@mrdecibel
Analogluvr accented my point nicely. We're not typing our thoughts into a word processor here to chronicle our experiences. We're committing thoughts to a crowd. I think it's a very reasonable thing to expect to have your statements scrutinized when proclaiming them to a crowd.
I've mulled this fine line of snake oil over a good bit and I'm pretty clear where I stand. For a long time now we've been able to measure the performance of audio gear with resolution WAY beyond what any human ear can distinguish. That is a fact. Because that is a fact, anything that makes an audible difference to a human ear should logically be observable through a measurement. If there is no observable difference in a measurement, then it's very reasonable to believe that there's no audible difference since a good measurement is orders of magnitude more discriminating than a human ear. That's where I draw the hard line between snake oil and valid products. When I know that $1.50 worth of Panasonic resistors in my amp's power supply will make FAR more difference than a $50 fuse back behind my transformer, I'm calling that jazz snake oil. That's why I have no interest in trying such things. I think folks selling such products are playing off the technical ignorance of a passionate crowd and I think it's disreputable. I look at this stuff with a much more technical curiosity than most seem to or something. I recognize we've all got our tastes. I'd be willing to bet that any one individual's tastes can be described in terms of a particular signature of measurements. I think it would be very useful to the consumer to try to define what that signature looks like because it would greatly reduce the guess work involved in constructing a pleasing system. Maybe it would even promote some people to cater to those particular tastes in a more focused way. I tend to think good engineers are already doing that.
Analogluvr accented my point nicely. We're not typing our thoughts into a word processor here to chronicle our experiences. We're committing thoughts to a crowd. I think it's a very reasonable thing to expect to have your statements scrutinized when proclaiming them to a crowd.
I've mulled this fine line of snake oil over a good bit and I'm pretty clear where I stand. For a long time now we've been able to measure the performance of audio gear with resolution WAY beyond what any human ear can distinguish. That is a fact. Because that is a fact, anything that makes an audible difference to a human ear should logically be observable through a measurement. If there is no observable difference in a measurement, then it's very reasonable to believe that there's no audible difference since a good measurement is orders of magnitude more discriminating than a human ear. That's where I draw the hard line between snake oil and valid products. When I know that $1.50 worth of Panasonic resistors in my amp's power supply will make FAR more difference than a $50 fuse back behind my transformer, I'm calling that jazz snake oil. That's why I have no interest in trying such things. I think folks selling such products are playing off the technical ignorance of a passionate crowd and I think it's disreputable. I look at this stuff with a much more technical curiosity than most seem to or something. I recognize we've all got our tastes. I'd be willing to bet that any one individual's tastes can be described in terms of a particular signature of measurements. I think it would be very useful to the consumer to try to define what that signature looks like because it would greatly reduce the guess work involved in constructing a pleasing system. Maybe it would even promote some people to cater to those particular tastes in a more focused way. I tend to think good engineers are already doing that.