the current draw of the circuit gets too high (usually from some sort of fault).
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So I devised a scientific way to shut them up. Next time the local braggart tries to give you "yeah, but you can't measure [insert BS spec here] so mine's better", try this:
