I agree, it's good to keep this about the DAVE, and I appreciate your sense of humor. At the same time, it can be helpful to talk about things that can improve one's experience with the DAVE and even discussions about products that have been tried that result in no improvement at all can be helpful.
Where it was once believed the DAVE was completely immune to the source, I think it has been revelatory to find that some sources like the mR, for example, can really make the DAVE shine all the brighter and these discussions, I believe, have benefited many in terms of further optimizing their system and elevating their musical enjoyment. In my view, there are more helpful and insightful "off topic" comments made on this thread then there are helpful or insightful "on topic" comments made in any magazine review of the DAVE that I have come across.
As for certain power products, many including yourself, have suggested that certain mains cables that have been tried including those from IsoTek, Shunyata, Audience, Nordost, etc., have made no significant improvement when it comes to the DAVE. That has indeed been my experience also with most of these brands and so I think that some of these "off topic" discussions have been of value for many to know they shouldn't spend a lot of money on these things. HFC cables, however, seem to be the exception and this may be due to the unique technology that they employ. Of course, it is difficult sometimes to take the word of one person when they say they hear an improvement with a certain product or technology in their system, especially if that technology is so unconventional, and so I think people do take notice when others with a DAVE step up and share similar experiences. Where there's enough smoke being generated, there might really be a fire. Based on the responses to shuttlepod's recent review, I believe people are genuinely interested in the things he had to say (partly because he writes so well) and speaking for myself, these are the posts I enjoy reading the most, even if it was a bit off topic. Regarding other off topic conversations of value, not too long ago, you brought up a topic that had nothing to do with the DAVE about how good your hearing was relative to the hearing of some of your older colleagues. Personally, I found it to be a very interesting topic and I was preparing to respond to it until it got mysteriously pulled. The reason I found it interesting is that while it doesn't take a special ear to appreciate the general qualities of the DAVE, I do believe it can take a special ear (especially an experienced and trained ear) to appreciate just how really good the DAVE is compared to other DACs.
On so many other threads on Head-Fi and elsewhere, people talk about how good this or that is with their DAC. I have found, however, that I can't apply almost 90% of what others say to my own system for a few reasons. One, I don't know how good an ear most people have and what their preferences and sensibilities are. Two, because the DAVE is so uniquely engineered in so many ways, many things that make great differences with other DACs seem to hardly make any difference with the DAVE and vice versa. On this thread, however, the DAVE is the one thing that many of us share in common and so I pay a bit more attention to comments made by a DAVE owner for the exact same reasons. First, those who would buy a DAVE above and beyond another DAC, logic would suggest, have an experienced and trained enough ear to appreciate its finer qualities. We are, after all, talking about a $13,300 DAC and it would be highly unlikely that the DAVE would be anyone's first DAC. Second, those who own a DAVE generally have a "real world" working knowledge (and not just some theoretical understanding) of what makes the DAVE tick, what works and what doesn't work and so it becomes easier to relate to other DAVE owners comments, even if they are off topic.
In closing, regarding HFC products, I agree their discussion is probably better suited to a dedicated thread of its own and there is indeed a very good dedicated thread on Audiogon for those interested. Once HFC comes out officially with their headphone device, I will be happy to start an HFC thread here on Head-Fi. Until then, I won't speak of it again unless asked to directly comment although I will clarify one statement you have made because it may be misconstrued by some. Since my Chord dealer is also a Nordost dealer, I have tried most of Nordost's product line including the $10,000 Odin mains cable (which didn't make much of a difference) but also the Qk1 AC enhancer that you seem to think is equivalent to the HFC MC-0.5 Wave Guide. Here is that device:
I can assure you that this device doesn't come close to what an MC-0.5 does. The technology behind the two products is completely different and it would be misleading to suggest that if you've heard one, you've heard the other.
