I think he's smoking something (1 Viewer)

[Chu Gai]

Your post you mean?
My post cuts to the heart of matters. All the claims for better shielding, lowered resistance, lowered inductance and the claims of improved soundstage, authoritative bass, sparkling highs, etc. is all just a means of skirting the obvious. Don't you see the parallels with magnets, dowsing, ESP, levitation, talking to the dead? It's the same old stuff repeated in a different area.

Cold air intakes and better exhausts perform at their best with older, less highly refined engines. Once they're fairly well tweaked and tuned by the manufacturer you can typically decrease their performance. Various magazines have done articles on this including Super Street. The actual performance gains were real but piddling. Reprogramming the chips would have given you substantial HP & torque gains that were realizable on a 1/4 mile. So would a higher ratio low end. The point Shane, is that there's nothing to be gained from an audiophile PC other than its eye-candy like the eye-candy I wrote about with cars. Hell, you can get a shielded belden PC from NewarkElectronics or MCM that's inexpensive. It also comes with something virtually no handmade PC does. Its UL listed.

Call me a mind reader but my first post is a perfect explanation of this thread and the way its going is up top. Angelo has already graced the thread with a beer. It's downhill from here on out.

OK, you're a mindreader. Science isn't a belief. Its an approach and there's precious little science in these PC's.

 

[Angelo.M]

(Emphasis mine.)

I don't think Chu's point could be any clearer. When you enter the land of "audiophile tweaks," you enter the land of shameless hucksterism, fearless one-upsmanship and dubious assertions.

Save your powercord money for beer. Beware: it will, of course, widen your midrange if you're not careful.

 

[Angelo.M]

Amen. And furthermore, in a good scientific test of interventions on an outcome, one begins with the assumption that there will be no difference in outcome (null hypothesis). The problem with "audiophile claims" is that, in most every case, there is an a priori assumption that there will in fact be a difference.

And if you make that assumption, chances are you'll find what you're looking for. That $250 power cord simply must make your rig sound better, right?

 

[Kevin_Breeze]

"nothing wrong with koni's but I went with KYB's"

Just for the record, Koni's are superior to KYB's (that statment seemed to imply otherwise). Koni's are pretty much the top of the food chain when it comes to aftermarket shocks.

and a CAI will not add 10% HP on most cars. As far as exhaust adding 15HP on average, I'd say thats a pretty high estimate if you are just talking catback. turbo cars however can see some pretty good gains, but i think we are mainly talking about the na ricers, like civics and the like.

 

[John Garcia]

I don't think Koni actually makes a full setup for my car. I was looking for Konis and found a great deal on KYB AGX + Eibachs, so that's what I went with.

With a CAI, header, custom cat and custom cat back, I got very good gains on my ITR. Unfortunately, I wrecked it before I got the chance to dyno it. With Civics and Integras, it's tough to realize much gains without doing internal work or going FI. That's why motor swaps are more popular.

 

[Shannon S.]

That power cable sounds like running 20 gage speaker wire from your amp and tipping it off with 10 gage wire about a foot before connecting it with the speakers.

 

[JackS]

Who would be interested in promoting these expensive cords? Answer- Expensive Cord mfg's. I'm sure at some point earlier in the last century, someone actually did look into this and came to a reasonable conclusion. The fact/fiction that an audio engineer would be dedicating his working life a half century later on a wire doesn't sound reasonable. This would be the equivilent of a mechinacal engineer dedicating his life to the proformance improvment of 50cc moterbikes. Possible? Of course. Likely? I doubt it.

 

[John Garcia]

I fail to see the point, since most speakers likely have 14-16ga. wire inside. Does that mean all those people using 12ga. wire are wasting their time?

If you don't think it's worth it, don't buy it. It's that simple.

 

[Oachalon]

i think they are wasting their time with the wire. I have 12 gauge speaker wire but thats because it was the cheapest wire i could find buy me. I only buy the cheapest wires and you know what i couldnt tell a difference if my life depended on it.

 

[Robert Cowan]

these threads never go anywhere.

 

[Shane Martin]

That's untrue. They go down the toilet..

 

[Robert Cowan]

hehe, well, here is something that could start a riot maybe...

im a believer in cables and this is absurd to me.

http://www.referenceaudiomods.com/Me...roduct_Count=2

 

[JackS]

I wonder if they will accept a trade-in on the appearanty now outdated C36's?

