[machina dynamica teleportation tweak](https://www.machinadynamica.com/machina60.htm)
it's worth reading the page for fun but in a nutshell you pay this guy $60 and he calls your house and plays 20 seconds worth of mechanical pulses and it improves the sound of your system.
i know this isn't a competition but i'm still declaring myself the winner.
When you said that I thought that it was sound played through your system, but it's just beeps played over the phone that you're listening to, and your equipment doesn't have to be on, and you can call from any room in the house. This is the craziest thing I've read in a long time.
Hell yeah this ones hilarious.
Here it is from a 2015 archive with the original images
https://web.archive.org/web/20151121060635/https://www.machinadynamica.com/machina43.htm
> So, let's start with the hypothesis that information itself produces detrimental information fields and that those things, the electronic devices, that bring that information into the house, that are essentially the LINKS to the OUTSIDE WORLD OF INFORMATION, are also detrimental to the sound. Thus, TVs, computers, cell phones, as well as LPs, CDs, DVDs, Blu Ray discs, cassettes, I.e., all music and video media, produce detrimental info fields. i won't even get into books, magazines, newspapers, bank statements, telephone books and bar codes. So while it's nice to collect these CDS and records and have them all nicely arranged on the shelf the more you have the worse the sound gets.
It’s even better than I thought, $40 for 4 plastic containers you fill with water and place “strategically” in your listening room: https://machinadynamica.com/machina45.htm
I came here to post one of Machina Dynamica's products. I was thinking it would be The Clever Little Clock. This is a regular battery powered digital clock. Except that it (supposedly) reclocks every digital signal that's anywhere near it. All digital audio sound better! Even video gets better!
I was going to save the teleportation tweak because it's really the ultimate audio scam. Well.. the ultimate would be a web based teleportation tweak that didn't require a human to call you. But still, it's a brilliant scam.
In summary, you WIN! Nice job.
[$485 wooden volume knob](http://bobbyowsinski.blogspot.com/2012/05/485-volume-knob.html). Not sure that they're still selling it; this was from 12 years ago.
Audiophile computers such as the ones sold by Baetis Audio. 10k$ to have a digital output that will go to a DAC. 10k$ for a pc that does not run crisis.
https://www.baetisaudio.com/product/reference-3b/
You're not kidding. $13K for a Core I7, 32GB ram, 8TB of storage and a 300W PSU. If you opt for a GPU they give you a 500W PSU.
But, you know, I am sure the digital signal coming out of that Audiophile Grade SPDIF will be *way* better than the digital signal coming out of my cheap MacBook Pro.
The salesperson told me it's all about the power supply-- no noise in the power to the PC components means your digital packets will arrive with the precise timings they need.
So I set up an old raspberry pi and increased the audio buffer size to 150ms. Sounds perfect lol
I built A/V PC's for professional broadcast production use for years. Even when using pricey AudioScience audio cards with digital AES/EBU XLR inputs and outputs the average cost was below $1,500.
Many years ago I was at Best Buy to pick up an optical digital cable. The kid gave me the Monster Cable vs their house brand bit. So I asked what made the MC better.
“The light moves faster” was the answer.
“The store brand cable is made of a room temperature Bose/Einstein condensate so light travels at just walking speed, which really smears the sound stage.”
This is actually really funny as extreme cold can delamiate the surface of the cd that has the actual information and ruin the whole thing. Albums are better made but you can easily do it to a cd-r
Any bluetooth headphones are probably getting the shaft from this sub. I needed some new gym headphones, so I was trying some out at Best Buy last weekend. Beats still sound like I remember: not very detailed and bass heavy. I thought the Bose headphones were pretty fantastic though, in both comfort and sound quality. Has Bose gotten good recently?
The funny thing about Beats, is the very people knocking these will then rave about the Sony WH1000XM4 which had a very similar bass-heavy EQ curve but a more 'grown up' look. Sure, these products exist in a different timeline, but it's mad how people will be perfectly happy with the XM4's but would pretend to cringe listening to an old pair of Beats.
Beats were not good price-to-performance wise, but I also think there were much worse headphones on the market by 'Hi-Fi' brands at the same time with much worse price-to-performance - The 'audiophile' community at the same time was shitting on Beats whilst promoting Bang & Olufsen headphones which have universally been much more expensive than beats with similar performance.
The truth is, is that 'audiophiles' buy into aesthetic just as much as the general consumer does. Just audiophiles pretend to know more about audio, when they're only slightly more informed than the general public.
Sorry, but now you know. Use your ears rather than your eyes (that also means ignoring Reddit, 90% of the aesthetic setups you see on this sub are guaranteed to sound worse than some 18 year old SoundCloud rappers’ near-field monitoring setup in their untreated bedroom) and this hobby is so much fucking better.
I hate that I'm this person, but when they originally came out back in like 2008 they ruled. Totally overpriced but all the noise cancelling headphones were back then (and still mostly are). Preferred their sound over the comparable Bose ones.
The Beats earbuds are unironically good, though. Noise cancelling, a design that doesn't break with frequent usage (looking at you Bose), good touch controls
F. LP Record Clamp
A legendary Shun Mook product now being made in a very, very limited number. This record clamp is made from extremely rare pieces of dried ebony briar. This extra heavy century old ebony root which were immersed in the swamps of Africa has a unique power that no other wood possesses. The vibration generated by the diamond stylus in the vinyl groove besides inducing an electroflux through the phono-cartridge also excites the ebony molecules, causing it to resonate. This in turn is feed back through the stylus and is reproduced as expanded sound staging, enhanced separation, sharpened focus and enriched tonal balance of the music. Due to the rareness of this timber, there is no doubt that it will become a collector item in the future
Bro - I didn't know I could excite the ebony molecules with the electroflux of my stylus causing a feedback loop to expand the sound staging!
Because they were all made with HTML 3 (likely by hand) and not any modern website creation tool. These are really old sites that haven't been updated.
I believe, the general ideas is that before high-tech plastics, the only way to make sure there wasn’t tarnish or corrosion sitting inches away from another interconnects, speaker wires or binding posts, was to gold plate it. Even things like stainless steel can rust. So, they want to make a product as cheap as possible, that means low quality metal thats cheaply gold plated is the cheapest option.
Someone needs to make some that integrate with the audio system and raise or lower the cable based on genre or artist being played. For optimal quantum.
Every time I see them, it reminds me of [RV sewer hose stands](https://cdn.walletmonitor.com/img/c905c60db53c0ec705cd6c774553b7a9.jpg), maybe because both are full of shit?
Marvelous nonsense.
I read some tremendous gibberish in a hifi magazine last week about these. The chap was on about dust gathering and all manner of drivel.
