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Do you believe in Magic?

Audio Magic, that is.

Let's say that Magic is any effect not explainable by known physical laws. Every audiophile is familiar with debates about Audio Magic, as evidenced by endless threads about power cables.

I recently had an experience that made me question my long held skepticism about Magic. On a whim, I bought some Stillpoints ERS Fabric. I installed it in my preamp (which is filled with noisy digital circuitry) and a reclocker (also noisy) and...

Something happened. I don't know what exactly, but something. Two things in particular seemed to change... the decay of notes, and instrument timbres. Both changed for the better. But where did this change occur? In my listening room? Or in my mind?

If the change was in my listening room, then Magic exists. If the change was in my mind, then Magic does not exist.

One of the great Ideological Divides in audio is the divide between Believers and Skeptics. I honestly don't know if I'm a Believer or a Skeptic.

Do you believe in Magic?

Bryon
bryoncunningham
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almarg
8,673 posts
 
Outstanding post, Bryon. Beautifully said!

Best,
-- Al
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geoffkait
14,147 posts
 
Somebody didn't pick up on the humor of Sabai's remark.

I've said it before and it's worth repeating: a sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from Magic.

Natives on some forlorn island believe a camera is Magic and steals their souls. The opposition dismisses controversial tweaks as ritualistic, witchcraft, psychological, hypnotic and insists they disobey all the known laws of science. So, what else is new?
bryoncunningham OP
888 posts
 
Geoff, trying to have a conversation with you reminds me of something Wittgenstein said...

Suppose everyone had a box with something in it: we call it a "beetle." No one can look into anyone else's box, and everyone says he knows what a beetle is only by looking at his beetle. Here it would be quite possible for everyone to have something different in his box...

...the box might even be empty.

bc
tbg
5,263 posts
 
Bryoncunningham, I think you are right about science ultimately getting it right, but also scientists have interest as well as pressure to publish. Most would not really devote time to why some cables sound better. Why quartz in some place improves music reproduction, in other harms it, and in others does nothing.

I must say that I set a pretty high standard for tweaks. A minor benefit isn't worth the trouble. I have never really understood the very unscientific notion that a panel of people using double blind 30 seconds exposures to music and having to make a same/different decision has any use for me. I have also never understood why anything other than the basic laws of electrical engineering means it must be snakeoil and therefore no one should sell or buy them.
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geoffkait
14,147 posts
 
In the words of Wittgenstein's friend and colleague Georg Henrik von Wright: "He was of the opinion... that his ideas were generally misunderstood and distorted even by those who professed to be his disciples. He doubted he would be better understood in the future. He once said he felt as though he were writing for people who would think in a different way, breathe a different air of life, from that of present-day men."

An ordinary man has no means of deliverance. - Wm Burroughs

:-)
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