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The Dynaco Tube Audio Forum

Dedicated to the restoration and preservation of all original Dynaco tube audio equipment - Customer support for Tubes4hifi VTA tube amp and preamp kits and all Dynakitparts.com products


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    "Audio voodoo"- $400 ultra tweeters and a $485 wooden volume knob

    Bob Latino
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    "Audio voodoo"- $400 ultra tweeters and a $485 wooden volume knob Empty "Audio voodoo"- $400 ultra tweeters and a $485 wooden volume knob

    Post by Bob Latino Sun Sep 27, 2009 11:28 am

    There are many "audio voodoo" products out there. It is hard for me to believe that anyone would even have the "balls" to offer such a product and even harder to believe that anyone would actually BUY such a product.

    1. The $400 "ultra tweeters" operate and produce "energy" in the GIGAHERTZ (1,000,000,000 Hz) range to enhance your audio listening experience. Read about it at the link below ...

    Ultra Tweeters

    2. How about $485 for a volume control knob made of beech wood and coated with "C37 lacquer" to dampen vibrations on your volume control? Check this one out at the link below ...

    Silver Rock Signature Knob

    If you know of any other audio rip-offs post them in this thread ...

    Bob


    Last edited by Bob Latino on Sat Jun 19, 2010 12:36 pm; edited 2 times in total
    Tube Nube
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    Post by Tube Nube Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:04 pm

    You're gonna love these:

    http://www.oregondv.com/High_End_Speaker_Cable_Accessories.htm

    I read somewhere that these were originally produced for power lines, and are threaded on the bottom to screw onto power poles.
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    GP49


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    Post by GP49 Tue Sep 29, 2009 11:44 am

    There was the guy who sold amber beads, claiming that placing them on or around audio equipment improved sound quality by a huge margin.

    One commentator wrote about it thusly:

    "I checked it out and I would suggest that it's particularly effective if you use it as a suppository. While this may be a touch awkward or embarrassing, especially if friends are present, I think you'll find that the improvements in soundstage depth, intertransient silences, and transparency make it all worthwhile. (An added benefit is an overall improvement in regularity, not an inconsiderable benefit at our age)."

    The amber-tweaker's webpage has since vanished.

    And then, there's "Rainbow Foil."

    http://www.belt.demon.co.uk/product/ref/ref.html

    And how about those gadgets, priced at $1500 to $2500, that demagnetize your LPs and CDs, resulting in a vastly improved sound quality that BLOWS AWAY the sound from the same discs, untreated. Michael Fremer in Stereophile magazine is particularly enamored with these. Yes, they cost a lot but he says they work, so we should therefore "GET OVER" the expense.

    Yeh...
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    GP49


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    Post by GP49 Fri Oct 02, 2009 12:00 pm

    And then there is the "Intelligent Chip".

    "The New Intelligent Chip is a small plastic, adhesive-backed rectangle that is attached to surface of the lower portion of the CD tray. This allows the chip to be inserted inside the player along with the CD to be treated. The CD is allowed to play for 1-2 seconds. The CD will then be permanently upgraded; the CD will sound more open, detailed, dynamic. The chip can be left in place and more CD treated or the chip can be stored in its protective wrapper. The New Intelligent Chip treats 20 CDs, DVDs or SACDs and is available only from Machina Dynamica. Price $50 + Shipping, $1 First Class Mail or $5 Priority Mail."

    The "How It Works" page of the seller's website:

    http://www.machinadynamica.com/machina64.htm

    Have fun in Fantasyland as you read about entangled photons and coherent quantum superposition!