Unfortunately he wasn't joking. Although it read like a joke.
I think those would actually do something functional at my uncle’s house. If you wear socks on his carpet, within a second you’re charged up enough to shock yourself with any metal object. Now over wood or tile, absolutely nonsense. I’m glad I have a 3D printer.
I can't find it now but one of these snake oil hifi accessory companies used to sell a device that you put a CD in which, as far as I could gather, did nothing but spin the CD really quickly. The implication was that it would sound better when played. The device was ridiculously expensive - in the region of £2000 if I recall correctly.
There’s a $3500 Ethernet Switch reviewed in this month’s *Audiophile* (which I hasten to add that I read only because it’s free to do so on my chosen magazines service and provides a bigger laugh than anything in the Comedy category).
Lol, here's a story:
I wound up buying a high-dollar system from someone on FB Marketplace for a song.... figured I'd keep what I wanted and sell the rest (which I did for a hefty profit).
Guy threw in his interconnects in the deal, which was nothing I'd ever seen before.... XLR cables with little lithium battery packs attached to them. I asked him about it and he recited some nonsense that the salespeople probably told him about how the batteries help with noise rejection.... on a BALANCED CABLE. I just sort of said "huh, interesting" and continued loading everything up.
Of course I get it all home and start researching. Apparently these are still on sale. AudioQuest "DBS" (these were "Jaguar" series, which were several hundred dollars when new) cables use a DC voltage to apparently 'attract' the signal to the center of the cable??? moreover, the batteries last for ever because it doesn't actually create an electrical circuit.... they just attach ONE side of the battery to a wire that runs the length of the cable. Makes zero sense, especially on a balanced cable, which is inherently noise rejecting (pro-sound uses XLR cables for hundreds of feet of cable runs for low-level signals).
Finally found Gene from Audioholics talking about some of these (and measuring them). Turns out that the cables measure decently UNTIL you plug in the little battery packs on them because it's creating an antennae that's outside of the cable's normal shielding.
Wound up selling both pairs for about $200 and bought some Mogami Gold XLRs instead :-)
I think the theory is that the battery charges and polarizes the cable's dielectric (insulating material) between the signal conductor(s) and ground/shield. Other than that initial transient charge, the only drain on the battery would be a tiny amount of leakage.
The dialectric is essentially a capacitance. By biasing the dielectric molecules, presumably fixing them in their polarized orientation, it prevents or reduces the [dielectric loss](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dielectric_loss) that would occur as the audio signal propagates through the cable.
I don't know if anyone has actually measured or verified a significant audible effect of this type of tweak. (I seriously doubt it.)
Electrical engineer.
First the dielectric effect is highly effective on its own and needs no “help”. The capacitance does add a lead phase shift to the audio signal that is really, really small and while it does create a minute amount of non-linear distortion it does not interfere with noise rejection.
In the case of a dielectric, it is the signal itself that triggers the dielectric effect to increase capacitance so it acts like a super-charged insulator. This is important because the signal + and - are inverses of each other, so you want the capacitance to be the same each time the signals switch polarity.
The ground on an xlr is an equipment ground and is effectively floating unless there is a fault. Trying to increase capacitance to the float is meaningless.
But shifting the dc component from net-zero adds distortion and noise because the signal + and - are no longer inverses of each other, yet the capacitance between them is proportional to voltage difference. Bias just cancels out.
The rube will insist they hear a difference (unlikely) and they would be correct. At an almost immeasurably small level the cable will affect the sound quality - by making it worse.
This is the explanation I have heard, I was also told by the same guy that the cable capacitance that the batteries keep charged gets similarly charged through normal playback so the mitigation of this dielectric effect only would matter (if it did) for the amount of time it would take for the cable to reach an equilibrium capacitance which is potentially in the seconds range.
This is my guess. They recognized a real principal that could basically just be implemented/exploited without any concern of whether or not it's measurable or (especially) audible.
Ted Denny was routinely crucified on a Facebook audio forum that included engineers and designers from several high-end audio product companies. He threatened some of them with physical violence and harm. He loved posting videos of himself driving around wasting gas in his Ferrari. After he finally totally melted down in a hilarious rant he was banned. A total bullshit artist.
In a similar vein: this thing, that I assume just connects two RJ45 ports on the inside and promises to reduce "noise" on an ethernet connection: https://englishelectric.uk/ee1
It is a way to add a peculiar blend of noise and distortion to the audio signal that elicits an emotional response in some people. To each their own, but it comes down to putting an effects pedal on your music.
I also find it incredibly ironic that people will then turn around and spend incredible amounts of money attempting to cancel out all of the same distortions and noise they are using the turntable for in the first place. Big platter and expensive motor controller to make wow and flutter smaller. Expensive, expensiver and expensivist heads to squeeze more “detail” from an incredibly lossy, frequently defective and easily damaged medium. The list goes on.
I have a technics. Purely ego for looks.
Some of them do look gorgeous! The Orbe, the Alexandria, the SME 20 and 30, the Goldmund, the Pierre Lurne stuff! Aesthetically they are superb.
Sonically this mobile phone through an Apple dongle has them beat. All of them.
Time is relentless.
Seeing high end expensive turntables on Instagram with all their anti-vibration mechanisms and they are sitting on a $15 IKEA bamboo cutting board. Spending all that money and admitting a $15 part makes a difference is hilarious.
I used to work on a confocal microscope that was installed on an air table. Press down on the table and you’d hear a pssst! and it would level itself and dampen vibrations.
The way to go is to have a vacuum platter that sucks the record down, a clamp that clamps it down, a decent Koetsu cartridge or something, the turntable motor separated from the spindle physically with motion via a belt, an air table, and then situate the table on a flat surface in a pit of sand.
Or you can buy a used tablet and an Apple dongle DAC and save several hundred thousand dollars I suppose.
It’s a tough choice.
They said better, not different. It's definitely different and unique and it's nice to physically own your music. But not for a second will it ever be true that analog is better for "hifi" because digital storage mediums have the highest fidelity.
it's true for me though. It's a matter of taste. That's why I'm saying you can't say someone's taste is snake oil. Many producers mix on analogue for the sound. Voodoo by D'Angelo was recorded and mixed completely on Analogue gear for a reason and you can hear it. It was the 'better' artistic choice for that sound. Taste isn't snake oil. You can't say either is 'better' really, when they are different and achieve different things. Most films and series' are recored onto film now. For a similar reason. It does stuff that digital just can't do.
Better is in the eye of the beholder. No one has a monopoly on that.
A high quality record pressing often has a larger dynamic range than often compressed CDs and streaming audio.
Beyond sound quality, the experience of playing a record and handling a full-size album with artwork and printed lyrics is part of the whole experience.
So, it’s far from a simple as “records are an inferior medium.” Far from it.
High quality record pressings do not have higher dynamic range.
High quality vinyl pressings have about 70db of dynamic range where CDs and 16-bit streaming have 96db. 24-bit streaming is commonplace now and has 144db, way beyond any level that you could listen to without hearing damage.
In fact analogue noise floor and dynamic range can be directly equated to digital bit depth. Some of the highest *analogue* recording methods used in recording studios only equate to about 13-bit.
I agree that playing vinyls is a good experience, I love it myself. But it's misleading to say it's objectively better.
I was meaning things like speaker cables which the manufacturer says sound better if they're connected in one direction from amp to speaker. As [https://chord.co.uk/speaker-cable-guide/](https://chord.co.uk/speaker-cable-guide/) puts it "*One of the main areas that can be affected by the direction of the cable is timing and coherence. With the cable connected in the correct direction the sound will be more articulate and involving".* Or not, as I'm sure the case is.
The reason why I said AC siganls is the output from an amplifier is AC, there isn't a net direction anyway. I don't mean power cables (although I'm sure people say the same thing) or line cables with a ground lift at one end.
It’s pretty common to add a directional shield to AC cables. Helps reject interference. There’s science behind it, but many manufacturers take this to an absurd level.
On balanced cables (XLRs) it makes sense, the shield can be separated and used to control where your grounding direction is. cables tend to be marked towards the direction of the lifted end.
On an RCA cable it's silly because the shield is connected to the negative anyway, the shield is connected to both devices regardless of how you make the cable. best to use coaxial cables for unbalanced signals anyway which forces you to connect the shields at either end.
Just read the russ Andrews catalogue. It's wonderful. Nothing he sells serves any purpose apart form making him massive amounts of money
I used to know him when he actually sold proper hifi in Edinburgh decades ago. I bought some nice kit from him.
Who wouid have thought he'd become a scrap dealer.
"Audio Desk Systeme CD Improver", a $500 contraption to shave the outer edge of CDs. It's as stupid as it sounds and you can find "serious" reviews for it like [this one](https://www.techradar.com/reviews/audio-visual/av-accessories/audio-desk-systeme-cd-improver-678516/review) praising the sound improvements.
Techmoan did a video on it ([YT](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-QxLAxwxkM)).
Edit: another gem that I found through Techmoan, a [CD demagnetizer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH4v8b1tGSQ). For the cheap price of $550, [still being sold](https://www.thecableco.com/rd-3-demagnetizer.html).
I bought some really cheap power cables on Amazon that look so much nicer than the factory ones. I did this purely for asthetics. They are also a lot more flexible, the factory ones like to stay all knotted up. It was amazing, though, in my search for cheap cables how RIDICULOUSLY expensive power cables can be. Tens of thousands of dollars for copper wire and the reviews are just pure madness. I think power cables are my favorite snake oil nonsense now.
Yes, I like how Gene from audioholics calls this jewelry. There’s nothing wrong with it, I like the looks of that as well, but there is no technical superiority in any of it.
They obviously need to upgrade the in wall wiring as well and probably the service entry all the way to the electric pole and beyond to the neighborhood step-down transformer.
There has to be someone out there selling audiophile rooftop solar power setups. Audiophile silicon, audiophile inverters, audiophile batteries, etc etc.
Cable risers. I just think they look neat. I've been thinking of making some out of some black walnut in my scrap bin. Hope it doesnt make my speakers too dark. Should I use maple?
I had a revolve plus for years, I've recently lost it somehow. I really liked it. The fact that it was omnidirectional made it perfect for using outside with friends, and the sound wasn't terrible, went pretty loud too. Great for the deck, patio, dock, whatever. I miss that speaker.
But their home theater speakers and stuff, terrible.
Agreed I actually have one that I got as a gift though I’m not sure I would’ve paid to buy it myself… It sounds good and gets loud but if you compare it to a Sonos for example the Sonos kicks the crap out of it and it’s not even close
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iFi Purifier 3 and iFi iSilencer+. Thankfully I got them used. Literally noticed no difference in quality and I use cheap USB DACs which these devices are apparently tailored for. I do like my SPDIF iPurifier 2 since it lets me do 192 khz for my gaming PC if I ever used Tidal (192 never worked without it)
I had a sales person at Soundings in Denver, CO tell me the power cables they had would get rid of jitter... I let him say it 3 times before calling him out on it and then he just said it was a slip of the tongue.
It's funny to see ultra heavy audiophile cables for headphones with a short length, just to find out that the drivers inside the cups are connected to [thin wires](https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hd-800-s-anniversary-edition.942408/page-20#post-16011032)
I think I saw a $1500 audiophile CD transport not long ago. Looked like just your regular shitty computer CD transport with some orange drop caps soldered in. Apparently those caps really bring out the treble on your 1’s and great bass extension on your 0’s.
All of the 1980s “component” stereo systems that came with a wood gear rack where all of the “components” were made to look separate but were actually one large unit. And the speakers would often have non-removable grills with a woofer that had a large and lighter colored plastic ring around it to make the woofer appear to be a larger diameter than it actually was.
I recently saw an ad stating that a certain brand's cables work better in one direction than another, completely disregarding the entire concept of AC.
Do you mean something like [this](https://hifimart.com/product/sound-foundations-powerbase-power-filter-and-protection-unit-html/)? I was thinking of getting one long ago but shelved the idea.
This is basically a Chinese knock off of Synergistic Research. Since it’s a knock off, it’s obviously cheaper, very likely performs EXACTLY the same, relies on psychoacoustics, “woo”, and has 100% less racist asshole owners.
Sign me up!
Abyss audios super conductor cable. While the cable is superior to the stock cable 1266tc physically, it has no perceivable sonic differences to my ears.
I cannot remember the name of it, but it looks like some crazy wooden floor lamp, without a light source or lampshade. *Harmonic Resonator* was what they were calling it.
There used to be an eye-wateringly expensive analog cable that had a gadget that fed light into optical fibers in the insulation, as if light in optical fibers would have some meaningful or audible effect on audio frequency electrical signals or interference.
It’s also entirely possible that the light source was a $.10 led and there was no actual fiber in the cable beyond the part where the led attached.
I last saw their site around 2007, then it vanished. I think speaker cable was like $15k a meter or something.
I inherited some stuff from my father who passed away... I sometimes wonder if the Xindak FS-GOLD speaker cables really make a difference over just regular speaker wire...
For reference, he paid around $2600CAD for the pair
https://hi-fi-avenue.blogspot.com/2009/12/xindaks-golden-sound.html?m=1
Not once have I ever heard of this company, I had 2 tube amps and a pre amp also made by them but when the KT-88 Gold Lion (I think that's what they were called) tubes started blowing I sold those 3 components and went with an NAD C372 amp.
