Do we believe in Machina Dynamics?

Good question, Viridian, and a point well taken.

I will, however, hold firm to my belief that a Timex clock with an orange price sticker, and jars of rocks are audio snake oil. Someday, when the effects of these objects are measured, I'll sit quietly while someone says, "I told you so".

Tvad.. It is not just jars of rocks.. But they are "special" rocks worth plenty of money? that sends me into a spin.
Want rocks? get a peanut buter jar and fill it! total cost $0.00
Of course, we have folks whose time is claimed to be worth $1,000. an hour or such, and for them, buy the damn rocks.
I would opt for semi-precious stones myself... if I had a jar of rocks.. just think how kewl!!

Elizabeth, watch out for salmonella with those peanut butter jars!

Not that I've tried it Audioblazer, but that Shakti Hallograph thingy strikes me as classic snake oil too -- something I say based solely on having seen it pictured and read the ad copy, which looks and sounds like unmitigated BS along the lines of Shun Mook "Spatial Control" disks and stands. Not that I doubt that anything which is a resonator and/or physically large enough will affect the soundfield to *some* degree when placed in the listening environment (the Shun Mook disks qualify as neither of those as far as I can tell), but that's also true of most all of one's listening room furnishings. What I doubt is that this particular object could always make the sound somehow "better" and be worth what's charged for it (however I don't doubt that paying a significant amount for these types of things could in some cases be key to their "effectiveness"). Then again, I haven't tried liquid on my CDs or silver paste on my connectors either...

Tvad, there is another side to it as well, if we take your example of the Witch Doctor shaking the rattle, your contention that he, or she, will not be curing any disease may be correct, but there is mounting clinical evidence that spirituality and belief can aid in the recovery process. So if you believe that the Witch Doctor can heal you, perhaps you will recoup faster. Maybe we should do an experiment to see if believeing in magic pebbles has a positive effect on hearing acuity as well.