Funniest snake oil theories

Status
Not open for further replies.
Jump to Latest
D

DF96

R.I.P.
Joined 2007
myweb.tiscali.co.uk/g8hqp/
SY said:
I can't remember the long-gone manufacturer's name, but I remember some transparent speakers being marketed about 25 years ago. The gimmick was that the side panels could move with the compression and rarefaction from the woofer. This was supposed to "reduce resonance" or some such nonsense.
Click to expand...
Back in the days when I worked in software support we sometimes had bug reports which we could not fix, perhaps because the knock-on effects of the fix would be undesirable or simply uneconomic. We then 'featured' the bug, by describing it in the manual - although professional integrity usually prevented us from claiming it to be an advantage. Some modern product developers don't seem to have the same scruples.
 
hpeter

hpeter

Member
Joined 2013
peteslab.blogspot.com
Jim the Oldbie said:
Hee! Looks like some classic LM3915 light-show action there. :xmastree:
Click to expand...

my eyes uh oh :hypno1::faint:
sony_shake99_1080.jpg
 
drtebi

drtebi

Member
Joined 2013
"Expert Audio Advice" in the latest Audio Advisor

Quote from the latest Audio Advisor:
A high-quality turntable removes 90 percent of the record surface noise and allows many times the musical information to come through, compared to older direct-drive 'tables.
​
Wow, I think I can finally listen to all my scratched-up records again with one of their new turntables. They magically remove 90% of the surface noise! How that works is not mentioned, so I suppose it is some new super-industrial magic composition of materials that makes surface noise on vinyl disappear.

Seriously, I don't know why I am still reading their catalogs. Maybe I am just curious about what's new, what's out there. But their many unsupported claims of what makes audio sound better just makes my head spin every time.

​
 
MITsound

MITsound

Member
Joined 2013
drtebi said:
Quote from the latest Audio Advisor:
A high-quality turntable removes 90 percent of the record surface noise and allows many times the musical information to come through, compared to older direct-drive 'tables.
​
Wow, I think I can finally listen to all my scratched-up records again with one of their new turntables. They magically remove 90% of the surface noise! How that works is not mentioned, so I suppose it is some new super-industrial magic composition of materials that makes surface noise on vinyl disappear.

Seriously, I don't know why I am still reading their catalogs. Maybe I am just curious about what's new, what's out there. But their many unsupported claims of what makes audio sound better just makes my head spin every time.

​
Click to expand...

I returned to vinyl to hear some old favourites, with a not too cheap new Dual turntable.
It sounded good, but was chewing up my new records.
Research showed the stock cartridge as having a conical stylus.
A vintage AT88e cartridge with an elliptical stylus was a big step up, as is a new Shure cartridge
, also with an elliptical stylus.

Maybe it's not magic, but instead a different stylus point profile hitting a groove a different shaped stylus point damaged, playing back with somewhat lower noise.

Not as sexy to a marketer as all new high tech design and materials, but it's all I come up with in the time it takes to type this.��
 
Last edited:
MITsound

MITsound

Member
Joined 2013
drtebi said:
Quote from the latest Audio Advisor:
A high-quality turntable removes 90 percent of the record surface noise and allows many times the musical information to come through, compared to older direct-drive 'tables.
​
Wow, I think I can finally listen to all my scratched-up records again with one of their new turntables. They magically remove 90% of the surface noise! How that works is not mentioned, so I suppose it is some new super-industrial magic composition of materials that makes surface noise on vinyl disappear.

For about a year now, I've been wanting a better turntable. New ones sounding much better than my old Dual 506/ADC Gold combo are priced well above what I'm willing to spend. After a several months auto search on eBay, I landed a near mint Sony PS-X600 Biotracer arm turntable, with local pickup, saving $200, and possible rough treatment, in insured shipping costs.
I don't believe it reduces surface noise from a record, but it sounds far cleaner than a Pro-Ject Elemental at hand, or the Dual.
This Biotracer arm is designed to lower arm resonances, as well as doing other things assisting tracking and stylus forces, both vertical and horizontal.
Measurements from reviews when new claim 1 db average tonearm resonances, 2 db less than Sony specs, and several db down from the best competition.
Perhaps Audio Advisor meant a quality turntable will lower signal distorting tonearm resonances.
I do know on group vocals, the massed "voice" is now easily discerned to be distinctly separate voices, even on the Russian Easter Festival.
As for outperforming older direct-drive drive turntables, I'm not sure how much more accurate than a quartz referenced servo locked cogless a modern drive would be, but I think the numbers would be pretty much the same.
My own feeling is economy of scale allowed Sony to make my turntable this good, something a modern boutique manufacturer couldn't achieve at blue collar pricing, certainly not for the all in with cartridge I paid $400 Canadian funds I paid.
Sorry, Audio Advisor.
Mine came with technical reasons for less noise and more information passed along for playback.
Click to expand...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom