Cardas Myrtle Wood Blocks

[bigshot]

Originally Posted by tourmaline

But it isn't always for the good, you know. Some feet make sound worse, some better. it's trial and error to find the best for your setup.

Voodoo.

See ya
Steve

[Oliver :)]

Originally Posted by tourmaline

Not thinking, hearing. No placebo, the difference was to huge for that.
But it isn't always for the good, you know. Some feet make sound worse, some better. it's trial and error to find the best for your setup.

The only thing i think feet work are under a cdplayer, not so convinced about amps and other components though. ofcourse speakers also benefit from good fibration feet. Tube amps might benefit from it though, not sure about transistor or fet amps.

Is fibration some new sort of fad I have missed out on? We're talking vibration, folks...

So, once again, isolation and dampening can make for significant changes in the sound of your setup. I agree that the difference is sometimes way too big to be ignored or accredited to placebo. I myself had a "day and night" experience with Pandafeet saving me from changing my hifi-rack again. It was am easy, fast, and pretty well priced operation. The degree of influence of these products on your specific setup is highly individual, from extreme to negligible, but we're definitely not talking magic pebbles, rainbow-foil and snake-oil here.

[tourmaline]

Originally Posted by bigshot

Voodoo.

See ya
Steve

I didn't know you were into black magic.

[LawnGnome]

Originally Posted by vcoheda

works for me. guess you're out of luck.

Or he is smart enough to know better.

Unless you think these blocks are magical, and only display their power to those that believe? This is the real world, time to give up the Harry Potter mentality.

[vcoheda]

interesting article on isolation devices. includes rankings of various products on the second page. they don't list the cardas blocks though.

http://www.gcaudio.com/products/revi...noverview.html

[LawnGnome]

Originally Posted by vcoheda

interesting article on isolation devices. includes rankings of various products on the second page. they don't list the cardas blocks though.

http://www.gcaudio.com/products/revi...noverview.html

Yet not a single piece of evidence.

Even their first sentence is wrong.

" It’s unquestioned that vibration and resonance alter the sound of our playback systems."

[Scrith]

If you expect to hear a difference after installing this (or any similar) object in your system, you probably will. All of this speculation is a complete waste of time without blind tests, I'm afraid.

[vcoheda]

maybe if you distrust your ability to be objective in any sense of the word, then yes. not me though. i have tried lots of tweaks. sometimes i heard differences; other times i did not. so the above is your own personal problem.

[fordgtlover]

Originally Posted by tourmaline

snip

Placebo is something that doesn't do anything, these products do and it can be heard.

Just to clarify, a placebo is something that has no supporting categorical evidence for its effectiveness, but actually serves its intended purpose (or part thereof) because the consumer believes that it will be effective.

So, the placebo effect actually does do something. It convinces us that it works.

Equally, there is the opposite effect where regardless of supporting evidence the consumer believes that the object or treatment will not be effective; and they are often proven correct - even with clinically proven medicines.

The problem with the cable or other improvement argument is that if you believe, then you probably hear an improvement. However, if you disbelieve - rather than are open-minded, you won't hear a difference.

The two opposing sides will never meet in the middle because they are on two different continuums.

[OverlordXenu]

Originally Posted by fordgtlover

Just to clarify, a placebo is something that has no supported evidence for its effectiveness, but actually serves its intended purpose (or part thereof) because the consumer believes that it will be effective.

So, the placebo effect actually does do something. It convinces us that it works.

Equally there is the opposite effect where regardless of supporting evidence the consumer believes that the object or treatment will not be effective; and they are often proven correct - even with clinically proven medicines.

The problem with the cable or other improvement argument is that if you believe, then you probably hear an improvement. However, if you disbelieve - rather than are open-minded, you won't hear a difference.

The two opposing sides will never meet in the middle because they are on two different continuums.

That's why properly-conducted DBT's are so important, they remove pre-conceived notions, and the placebo effect.

[fordgtlover]

Originally Posted by OverlordXenu

That's why properly-conducted DBT's are so important, they remove pre-conceived notions, and the placebo effect.

Only if you want to prove something.

Audio is about the enjoyment of music and the equipment. I have no particular problem with letting others believe in their tweaks, but to pick up on an important point by Bigshot, the real potential for damage here is when newbies expect night and day differences in their $500 system by buying $500 cables or wooden blocks.

Newbies need to understand that these differences may be very, very subtle and may only be detected by those who have very good systems and are atuned to the nuances of their own system.

A $500 system doesn't have nuances; it has a whole lot of room for upgrades. No, I am not bagging cheap systems (we've all had them). I am just suggesting that in a cheap system a source upgrade or speaker (or headphone) upgrade will yield significantly more improvement that wooden blocks or a new power cable.

[LawnGnome]

Originally Posted by fordgtlover

Only if you want to prove something.

Audio is about the enjoyment of music and the equipment. I have no particular problem with letting others believe in their tweaks, but to pick up on an important point by Bigshot, the real potential for damage here is when newbies expect night and day differences in their $500 system by buying $500 cables or wooden blocks.

Newbies need to understand that these differences may be very, very subtle and may only be detected by those who have very good systems and are atuned to the nuances of their own system.

A $500 system doesn't have nuances; it has a whole lot of room for upgrades. No, I am not bagging cheap systems (we've all had them). I am just suggesting that in a cheap system a source upgrade or speaker (or headphone) upgrade will yield significantly more improvement that wooden blocks or a new power cable.

ok there bud.

[gritzcolin]

No one liked my idea of buying a board of the same stuff for $10 and making twice as many and saving yourselves $30+. Yeah I figured most of this stuff was because you want people to see that you can spend money on a name. Or are the circular saws they use to cut the wood made of magical carbide that infuses the wood with sound enhancing fairy dust.

I don't know if it works cause i have junk for audio equipment and use a 30 year old dresser as a stereo stand. But why get ripped off for an emblem burned into the wood that probably makes the wood less effective on a quantum level.

A $500 system doesn't have nuances; it has a whole lot of room for upgrades. No, I am not bagging cheap systems (we've all had them). I am just suggesting that in a cheap system a source upgrade or speaker (or headphone) upgrade will yield significantly more improvement that wooden blocks or a new power cable.

So you are saying expensive gear is built shoddily since it needs fancy wooden blocks to make it sound perfect? If I spend $4500 for a cd player that motor laser assembly better be suspended in a vacuum and not be suseptible to vibration when i walk around the room. OMG I THINK I JUST HAD A BRAZILLION DOLLAR IDEA WITH THAT! or even better nano tubes.

[fordgtlover]

... whoops

[fordgtlover]

Originally Posted by gritzcolin

Snip

So you are saying expensive gear is built shoddily since it needs fancy wooden blocks to make it sound perfect? If I spend $4500 for a cd player that motor laser assembly better be suspended in a vacuum and not be suseptible to vibration when i walk around the room. OMG I THINK I JUST HAD A BRAZILLION DOLLAR IDEA WITH THAT! or even better nano tubes.

I'm not really sure what you're saying.

The whole post provides context for the last paragraph. I am arguing that we should discourage the thinking in newbies that a $$$ tweak will improve a cheap system - cheap systems need upgrades to improve them.

I have never said that I think anybody should buy 'fancy wooden blocks'.

Audio is about the enjoyment of music and the equipment. I have no particular problem with letting others believe in their tweaks, but to pick up on an important point by Bigshot, the real potential for damage here is when newbies expect night and day differences in their $500 system by buying $500 cables or wooden blocks.

My position on this issue is clear enough from my post without engaging in a slanging match with anybody.