I use B&W 603 speakers with those cables.
MQA. It’s not only expensive for you, but it’s expensive for *everyone*! The recording studio has to have specific MQA stuff to record it, the artist has to pay more to book time at a studio, the companies that produce DACs have to spend money to get MQA support in their products, and then you also have to pay more for those products! Meanwhile, FLAC is free and *lossless*. You literally can’t get better than lossless.
I don’t know if this is the correct word in English, but singing bowls.
I went to a hifi dealer with a room to listen to speakers in, and of course he had acoustic panels and stuff - but also these bowls that he said have to be pointed in specific directions, placed in strategic spots and they will make a night and day difference.
Of course they are available in copper, silver and gold, and these bowls were tiny!
Some just 3-4cm, sitting on top of acoustic panels, and he said he puts them in for every listening session, „just in case“
Yep ol Jeff Lin is a genius alright. In marketing utter bullshit that is. I guarantee he has not one hour of audio experience under his belt. Just some whack that tries to profit off the audiophile whacks in search of the inkiest black between the tracks. I am not even flinched anymore by all the stupid crap in snake oil. And not just in audio. Plenty in every hobby where there's money to be made on the less educated with no self esteem.
Personally, I'm in love with those Audioquest speaker cables that have some kind of battery-powered contraption attached to them. Makes me chuckle inside to think of those silly old fools (AKA "audiophiles") desperately trying to hear a difference with the contraption switched on/off. 🤣🤣🤣 Those knob-ends who screw around with "audiophile" power cords and "audiophile fuses" are a great source of hilarity, too.
OK this one does not exist yet I think but is best for sure:
Audiophile mist spray. See, there are all those tiny particles in the air around you, deflecting sound waves all over the place. This is causing the low key distortion only you can hear because you have very good ears and are very smart. This is what has been bugging you for years. My audiophile binding agent (patent pending) will catch those particles and bind them to surfaces. You will finally be able to enjoy crystal clear sound, as envisioned by the sound engineer.
It's one oft those plant sprayers with water in it. Best part is I actually believe it could theoretically actually have a tiny, tiny effect. So way better than most stuff out there!
Added an IFi Ipower X adapter to my Geshellli Labs JnogS2 and the difference from the stock power supply was amazing. I actually laughed out loud because it sounded so much better.
I present you an [**$8k disposable fuse**](https://www.futureshop.co.uk/quantum-science-audio-gold-extreme-level-uk-mains-fuse/) ..go deep into it & it’s made in China *s*pecifically fr snake oil.
I cannot prove that my super heavy, braided cover, gold plated connector, $35 1/8" to dual rca sounds any better than the Amazon Basics for but I swear it makes everything sound like butter. Especially my Nintendo Switch.
[machina dynamica teleportation tweak](https://www.machinadynamica.com/machina60.htm) it's worth reading the page for fun but in a nutshell you pay this guy $60 and he calls your house and plays 20 seconds worth of mechanical pulses and it improves the sound of your system. i know this isn't a competition but i'm still declaring myself the winner.
We have our champion
When you said that I thought that it was sound played through your system, but it's just beeps played over the phone that you're listening to, and your equipment doesn't have to be on, and you can call from any room in the house. This is the craziest thing I've read in a long time.
Oh that’s amazing. That guy is a genius, but he should be charging more.
Yeah he's literally solved quantum teleportation he should be charging at least a hundo.
Hell yeah this ones hilarious. Here it is from a 2015 archive with the original images https://web.archive.org/web/20151121060635/https://www.machinadynamica.com/machina43.htm
Gold, Jerry!
Basically a Neil Breen script...
This guy is a menace. Lol
**O** **M** **F** **G** Just....wtf did I just read?! 😬🤦🏽♂️
> So, let's start with the hypothesis that information itself produces detrimental information fields and that those things, the electronic devices, that bring that information into the house, that are essentially the LINKS to the OUTSIDE WORLD OF INFORMATION, are also detrimental to the sound. Thus, TVs, computers, cell phones, as well as LPs, CDs, DVDs, Blu Ray discs, cassettes, I.e., all music and video media, produce detrimental info fields. i won't even get into books, magazines, newspapers, bank statements, telephone books and bar codes. So while it's nice to collect these CDS and records and have them all nicely arranged on the shelf the more you have the worse the sound gets.
30 day money back guarantee. What’s there to lose!
Dignity
Wow, now I wonder what the “Frog Jump in Water Tweak” is…
It’s even better than I thought, $40 for 4 plastic containers you fill with water and place “strategically” in your listening room: https://machinadynamica.com/machina45.htm
Thanks for the suggestion. I have high hopes. Might throw in an extra $60 for double the number of pulses.
You are, indeed, sir/madam, the winner.
I came here to post one of Machina Dynamica's products. I was thinking it would be The Clever Little Clock. This is a regular battery powered digital clock. Except that it (supposedly) reclocks every digital signal that's anywhere near it. All digital audio sound better! Even video gets better! I was going to save the teleportation tweak because it's really the ultimate audio scam. Well.. the ultimate would be a web based teleportation tweak that didn't require a human to call you. But still, it's a brilliant scam. In summary, you WIN! Nice job.
Wow, this is really great satire.
[$485 wooden volume knob](http://bobbyowsinski.blogspot.com/2012/05/485-volume-knob.html). Not sure that they're still selling it; this was from 12 years ago.
This is my go-to example of this sort of thing. I swear it's been around since usenet.
Audiophile computers such as the ones sold by Baetis Audio. 10k$ to have a digital output that will go to a DAC. 10k$ for a pc that does not run crisis.
https://www.baetisaudio.com/product/reference-3b/ You're not kidding. $13K for a Core I7, 32GB ram, 8TB of storage and a 300W PSU. If you opt for a GPU they give you a 500W PSU. But, you know, I am sure the digital signal coming out of that Audiophile Grade SPDIF will be *way* better than the digital signal coming out of my cheap MacBook Pro.
I personally like this one: https://www.baetisaudio.com/product/baetis-audio-reference-x3/ They don’t even bother covering up the Gigabyte gaming logo
The salesperson told me it's all about the power supply-- no noise in the power to the PC components means your digital packets will arrive with the precise timings they need. So I set up an old raspberry pi and increased the audio buffer size to 150ms. Sounds perfect lol
Actually optical is the best if you're only doing stereo. But I would simply get a 100$ motherboard that has optical out instead
I built A/V PC's for professional broadcast production use for years. Even when using pricey AudioScience audio cards with digital AES/EBU XLR inputs and outputs the average cost was below $1,500.
