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High End Myth Glossary.

Disclaimer:
Many of the glossary terms bellow are entered with little or no comments. Large comments might require large space and time investment. If anyone reading this glossary is offended, than I'll keep you a company as well. Every myth-paragraph bellow adds a price to the audiocomponent only without substantial improvements and "upgrades" to your system.

Feel free to add to the list bellow:

1. Cables' price should be arround 10...20% of the whole system i.e if the system costs $100k than $10...20k should be for interconnects and speaker cables.

2. Directional signal cables.

3. Zero Negative Feedback.

4. $10k 10Wpc amps.

5. No need for larger output power. Place compact system speaker into the plywood horn enclosure and use SET 1W/ch.

6. Tube watts v.s. SS watts.

7. CD-players or digital separates over $1.5k(Analogue sources stay somewhere next to but not to the same degree for example $10k cartridges)

8. Audiable differences in .3dB or in .5%THD v.s. .001%THD.

9. Auditioning of audio furniture.

10. Stereophile or other oriented magazines one-person "expert reviews"

11. $5000 Mark Levinson amp looks like it should sound excellent...

12. $12k CD-player reads CD with greater precision.

13. tubes $900/matched pr

14. amp stands $600/pr.

15. microphonic-free chasis, power interconnects and speaker wires. tubes and transistors can certainly be added as well.

16. wire reactance influence on audio freequencies.

17. Nirvana speaker wire has substantially less reactance than Home Depot.

18. S/N ratings of CD-player(larger than CD's dynamic range 16bit = only 60dB!)

P.S. I would be also glad to see Worst-of section in forums here.
128x128marakanetz
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz OP
5,473 posts
 
Tsouthworth,

You basically need to perform a third experiment: Strip the shield of your old MIT wires and try them one or the other direction.

As to the recording onto cassette the pulling strength is different throughout the whole cassette tape length especially at the very beginning and at the very end. Thus the alignement can't be perfect as well even on mega-priced tape decks. What can be great there is electronics making a clean recording and sound.

Open reel recorders are to the less degree affected but still recording engineers wind forward and leave the rest at least 15...20meters unrecorded from both tape ends to make sure that the tape strength will be more stable and so is head alignement.
viridian's avatar
viridian
4,184 posts
 
Great stuff M-man. Just remember, one man's myth is another man's hit.
elmuncy
64 posts
 
Anything cryoed
cone-shaped feet to put under things
tweaks that make you "discover your collection all over again"
cables thicker than garden hose
Also, I especially like the part about demagnetizing aluminum cd's
twl
3,251 posts
 
Personally, I feel that numbers 1-6 are not myths.

#1 Paying 10% for cables may seem outrageous for a $100k system, but what about a $10k system? I'll bet most of you out there who have $10k systems have at least $1k(total) in cables, including power cables, right? Not a myth.

#2 Directionality of signal cables - debatable. I think it makes a difference in some cables.

#3 Zero negative feedback - preferable over virtually all types of negative feedback. Not a myth.

#4 What's wrong with $10k 10watt amps? You may think it exorbitant, but listening to one on a suitable speaker system may make you think otherwise. That is only $1k per watt, and I paid $2k per watt for my amp. Wanna see if a Pass or Halcro can beat it out on efficient speakers? Bring your crying towel! Not a myth. Watts cannot be equated with good sound.

#5 Must have higher power? Speaker efficiency doesn't matter? See above. Bring your crying towel. Not a myth.

#6 Like it or not, tubes will provide more "listenable" volume for the same power rating as SS, unless driving low impedance speakers. Make up your own reasons, they just do. Not a myth.

Proposed #19 - everybody knows what I think about that.
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz OP
5,473 posts
 
Tom,

with all due respect to you I can tell that I'm different from the one who would bring "crying towel" and despite your wide thick and big experience selling audio equipment, I have placed a large number of scientific and budget measurements onto every paragraph mentioned, but I don't specify reasons on purpose since they require knowlege of electronics and mentioned negative feedback in particular. I simply let everyone here think about that including dealers as well(that unfortunately in largest scale were "infected" by new-era high-end mythical plug to be able to infect buyers).

Marty,
as you can see I enjoy being "attacked"!
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