[TheGhostWhoWalks]

Got into an argument with a guy about my audiophile hobby and he sent me this (It's in PDF, you have to download it and use Adobe Acrobat to view it):

http://www.theaudiocritic.com/downloads/article_1.pdf

Can anyone flat out disprove any of this? I'm not so much up on the technical aspects in audiophilia. I've done blind tests and passed them with flying colors, and I use my own two ears as guides and I can tell when cable A sounds better than cable B. If it didn't I wouldn't be blowing this much money on this stuff and I would still be listening to my old all-in-one DVD/CD player (which I still have to watch movies actually).

 

[coolbluewater]

That article was hilarious!

 

[cotdt]

yeah i've read it too. it's pretty much BS, but it depends a lot on the type of amplifier and such.

basically this camp of thought is like this:
if you can't explain it, then it's false and anything you observe is just "placebo"

 

[USER NAME:]

I find it ammusing that he states that a tube amplifier does not possess "a tube sound" but is simply a coloration added by the manufacturer to fool the audiophile with his corrupted tastes. He doesn't note the differences between even and odd order harmonics, but mentions the higher distortion levels of a well designed tube amp vs it's equally well designed SS equivalent (as if there was one). I mean come on now! How can he get away with this?

 

[fewtch]

Why do people pick on the audio hobby, anyway?

"What's with it with those stamp collectors? Books and books of stamps they can't even use to mail stuff! $5,000 for a stamp with an upside down picture, when they could have bought one for 37 cents with the picture rightside up! What's the use? It's a lie!"

"Those automotive buffs... wasting mucho $$ on powerful engines when they all know the speed limit is only 55!"

"Dumb watch collectors... they spend big bucks on an analog watch that tells even worse time than a $5.00 Casio!"

"The big lie of pen collecting is that a $500 fountain pen is better than a $5.00 drugstore pen... don't let them fool you, your handwriting is identical no matter which pen you use!"

Hmmm...

 

[Old Pa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fewtch Why do people pick on the audio hobby, anyway?

They can't stand to see a bunch of guys with our marvelous personalities ("smarter-than-thou"?) having fun with our considerable audio investments.

Audio excellence, like lying, has its relative and subjective aspects. For some people, as in the old true/false test, anything that is not completely true must be false. This "lie theory" remains a completely ineffective way to search for a "holy grail" in audio (however useful it is in partisan politics

). However, "lie theory" as a valid criticism does gain a measure of credibility in audio from those who apishly follow and repeat others dogma, and therein lies a root of truth in Mr. Aczel's treatise.

I actually thought the article was a thought provoking if not valuable little read. Mr. Aczel is one of us and not some "flat earth society" member. He takes care to state each of his "lies" in absolute form so that he is never really dealing in any grey areas. He makes good use of the fact that most audiophiles have no systematic knowledge of the science and technology of their hobbies. Is it surprising to anyone that the majority of us are in some measure at the mercy of marketers because of our relative ignorance? In its highest form and function, Head-Fi is all about resolving some aspects of this ignorance.

And then we get to the nub of the issue: double blind testing. DBT is fiendishly difficult to set up and apply objectively and effectively in an audio setting, but is is the application of the scientific method to the question of whether some factor makes for a different "sound". In truth, all committed audiophiles regularly attempt DBT to the level permitted by our resources and egos.

Love it or hate is (or simply misuse it), DBT has the power of simplying some audio choices. And maybe adding a needed dose of humility.

Other than that, and falling victim to some of the opinion and hyperbole he cautions others against, Mr. Aczel makes an interesting, albeit superficial, discussion on the way to his requisite word count. It's not "all true" and it's not "all false" and the range of reasoning quality is stunning (if not, occasionally, hysterical). In the end, Mr. Aczel is just largely dismissive on anyone other than Mr. Aczel. Take it for what it's worth.

 

[mysticaldodo]

I think this has been posted before and slammed down too by various members

History repeating

 

[elmoe]

If any of it was true we wouldnt be able to hear any change in sound when switching tubes on the same amp.

 

[no1likesme]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fewtch "The big lie of pen collecting is that a $500 fountain pen is better than a $5.00 drugstore pen... don't let them fool you, your handwriting is identical no matter which pen you use!"

actually in my experience a good fountain pen ALWAYS improoves my handwriting, because there is slighltly more resistance than with a ballpoint

 

[familyman]

guess i should stop saving up for those $250,000 speakers...

(now my place will never look like it's from mars...

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

I question his outcomes on #'s 2, 3, and 6. But the rest of his editorial appears pretty solid to me. As for number 10: I honestly believe that professional music & equipment reviews should have a year hearing test performed by a qualified audiologist and have the results posted in the front of their magazine.

Of course if you ever catch me buying a $500 cable I had better have a crack-pipe between my lips

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

Quote:

Originally Posted by familyman (now my place will never look like it's from mars...

You want everything in your house covered in orange sand?

 

[Quado]

Pinocchio picture was the only thing worth noting--if you ask me (only thing imaginative and not CORRUPT, regardless of how true or false everything was). ...it's stuff like this, that causes natural disasters, war, terrorism/etc...

 

[clarke68]

This has been posted before, here and on other audio forums, but it is thought provoking and always sparks a good debate.

In principle, I agree with Aczel on a several issues. However, his curmudgeonly writing style, while humorous at times, does tend to put people off. You think this article is contentious, check out this one!

Anyway, this article tackles the same issues, but is written by an actual audio engineer (Rod Elliot) with much less of an axe to grind, and contains a good deal more detail.

 

[rsaavedra]

In #8:
Quote:

Your audio circuits don’t know, and don’t care, what’s on the ac side of the power transformer. All they’re interested in is the dc voltages they need. Think about it. Does your car care about the hose you filled the tank with?

I think he has a point, but the analogy he chose is really inappropriate. The car's engine performance doesn't depend at all on the timing and regularity of the flow (of gasoline) when it enters the car's tank. However, the quality of the DC coming out of the power transformer in general does care about the timing and regularity and shape of the sinusoidal AC power flowing through the AC side of the power transformer.

Yet, why do I think he has a point? See this post. The filtering/regulator side of the power transformer should have orders of magnitude more impact on the produced DC than any power cord replacement. Note that doesn't mean replacing a power cord doesn't have a perceivable effect. What I am arguing is that the power cord is just way too far from being the part (between the AC in and the DC out of the power supply) whose replacement would produce the maximum perceivable effect.