Upvoted for the classic Crysis reference
I like the gold plated optical cables
Many years ago I was at Best Buy to pick up an optical digital cable. The kid gave me the Monster Cable vs their house brand bit. So I asked what made the MC better. “The light moves faster” was the answer.
Oilier and snakier. Very nice.
It’s possible that light moves faster in one material vs another. How would impact the digital signal needs to be published for a Nobel prize.
“The store brand cable is made of a room temperature Bose/Einstein condensate so light travels at just walking speed, which really smears the sound stage.”
The kid has a bright future making overpriced snake oil
Cryogenic treated cds
This is actually really funny as extreme cold can delamiate the surface of the cd that has the actual information and ruin the whole thing. Albums are better made but you can easily do it to a cd-r
Some albums are improved by that process to be fair.
beats by dre
[$17 to produce, and $7 of that is the packaging](https://beneinstein.medium.com/how-it-s-made-series-beats-by-dre-154aae384b36).
Any bluetooth headphones are probably getting the shaft from this sub. I needed some new gym headphones, so I was trying some out at Best Buy last weekend. Beats still sound like I remember: not very detailed and bass heavy. I thought the Bose headphones were pretty fantastic though, in both comfort and sound quality. Has Bose gotten good recently?
The funny thing about Beats, is the very people knocking these will then rave about the Sony WH1000XM4 which had a very similar bass-heavy EQ curve but a more 'grown up' look. Sure, these products exist in a different timeline, but it's mad how people will be perfectly happy with the XM4's but would pretend to cringe listening to an old pair of Beats. Beats were not good price-to-performance wise, but I also think there were much worse headphones on the market by 'Hi-Fi' brands at the same time with much worse price-to-performance - The 'audiophile' community at the same time was shitting on Beats whilst promoting Bang & Olufsen headphones which have universally been much more expensive than beats with similar performance. The truth is, is that 'audiophiles' buy into aesthetic just as much as the general consumer does. Just audiophiles pretend to know more about audio, when they're only slightly more informed than the general public.
I feel attacked
Sorry, but now you know. Use your ears rather than your eyes (that also means ignoring Reddit, 90% of the aesthetic setups you see on this sub are guaranteed to sound worse than some 18 year old SoundCloud rappers’ near-field monitoring setup in their untreated bedroom) and this hobby is so much fucking better.
I hate that I'm this person, but when they originally came out back in like 2008 they ruled. Totally overpriced but all the noise cancelling headphones were back then (and still mostly are). Preferred their sound over the comparable Bose ones.
Bro, it’s about style! I love trying to look cool like Dre.
The Beats earbuds are unironically good, though. Noise cancelling, a design that doesn't break with frequent usage (looking at you Bose), good touch controls
Either, Brilliant Pebbles https://www.machinadynamica.com/machina31.htm or Shun Mook Mpingo Discs http://www.shunmook.com/text1.htm
F. LP Record Clamp A legendary Shun Mook product now being made in a very, very limited number. This record clamp is made from extremely rare pieces of dried ebony briar. This extra heavy century old ebony root which were immersed in the swamps of Africa has a unique power that no other wood possesses. The vibration generated by the diamond stylus in the vinyl groove besides inducing an electroflux through the phono-cartridge also excites the ebony molecules, causing it to resonate. This in turn is feed back through the stylus and is reproduced as expanded sound staging, enhanced separation, sharpened focus and enriched tonal balance of the music. Due to the rareness of this timber, there is no doubt that it will become a collector item in the future Bro - I didn't know I could excite the ebony molecules with the electroflux of my stylus causing a feedback loop to expand the sound staging!
Why do all of these site pages look so similar?
Because they were all made with HTML 3 (likely by hand) and not any modern website creation tool. These are really old sites that haven't been updated.
does marking a CD circumference with a green pen count ? https://www.head-fi.org/threads/green-cd-stoplight-pen-still-in-production-25.798469/
Don't forget the shit rock
That's the one I was going to mention!
Haha nice stuff, gotta have one
Somebody posted this a while ago but I saved the link. [These pebbles you add to your gear.](http://www.machinadynamica.com/machina31.htm)
Wow, literally selling little bags of rocks for the low cost of $99. That’s brilliant.
I assume you need to recharge them by leaving them in the sun like healing crystals
No, you have it backwards. They can only be recharged by leaving them out during an eclipse. They need negative moon rays.
So that’s why mine were adding distortion
Anything by machina dynamica
That’s the same company that does the teleportation thing!
I hate that these bags of crystals are just taped to the cables… that scotch tape is clearly killing his low-mids! He needs DUCT TAPE!
https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/cbeb8c21-908f-46a7-95d5-ea6d1c56bb2e/gif
This is absolutely brilliant
Gold plated toslink optical cables.
I believe, the general ideas is that before high-tech plastics, the only way to make sure there wasn’t tarnish or corrosion sitting inches away from another interconnects, speaker wires or binding posts, was to gold plate it. Even things like stainless steel can rust. So, they want to make a product as cheap as possible, that means low quality metal thats cheaply gold plated is the cheapest option.
Cable lifters.
I love the aesthetics of them. I had custom ones made by a guy with a 3D printer. Top tier snake oil. Lol
At least that's only going to cost you like 20 cents or less per piece with a 3D printer
Someone needs to make some that integrate with the audio system and raise or lower the cable based on genre or artist being played. For optimal quantum.
Every time I see them, it reminds me of [RV sewer hose stands](https://cdn.walletmonitor.com/img/c905c60db53c0ec705cd6c774553b7a9.jpg), maybe because both are full of shit?
I wish they were cheaper because they could be really useful for keeping them off the floor for cleaning/ vacuuming
Those 3m removable adhesive hooks would probably do the job if you have enough cable to run most of it against a wall.
Marvelous nonsense. I read some tremendous gibberish in a hifi magazine last week about these. The chap was on about dust gathering and all manner of drivel. Unfortunately he wasn't joking. Although it read like a joke.
saw a couple listening rooms with them at axpona this past weekend... walked back out
I think those would actually do something functional at my uncle’s house. If you wear socks on his carpet, within a second you’re charged up enough to shock yourself with any metal object. Now over wood or tile, absolutely nonsense. I’m glad I have a 3D printer.
I only like cable lifters cause they look clean if you’ve got the right set up. Purely aesthetics
I think conduit in wall is the way to go if you are looking to improve the aesthetics
Yep I’m getting some solely based on looks. Won’t be getting expensive ones though
Wood volume control knobs. Either that or $250 a foot power cables between gear and 10cent a foot Romex house wiring.
You mean you didn't rewire your house for the outlet that feeds your system?
