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You have to understand that Randi has been doing this for years, and sometimes it took him years to negotiate test protocols just to find out that the person making the claim declined or just vanished from earth in the end.
He wasn't wrong in assuming that Fremer wouldn't use his own money to buy either of those cables.
And you know this how, exactly? First, where did Fremer say he wouldn't buy them? Second, who said he would have had to buy them? He's a top reviewer for a top high-end audio publication.
What are you saying? That Randi is...
psychic?
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Again, the challenge had two clearly specified cable options, Fremer's "reference" cable wasn't one of them. According to Randi Framer had already agreed to the challenge (
source).
Please note that Randi conveniently leaves out the fact at the time of his posting the "BLAKE WITHDRAWS" piece, that he and Fremer were negotiating the use of Fremer's cables pending the approval of his advisors.
Randi opens by saying "It appears that Michael Fremer took exception to our just-posted
assumption that the Fremer/Blake acceptance of the JREF challenge was
now moot, since Blake had
refused to put a set of Pear cables into the mix, as had previously been agreed."
Why would there be an assumption that the challenge was now moot when there were two other possible cable alternatives?
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As for Randi checking with his advisors:
And that's just Randi trying to cover his ass after the fact.
What's it matter that he wasn't able to bring it to the attention of his advisors that Friday because he had to to to the hospital or over the weekend because it was the weekend? There was no rigid time limit as to when he had to bring it to the attention of his advisors. You say yourself that he's sometimes taken years to negotiate protocols, etc. Why couldn't he have brought it to the attention of his advisors the following week?
This is ultimately the most damning evidence against Randi. Because he had not consulted with his advisors at the time of writing the BLAKE WITHDRAWS piece, there were, as I have been saying, two other cables on the table at the time. The use of Fremer's cables had not been ruled out.
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Again, you may be right, but where are you getting this from ("there was never an agreement")?
I'm getting it from the fact that at the time, Fremer and Randi were
negotiating. Can't very well have an agreement if you're still negotiating now can you?
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Fremer: "I AM USING MY REFERENCE CABLE IN THIS TEST BECAUSE PEAR/BLAKE BACKED OUT." is not changing the parameters of the clearly defined challenge with Pear/Transparent cables?
Please read what I wrote. I said Fremer did not change the parameters of the challenge that he had already agreed to.
Randi put forth the challenge. But before Fremer would agree to it, he wanted some clarification first. So to that end, he sent Randi this via EMail:
1) Please identify which of these constitutes a "good" set of Monster Cables so I understand which you intend to use as a baseline for the comparison:
http://www.monstercable.com/home_av/...d_surround.asp
Since I have not heard either the Pear Anjou or the Transparent Opus, and since I don't necessarily think that "expensive equals better," there are three options:
1) I request a set of Pear Anjou cables to hear what they sound like and then decide whether i can hear the difference between them and whichever set of Monster cables you identify as "good."
2) request a pair of Transparent Orpheus cables to hear what they sound like and then decide whether i can hear the difference between them and whichever set of Monster cables you identify as "good."
3) have you sign off on okaying me to use my reference TARA Labs Omega cables ($16,000 pr.) versus whichever set of Monster cables you identify as "good."
Once this is clarified we will take it the next step and I will state clearly what abilities I intend to demonstrate.
Please note that in his second option, he states that he would request a pair of cables from Transparent (again, he's a top reviewer with Stereophile).
This is Randi's reply:
I think I?d go with option 3, for simplicity, but I?ll have to consult with my advisors, first?
And perhaps the Z2R ML 10/10 ? if a 10? cable is okay with you.
All subject to advisors?
And THAT is where things stood before Randi disingenuously pulled the rug out from under Fremer with the BLAKE WITHDRAWS piece.
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Again picking from that first news article found on JREFs website.
Yes, I am.
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Randi's used to the guys making claims eventually withdrawing even though they could win 1 million dollars ... and he was right.
No, he wasn't, as Fremer never withdrew. Instead, Randi disingenuously pulled the rug out from under him as they were still in negotiations as to the conditions of the test. A fact that Randi conveniently leaves out of his side of the story.
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Fremer's "reference" cable was just a suggestion but never part of the challenge.
But could have been part of the challenge. In fact, it was Randi who said his preference was for that option pending approval of his advisors. Again, at the time of the BLAKE WITHDRAWS peice, Fremer and Randi were negotiating.
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Fremer wanted to do the test with Pear cables.
It wasn't Fremer who brought the Pear cables into the challenge. He'd never even heard them before. It was Randi who did that. And Fremer wouldn't even agree to accepting the challenge using the Pears until he'd had a chance to try them and see if he could hear a difference between them and the unspecified Monster cables.
By the way, it's worth noting that this began with Fremer looking at taking up the "official" JREF $1 million paranormal challenge. However Fremer had a problem with the "paranormal" part of the challenge because he wasn't claiming any sort of supernatural or paranormal abilities. So instead of the official challenge, it became a "special" challenge that Randi would handle himself. So throughout the whole ordeal, the conditions were being negotiated. Nothing had been carved in stone and Fremer had not agreed to any specifics at the time Randi tried smearing Fremer with his BLAKE WITHDRAWS hit piece.
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