 

[RobWil]

$485....LOL! I can just see someone trying to justify that purchase to the wife!
Probably have about the same effect my chrome tail pipe tips have on my horsepower.

 

[JackS]

Typical knob job. Feels good for about 15 seconds then you wish you had your money back.

 

[Brian Schucher]

They dont but i get a kick out of them none the less. Personally i really enjoy reading Chu's posts.

 

[Chu Gai]

The inclusion of of a power cord review, written by a Jason Victor Serinus, in a publication such as 'Secrets' seriously taints it. Although disappointed as anyone would be who has tried their hand at 'Whack-A-Mole', I am not all that surprised. Market studies have been performed in many areas of life that serve to estimate the monies that are expended by people. For example, market studies in alternative medical approaches (this is a very kind way of saying fraud and quack so as not to offend those who make a lifelong career out of being offended) suggest the market is in the many 10's of billions. Hospitals have been made aware of this and are now offering 'psychic massage', Reikii, aura manipulation, aromatherapy, and so on as cash services for those who want it. A neighboring hospital, which does not welcome my appearance, has clinics and presentations where interested parties can 'learn' (become brainwashed) about the technique and are usually given a discount card which they can use for their first session. These sessions are given at the hospital which receives its cut. I liken it to the same cut that Don Fanucci asked of the young Vito Corleone when he found out Vito was selling stolen garments. 'Just a little something to whet my whistle.'

As an aside, additional information on Mr. Serinus can be found here: http://www.planeteria.net/home/whistler/ where one can get a greater insite into his mind and beliefs. Make sure you whistle when you read it.

Its not the fact that there is a power cord by the name of Vishnu that bothers me no more than one can buy a diamond encrusted Rolex. It comes down to the claims made that are never substantiated nor replicated. This is where the threads go. A call for putting the claims to the test. To some it may sound like the flush of a toilet as critical thinking makes its way down the pipes.

Some of us have kids and we try to give them the best that we can. We tell them to be wary of strangers, to be careful when going out, don't take drugs, and so forth. What beneficial thing do we give them when the best that we can do is suspend critical thinking and say, 'Well try it and tell me how you like it.' How are they benefitted when we don't prepare them for the cons in life? Why shouldn't they be shown the pattern that repeats itself ad nauseum? Why shouldn't we tell them that psychics and wire mongers who make claims follow the same scripted approach? As parents and taxpayers we rail against the flat or declining test scores and continue tossing more money on programs that don't work. If we continue to act irresponsibly and not educate people on what is real and what is make believe the overall scores may never improve.

It is unacceptable to always fall back on phrases like science doesn't know everything, we can't build an ear, or you can't tell me what I'm hearing. The thing is though, although I can't tell you what you're hearing, without a DBT, neither can you. There is no reason why we have to be fed this opiated pablum and continue to be treated as dumb-downed cash machines.

My intention is to write Secrets and tell them of my great displeasure with their having featured this article and to urge them to cease their associaton with that hack writer. I shall also tell them that I will make it a point to contact their advertisers and tell them that they cheapen their image and products by advertising with that publication and that if they continue to do so, I shall privately urge others to seek alternative products. This is a free society and I intend to excercise my freedom.

 

[Angelo.M]

Reconsidered and deleted.

 

[Angelo.M]

Last year, I bought a Mercedes. One of my partners--who fancies himself a critical thinker--purchased a new 2-channel stereo kit. Within a few hundred dollars, we spent nearly the same amount of money.

His speaker cables alone--of the garden-hose-gauge variety--cost thousands of dollars. These things could substitute for the Alaskan pipeline in a pinch.

 

[Bryan_G]

This is a common misconception. I hear this excuse a lot. However it is completely irrelevant. The reasons to not use 12ga is because for most applications 16ga or even 18ga does not add any significant resistance.


Resistance in wiring is dependent upon gauge and distance. So for a 20' run you should use a larger gauge. Using a smaller gauge for a small run will not add significant resistance. So even though you have 2' of 18ga in your cabinet it is still not adding significant resistance. However this does not mean that connecting a 16ga 40' run to the speaker would be a waste.


How big of gauge is big enough depends on the distance and current.


-Bryan