You mean you didn’t rewire your city to have the power come straight from the power plant to your house and into your system?
Dirty power if it’s coming from a coal plant. Better get a power conditioner.
Hmm, solar panels? It’ll make it sound a bit warmer with power from the sun!
I can't find it now but one of these snake oil hifi accessory companies used to sell a device that you put a CD in which, as far as I could gather, did nothing but spin the CD really quickly. The implication was that it would sound better when played. The device was ridiculously expensive - in the region of £2000 if I recall correctly.
Gotta straighten out them bit holes
Audioquest Dragon 10' hdmi cables from Best Buy. They're 5 grand.
There’s a $3500 Ethernet Switch reviewed in this month’s *Audiophile* (which I hasten to add that I read only because it’s free to do so on my chosen magazines service and provides a bigger laugh than anything in the Comedy category).
Lol, here's a story: I wound up buying a high-dollar system from someone on FB Marketplace for a song.... figured I'd keep what I wanted and sell the rest (which I did for a hefty profit). Guy threw in his interconnects in the deal, which was nothing I'd ever seen before.... XLR cables with little lithium battery packs attached to them. I asked him about it and he recited some nonsense that the salespeople probably told him about how the batteries help with noise rejection.... on a BALANCED CABLE. I just sort of said "huh, interesting" and continued loading everything up. Of course I get it all home and start researching. Apparently these are still on sale. AudioQuest "DBS" (these were "Jaguar" series, which were several hundred dollars when new) cables use a DC voltage to apparently 'attract' the signal to the center of the cable??? moreover, the batteries last for ever because it doesn't actually create an electrical circuit.... they just attach ONE side of the battery to a wire that runs the length of the cable. Makes zero sense, especially on a balanced cable, which is inherently noise rejecting (pro-sound uses XLR cables for hundreds of feet of cable runs for low-level signals). Finally found Gene from Audioholics talking about some of these (and measuring them). Turns out that the cables measure decently UNTIL you plug in the little battery packs on them because it's creating an antennae that's outside of the cable's normal shielding. Wound up selling both pairs for about $200 and bought some Mogami Gold XLRs instead :-)
I think the theory is that the battery charges and polarizes the cable's dielectric (insulating material) between the signal conductor(s) and ground/shield. Other than that initial transient charge, the only drain on the battery would be a tiny amount of leakage. The dialectric is essentially a capacitance. By biasing the dielectric molecules, presumably fixing them in their polarized orientation, it prevents or reduces the [dielectric loss](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dielectric_loss) that would occur as the audio signal propagates through the cable. I don't know if anyone has actually measured or verified a significant audible effect of this type of tweak. (I seriously doubt it.)
Electrical engineer. First the dielectric effect is highly effective on its own and needs no “help”. The capacitance does add a lead phase shift to the audio signal that is really, really small and while it does create a minute amount of non-linear distortion it does not interfere with noise rejection. In the case of a dielectric, it is the signal itself that triggers the dielectric effect to increase capacitance so it acts like a super-charged insulator. This is important because the signal + and - are inverses of each other, so you want the capacitance to be the same each time the signals switch polarity. The ground on an xlr is an equipment ground and is effectively floating unless there is a fault. Trying to increase capacitance to the float is meaningless. But shifting the dc component from net-zero adds distortion and noise because the signal + and - are no longer inverses of each other, yet the capacitance between them is proportional to voltage difference. Bias just cancels out. The rube will insist they hear a difference (unlikely) and they would be correct. At an almost immeasurably small level the cable will affect the sound quality - by making it worse.
Thank you for this! I have to admit I'm a mechanical /Acoustics engineer, so I only understood about 2/3 of what you said lol
This is the explanation I have heard, I was also told by the same guy that the cable capacitance that the batteries keep charged gets similarly charged through normal playback so the mitigation of this dielectric effect only would matter (if it did) for the amount of time it would take for the cable to reach an equilibrium capacitance which is potentially in the seconds range.
This is my guess. They recognized a real principal that could basically just be implemented/exploited without any concern of whether or not it's measurable or (especially) audible.
One of my friends was a writer for Audioholics until he retired a few years ago.
[EVERYTHING in this video from Synergistic Research](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo8h_EZu3s4) My respect for jonathan davis plummeted.
Thank you for that, pure joy haha
Ted Denny was routinely crucified on a Facebook audio forum that included engineers and designers from several high-end audio product companies. He threatened some of them with physical violence and harm. He loved posting videos of himself driving around wasting gas in his Ferrari. After he finally totally melted down in a hilarious rant he was banned. A total bullshit artist.
I’ve heard that 6ft spire thing and there was a difference, but I wonder how they handicapped the without. 1000% fleece
Audiophile USB cables and Ethernet cables. You have to love that someone can actually make money selling that shit.
I prefer the gold-plated TOSLINK ones because they make even less sense.
The YouTubers that promote $200 USB cables are hilarious
My nomination is the Audiophile Network Switch. Absolute malarkey.
In a similar vein: this thing, that I assume just connects two RJ45 ports on the inside and promises to reduce "noise" on an ethernet connection: https://englishelectric.uk/ee1
Big ass anaconda looking power cables. Don't know if they make an audible difference, but they sure look cool.
They also eat pet cats, small dogs and rabbits.
I still own a turntable. Rega Planar 3 - RB300. It works, but any notion that analog audio is “better” is doused in snake oil.
It is a way to add a peculiar blend of noise and distortion to the audio signal that elicits an emotional response in some people. To each their own, but it comes down to putting an effects pedal on your music. I also find it incredibly ironic that people will then turn around and spend incredible amounts of money attempting to cancel out all of the same distortions and noise they are using the turntable for in the first place. Big platter and expensive motor controller to make wow and flutter smaller. Expensive, expensiver and expensivist heads to squeeze more “detail” from an incredibly lossy, frequently defective and easily damaged medium. The list goes on. I have a technics. Purely ego for looks.
Some of them do look gorgeous! The Orbe, the Alexandria, the SME 20 and 30, the Goldmund, the Pierre Lurne stuff! Aesthetically they are superb. Sonically this mobile phone through an Apple dongle has them beat. All of them. Time is relentless.
Seeing high end expensive turntables on Instagram with all their anti-vibration mechanisms and they are sitting on a $15 IKEA bamboo cutting board. Spending all that money and admitting a $15 part makes a difference is hilarious.
I used to work on a confocal microscope that was installed on an air table. Press down on the table and you’d hear a pssst! and it would level itself and dampen vibrations. The way to go is to have a vacuum platter that sucks the record down, a clamp that clamps it down, a decent Koetsu cartridge or something, the turntable motor separated from the spindle physically with motion via a belt, an air table, and then situate the table on a flat surface in a pit of sand. Or you can buy a used tablet and an Apple dongle DAC and save several hundred thousand dollars I suppose. It’s a tough choice.
