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Testing audiophile claims and myths
May 9, 2015 at 11:05 AM Post #5,492 of 17,589
stand said:
  The secret ingredient is White Bat Guano. One has to put something in there besides a picture of Ace Ventura on the label.
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cel4145 said:
Or how about your turntable mechanical parts have to be lubricated with a specific audiophile grade oil? There are already plenty of people being taken by claims regarding expensive lubricants with tools and firearms. I think we should buy some generic lubricant, repackage it in a pretty bottle with the name "audio grade" and on it, mark up the price at least 500%, and tons of fools would buy it. The guy that run's multitool.org did that just for fun for multitool enthusiasts : Uncle Def's Premium Tool Oil: http://forum.multitool.org/index.php?topic=51383.0.

Here is the best part in his description of the product
Be easy enough to convince audiophools that a different labeled bottle was a better grade just because it's a different labeled bottle and the manufacturer says so
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Unfortunately, there is LOTS of "fishing in murky waters" regarding oil for lubrication of turntables. As described above.
 
There is at least one oil that is, regardless being expensive like hell, high tech ( nano balls ) and legit : http://www.vandenhul.com/products/accessories/the-lower-friction-tlf-special-oil-type-i-and-ii
 
Holy horrors - it is even recommended to improve/prolong the life of bearings of CD players 
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 !
 
The best turntables no longer use bearings requiring lubrication - one way or another 
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...
 
May 9, 2015 at 11:37 AM Post #5,495 of 17,589
analogsurviver said:
  I have a nasty feeling turntables will keep on spinning into the time the NEXT generation will no longer recognize what CD is and what to do with it ...
 
I remember a girl then 6, after seeing a vinyl LP for the first time, saying :
 
What a BIG - CD ....
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and yet ironically she probably had better hearing than most of the middle aged audiophiles here.
 
May 9, 2015 at 11:58 AM Post #5,496 of 17,589
stv014 said:
And for recording, the microphone should ideally have low noise as well, which is not as important for the originally intended application of frequency response measurements. A small capsule generally has a more extended frequency response, but worse SNR.
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Yeah, but linearity is the most important factor for examining his hypothesis.

se
 
May 9, 2015 at 12:00 PM Post #5,497 of 17,589
May 9, 2015 at 12:03 PM Post #5,499 of 17,589
analogsurviver said:
Unfortunately, there is LOTS of "fishing in murky waters" regarding oil for lubrication of turntables. As described above.

There is at least one oil that is, regardless being expensive like hell, high tech ( nano balls ) and legit : http://www.vandenhul.com/products/accessories/the-lower-friction-tlf-special-oil-type-i-and-ii

Holy horrors - it is even recommended to improve/prolong the life of bearings of CD players :eek:  !

The best turntables no longer use bearings requiring lubrication - one way or another :wink: ...
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Yes. But you need to be concerned about any friction between the tone arm and the mechanical parts that allow it to pivot relative to the rest of the turntable. Audio grade lubrication can reduce friction and create better soundstage and imaging, right? :wink:
 
May 9, 2015 at 12:06 PM Post #5,500 of 17,589
toom said:
   
and yet ironically she probably had better hearing than most of the middle aged audiophiles here.
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Definitely. It is natural. 
 
But hearing capability does not equate listening capability - try to get 6 years old to listen to some serious classical stuff with great dynamic range for more than a couple of seconds...
 
Yet despite inevitable hearing loss that begins from day one and reaches quite significant reduction of objectively measured acuity, even downright old, not just middle aged people, can select a good violin, cymbals, etc - regardless of the fact that a significant portion of the response of the violin or cymbals is no longer audible to them as sine waves.
 
I have even read about the "procedure" how to prepare oneself for the critical listening - published decades ago in one of the US underground audio press. It started with reference to our childhood - when everything was play and everything was interesting - and everything was PLEASURE. Children are by definition " professional hedonists" - seeking only pleasurable things in life - something we no longer can afford in later adult life. It went about how to awake this long-forgotten "professional hedonist" within ourselves, pointing on paying attention to your surrounding, your inhaling and exhaling, concentrating on easily hearing the blood circulating in your ears - and so forth. It takes at least 15 minutes before one can prepare him or herself into this avid "professional hedonist" condition - again, for the first time, after MANY years. It felt like being born again - and it allowed to MUCH easier discerning of any differences in sound.
 
Children can do it in an instant - adults are finding getting to this level of attentiveness ever harder with increasing age.
 
Of all the articles I read about the audio, this one is perhaps the most significant. Thank you for reminding me of it by commenting on the young girl's hearing - I have not been practicing it in a decade, by now maybe two. Time to start anew.
 
May 9, 2015 at 12:08 PM Post #5,501 of 17,589
analogsurviver said:
I have a nasty feeling turntables will keep on spinning into the time the NEXT generation will no longer recognize what CD is and what to do with it ...

I remember a girl then 6, after seeing a vinyl LP for the first time, saying :

What a BIG - CD ....:confused:
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That's what people would say when they saw my laserdiscs. :D



se
 
May 9, 2015 at 12:24 PM Post #5,502 of 17,589
cel4145 said:
Yes. But you need to be concerned about any friction between the tone arm and the mechanical parts that allow it to pivot relative to the rest of the turntable. Audio grade lubrication can reduce friction and create better soundstage and imaging, right?
wink.gif
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Not necessary required. There are air bearing turntables and arms - as are those using liquid for bearings of both table and arm.
 
But, yes, (sigh...) - I will have to reinstate Piggybank For That VdH Oil - because what you have described are precisely the results heard with better bearings in analog turntables. There is one design of tonearm bearing that literally CRIES for as low viscosity oil with as low friction as possible - and bearing in mind other positive properties of that deceptively chintzy looking arm, that oil might well prove to be the biggest bargain of them all. Despite being silly - two-three bottles of this oil equals the price of that turntable on the used market ...
 
And - make no mistake - that can also be demonstrated by measurements. As it affects the most coveted performance of any turntable, that is trackability - which is easily measurable - and audible. 
 
May 9, 2015 at 2:12 PM Post #5,503 of 17,589
Out of the mouths of babes. That little girl is smarter than most audiophiles. What is that useless disc? And that weird thing with the arm. I think I'll sit on a CD Mat.
 
May 9, 2015 at 2:14 PM Post #5,504 of 17,589
I have hundreds and hundreds of laserdiscs. I'm trying to think of a craft project to make out of them.
 
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