Beware of new material claims - the case of graphene

@folkfreak I'm totally with you!  I was being sarcastic.  I don't think that we should assume everything is bunk... but I am a complete skeptic on most things "tweaky".  Any outrageous claim could be bunk or could be reality.  However, what about the unintended impact?  

Graphene is a good example.  Someone in the forum who is often overly hyperbolic about tweaks extolls the virtue of this wondrous new tweak.  It solves every problem in the world of audio.  A veil is lifted.  

Yeah, okay...  What's the negative?  1. Expensive. (of course) 2. Not able to really verify what it is. (as you note above)  3. Not really tested in the long term. (try to get this stuff off!  How long does it last?)  4. Highly conductive, so if it spills or happens to be on a little too much... immediate short. (what happens if it drips inside your nice piece of gear?)   Now, do you think his hyperbole highlighted any of these items?  Absolutely not.

So, in those ways, I'm a skeptic, and I want to know more before I go plunk down my benjamins on graphene, mystery cones, battery powered interconnects, jewels to hang on the wall, or any of these other snake oil tweaks.  In fact, if the post or ad says anything about "tweak", I know I have to dig further, or file it in the goofball round file.

It’s obviously much more difficult to produce and apply “real” two dimensional graphene. But what’s not clear is that there are also apparently advantages to 2, 3, 4, 5 layer Graphene, which is apparently easier to mass produce, at least I suspect it is, but multi layer Graphene is not quite the super material as “real” Graphene. But it might work very well and be less hassle.

So, one should probably not be quite so suspicious, that’s all I’m saying. Obviously Graphene as applied to Tennis racquets, bike frames, bicycle tires, and Graphene cables the Graphene in question is not two dimensional Graphene but something else. Ditto for the new Graphene speaker diaphrams from Canada. They are Graphene composites, not real Graphene. Graphene is the new carbon fiber, that’s all.

I think I'll save my $$$ and stick with copper or silver and a good tight connection and pass on all the Graphene hype. As far as Graphene infused speaker diaphrams, well, I won't go there...Jim

Thanks for not going there. Much appreciated. 🤫

@geofkait....You’re welcome!........ :-)