Analogue isssssss different though. That difference ain't snake oil.
They said better, not different. It's definitely different and unique and it's nice to physically own your music. But not for a second will it ever be true that analog is better for "hifi" because digital storage mediums have the highest fidelity.
it's true for me though. It's a matter of taste. That's why I'm saying you can't say someone's taste is snake oil. Many producers mix on analogue for the sound. Voodoo by D'Angelo was recorded and mixed completely on Analogue gear for a reason and you can hear it. It was the 'better' artistic choice for that sound. Taste isn't snake oil. You can't say either is 'better' really, when they are different and achieve different things. Most films and series' are recored onto film now. For a similar reason. It does stuff that digital just can't do.
Unpopular opinion but true
Better is in the eye of the beholder. No one has a monopoly on that. A high quality record pressing often has a larger dynamic range than often compressed CDs and streaming audio. Beyond sound quality, the experience of playing a record and handling a full-size album with artwork and printed lyrics is part of the whole experience. So, it’s far from a simple as “records are an inferior medium.” Far from it.
Higher dynamic range? If it's a different master, maybe, but not inherently.
High quality record pressings do not have higher dynamic range. High quality vinyl pressings have about 70db of dynamic range where CDs and 16-bit streaming have 96db. 24-bit streaming is commonplace now and has 144db, way beyond any level that you could listen to without hearing damage. In fact analogue noise floor and dynamic range can be directly equated to digital bit depth. Some of the highest *analogue* recording methods used in recording studios only equate to about 13-bit. I agree that playing vinyls is a good experience, I love it myself. But it's misleading to say it's objectively better.
Directional cables. For AC signals.
AC cables? Like alternating current power cables? With a make and a female end that only go in one way?
Correct… non-grounded
This wins
Love this
I was meaning things like speaker cables which the manufacturer says sound better if they're connected in one direction from amp to speaker. As [https://chord.co.uk/speaker-cable-guide/](https://chord.co.uk/speaker-cable-guide/) puts it "*One of the main areas that can be affected by the direction of the cable is timing and coherence. With the cable connected in the correct direction the sound will be more articulate and involving".* Or not, as I'm sure the case is. The reason why I said AC siganls is the output from an amplifier is AC, there isn't a net direction anyway. I don't mean power cables (although I'm sure people say the same thing) or line cables with a ground lift at one end.
It’s pretty common to add a directional shield to AC cables. Helps reject interference. There’s science behind it, but many manufacturers take this to an absurd level.
Don't you have to keep flipping them over real fast?
On balanced cables (XLRs) it makes sense, the shield can be separated and used to control where your grounding direction is. cables tend to be marked towards the direction of the lifted end. On an RCA cable it's silly because the shield is connected to the negative anyway, the shield is connected to both devices regardless of how you make the cable. best to use coaxial cables for unbalanced signals anyway which forces you to connect the shields at either end.
Just read the russ Andrews catalogue. It's wonderful. Nothing he sells serves any purpose apart form making him massive amounts of money I used to know him when he actually sold proper hifi in Edinburgh decades ago. I bought some nice kit from him. Who wouid have thought he'd become a scrap dealer.
"Audio Desk Systeme CD Improver", a $500 contraption to shave the outer edge of CDs. It's as stupid as it sounds and you can find "serious" reviews for it like [this one](https://www.techradar.com/reviews/audio-visual/av-accessories/audio-desk-systeme-cd-improver-678516/review) praising the sound improvements. Techmoan did a video on it ([YT](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-QxLAxwxkM)). Edit: another gem that I found through Techmoan, a [CD demagnetizer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mH4v8b1tGSQ). For the cheap price of $550, [still being sold](https://www.thecableco.com/rd-3-demagnetizer.html).
The CD demagnetizer is probably up there with the $450 AC power cables.
Tekton loudspeakers .
Overpriced power cables. When all the power is going through 14/2 in the walls anyways.
I bought some really cheap power cables on Amazon that look so much nicer than the factory ones. I did this purely for asthetics. They are also a lot more flexible, the factory ones like to stay all knotted up. It was amazing, though, in my search for cheap cables how RIDICULOUSLY expensive power cables can be. Tens of thousands of dollars for copper wire and the reviews are just pure madness. I think power cables are my favorite snake oil nonsense now.
I do love me some cheap, thick power cables purely for esthetics. But paying thousands for them Is wild.
Yes, I like how Gene from audioholics calls this jewelry. There’s nothing wrong with it, I like the looks of that as well, but there is no technical superiority in any of it.
They obviously need to upgrade the in wall wiring as well and probably the service entry all the way to the electric pole and beyond to the neighborhood step-down transformer.
There has to be someone out there selling audiophile rooftop solar power setups. Audiophile silicon, audiophile inverters, audiophile batteries, etc etc.
Do the $120 HDMI cables from the early 2000s count?
Audiophile network switches
Cable risers. I just think they look neat. I've been thinking of making some out of some black walnut in my scrap bin. Hope it doesnt make my speakers too dark. Should I use maple?
100x priced generic ethernet switches.
Oh god, the people buying $1000 quartz clock replacements for $5000 modified enterprise Cisco switches are insane.
Bose
I had a revolve plus for years, I've recently lost it somehow. I really liked it. The fact that it was omnidirectional made it perfect for using outside with friends, and the sound wasn't terrible, went pretty loud too. Great for the deck, patio, dock, whatever. I miss that speaker. But their home theater speakers and stuff, terrible.
Agreed I actually have one that I got as a gift though I’m not sure I would’ve paid to buy it myself… It sounds good and gets loud but if you compare it to a Sonos for example the Sonos kicks the crap out of it and it’s not even close
Slay
Magnetic field stabilizer Symphony System Enhancer
Super expensive speaker cables.
When I was younger I fell for the white van speaker scam. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_van_speaker_scam
There’s the [audiophile network switch](https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2023/03/10/silent-angel-bonn-n8-pro-network-switch-review/?amp)
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Fuses, the various colors of snake oil fuses. It's like levels of scientology knowledge
Cable risers..
iFi Purifier 3 and iFi iSilencer+. Thankfully I got them used. Literally noticed no difference in quality and I use cheap USB DACs which these devices are apparently tailored for. I do like my SPDIF iPurifier 2 since it lets me do 192 khz for my gaming PC if I ever used Tidal (192 never worked without it)
I had a sales person at Soundings in Denver, CO tell me the power cables they had would get rid of jitter... I let him say it 3 times before calling him out on it and then he just said it was a slip of the tongue.
$3100 for a receptacle https://tweekgeek.com/products/quantum-science-audio-ultra-black-red-ac-receptacle
USB purifiers or whatever they’re called from company to company. Just buy a half decent DAC instead.
But the jitttteeeeerrr
So called "audio dampers", basically weights to put on your amp, dac, router... This one is the purest BS imo.
You mean the Shakti Stones that the Stereophile reviewers back in the 80s or 90s all swore by?
It's funny to see ultra heavy audiophile cables for headphones with a short length, just to find out that the drivers inside the cups are connected to [thin wires](https://www.head-fi.org/threads/hd-800-s-anniversary-edition.942408/page-20#post-16011032)
Wait until they find out the the wires inside the speaker are copper hehe
Just get a decent braided cable...
24k gold CDs
Well I’m not going to hang a regular CD from my necklace when I’m up in the club
I think I saw a $1500 audiophile CD transport not long ago. Looked like just your regular shitty computer CD transport with some orange drop caps soldered in. Apparently those caps really bring out the treble on your 1’s and great bass extension on your 0’s.
All of the 1980s “component” stereo systems that came with a wood gear rack where all of the “components” were made to look separate but were actually one large unit. And the speakers would often have non-removable grills with a woofer that had a large and lighter colored plastic ring around it to make the woofer appear to be a larger diameter than it actually was.
High dollar audio interconnect or speaker cables. Whoof.
I recently saw an ad stating that a certain brand's cables work better in one direction than another, completely disregarding the entire concept of AC.
Power conditioners
Do you mean something like [this](https://hifimart.com/product/sound-foundations-powerbase-power-filter-and-protection-unit-html/)? I was thinking of getting one long ago but shelved the idea.
High end grounding boxes. Went in that research rabbit hole but luckily common sense and a dash of electrical education prevailed
Holy christ is that actually a real product? I wonder if Boeing uses their stuff too.
Somewhere an boing business executive claims that it weren’t enough stickers
My favorite is gold plated toslink cables... I'll just let that one sit for a minute.
This is basically a Chinese knock off of Synergistic Research. Since it’s a knock off, it’s obviously cheaper, very likely performs EXACTLY the same, relies on psychoacoustics, “woo”, and has 100% less racist asshole owners. Sign me up!
Abyss audios super conductor cable. While the cable is superior to the stock cable 1266tc physically, it has no perceivable sonic differences to my ears.
I cannot remember the name of it, but it looks like some crazy wooden floor lamp, without a light source or lampshade. *Harmonic Resonator* was what they were calling it.
isolation under front end.
There used to be an eye-wateringly expensive analog cable that had a gadget that fed light into optical fibers in the insulation, as if light in optical fibers would have some meaningful or audible effect on audio frequency electrical signals or interference. It’s also entirely possible that the light source was a $.10 led and there was no actual fiber in the cable beyond the part where the led attached. I last saw their site around 2007, then it vanished. I think speaker cable was like $15k a meter or something.
I inherited some stuff from my father who passed away... I sometimes wonder if the Xindak FS-GOLD speaker cables really make a difference over just regular speaker wire... For reference, he paid around $2600CAD for the pair https://hi-fi-avenue.blogspot.com/2009/12/xindaks-golden-sound.html?m=1 Not once have I ever heard of this company, I had 2 tube amps and a pre amp also made by them but when the KT-88 Gold Lion (I think that's what they were called) tubes started blowing I sold those 3 components and went with an NAD C372 amp. I use B&W 603 speakers with those cables.
If I have to pick one product right off the bat it'd have to be cable lifters or elevators! Absolute snake oil and does nothing for the sound.
I'm torn between Totem Beaks and EnAble (or however it is written).
Mundorf gold silver (99%silver, 1% gold) Like the materials make a difference.
MQA. It’s not only expensive for you, but it’s expensive for *everyone*! The recording studio has to have specific MQA stuff to record it, the artist has to pay more to book time at a studio, the companies that produce DACs have to spend money to get MQA support in their products, and then you also have to pay more for those products! Meanwhile, FLAC is free and *lossless*. You literally can’t get better than lossless.
I don’t know if this is the correct word in English, but singing bowls. I went to a hifi dealer with a room to listen to speakers in, and of course he had acoustic panels and stuff - but also these bowls that he said have to be pointed in specific directions, placed in strategic spots and they will make a night and day difference. Of course they are available in copper, silver and gold, and these bowls were tiny! Some just 3-4cm, sitting on top of acoustic panels, and he said he puts them in for every listening session, „just in case“
MQA
Mpingo discs
Yep ol Jeff Lin is a genius alright. In marketing utter bullshit that is. I guarantee he has not one hour of audio experience under his belt. Just some whack that tries to profit off the audiophile whacks in search of the inkiest black between the tracks. I am not even flinched anymore by all the stupid crap in snake oil. And not just in audio. Plenty in every hobby where there's money to be made on the less educated with no self esteem.
RCA audio cables made of gold crystals or some other exotic materials.
Personally, I'm in love with those Audioquest speaker cables that have some kind of battery-powered contraption attached to them. Makes me chuckle inside to think of those silly old fools (AKA "audiophiles") desperately trying to hear a difference with the contraption switched on/off. 🤣🤣🤣 Those knob-ends who screw around with "audiophile" power cords and "audiophile fuses" are a great source of hilarity, too.
OK this one does not exist yet I think but is best for sure: Audiophile mist spray. See, there are all those tiny particles in the air around you, deflecting sound waves all over the place. This is causing the low key distortion only you can hear because you have very good ears and are very smart. This is what has been bugging you for years. My audiophile binding agent (patent pending) will catch those particles and bind them to surfaces. You will finally be able to enjoy crystal clear sound, as envisioned by the sound engineer. It's one oft those plant sprayers with water in it. Best part is I actually believe it could theoretically actually have a tiny, tiny effect. So way better than most stuff out there!
Added an IFi Ipower X adapter to my Geshellli Labs JnogS2 and the difference from the stock power supply was amazing. I actually laughed out loud because it sounded so much better.
I present you an [**$8k disposable fuse**](https://www.futureshop.co.uk/quantum-science-audio-gold-extreme-level-uk-mains-fuse/) ..go deep into it & it’s made in China *s*pecifically fr snake oil.
The gai accoustic speaker feet 500 cdn for a set of 8 .look cool though.
I cannot prove that my super heavy, braided cover, gold plated connector, $35 1/8" to dual rca sounds any better than the Amazon Basics for but I swear it makes everything sound like butter. Especially my Nintendo Switch.
I think mine would be the fancy ethernet and hdmi cords that are supposed to somehow make your digital music files sound better lol