    At least it's cheap, only fifty bucks, but I'd rather spend that money on more discs (both black and silver ones).
    Bob Latino
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    Post by Bob Latino Sat Oct 03, 2009 8:13 am

    GP49,

    The explanation of how the "Intelligent Chip" works is probably the LONGEST "mumbo-jumbo" explanation of how this "audio device" works. There is an old saying > "If you can't dazzle them with brilliance then baffle them with bull$hit" - This is a perfect example ...

    http://www.machinadynamica.com/machina64.htm

    Bob
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    Bugs


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    Post by Bugs Thu Oct 08, 2009 3:43 pm

    Here is a nice site that compares voodoo speaker wire to regular speaker wire.


    http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm#introduction
    JunkyJan
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    "Audio voodoo"- $400 ultra tweeters and a $485 wooden volume knob Empty Interconnect Cable Magic

    Post by JunkyJan Fri Oct 09, 2009 6:59 pm

    I have a friend whose interconnect cables (CD transport -> DAC unit and also DAC unit -> amplifier) costs almost as much as three complete ST-70 kits. I'll keep the brand name of said cables and purveyor thereof to myself lest the subject of lawsuits come up in the conversation. Suffice to say, my SECRET opinion of "listening" to these would be that he could have spent his money far more wisely - for the life of me I cannot hear a difference between those and a set of el cheapo ($60!!!) Monster cable products...

    Also, the Transport -> DAC cable is optical cable that obviously transports a DIGITALLY-ENCODED signal. 'Nuff said...

    -- 'Jan
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    Post by bizi Tue Oct 13, 2009 8:21 pm

    Here's one of my personal favourites, one which I took a lot of flack over when I posted my diatribe on the company's web-site. Check this out here; http://www.haglabs.com/frybaby.html
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    Post by Guest Tue Oct 13, 2009 9:00 pm

    I changed my account from bizi to this one since I have moved. I couldn't seem to use my old user name-bizi. Anyhow, I am concerned with snake oil, hyperbole, and outright deceit in this hobby. I'm going to see if I can come up with some other humdingers.


    Twisted Evil
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    Post by JunkyJan Thu Oct 15, 2009 7:04 pm

    Captain Coconut wrote:...I'm going to see if I can come up with some other humdingers.
    Twisted Evil
    Now here's a thought for you: How about making the FryBaby work with a full array of triodes ;-) ? Surely the sound will have even MORE "fuller tones", FURTHER "refined treble" and not to mention "instruments with a MASSIVE body" (veritably turning a violin into a cello?) etc etc.

    Seriously, though - I am surprised that Hagerman would market this gadget. I have built one of their op-amp based phono pre-amp kits (the Bugle) and it works astoundingly good - better than many VERY expensive phono pre-amps I have heard - and I have a healthy respect for the company, so this gadget is a bit of a shocker to me.

    - Junky
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    Post by Guest Fri Oct 16, 2009 9:33 am

    Here's another dubious product. Absolute Sound (man, are they still around!) says this thing has extraordinary effects on the sound of your system. Extraordinary? At that price? Maybe subtle if anything. Check it out : http://www.musicdirect.com/product/73160
    4MarkNY
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    Post by 4MarkNY Sun Oct 18, 2009 1:04 pm

    those $ 485.00 knobs are meant to be ordered with the $6900.00 Silver Rock pot....
    ....It's just God's way of letting someone know that they have way too much money...

    http://www.referenceaudiomods.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?store_code=RAM&screen=PROD&product_code=SLVR_RCK_SGNTR
    Tube Nube
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    Post by Tube Nube Wed Oct 21, 2009 3:10 pm

    bizi wrote:Here's one of my personal favourites, one which I took a lot of flack over when I posted my diatribe on the company's web-site. Check this out here; http://www.haglabs.com/frybaby.html

    I was googling about DIY line conditioners -- a topic about which I'm skeptical, though thought I might try and build one if was cheap to do so...

    I came across a Haglund design, but when I saw the Fry Baby on his site...

    Well, I was disappointed.

    Welp, think I'll go polish my connectors with some Venom-tronics extract of snake skin. Gives more bite to the highs, and the lows? Well, you can rest assured you're getting the lowest of the lows!

    Brenton
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    Post by Tube Nube Wed Oct 21, 2009 3:18 pm

    I've got an idea -- since the premise of the fry baby is that running electricity through the wire somehow changes it...breaks it in -- if we take this to it's logical extreme, then eventually speaker wires and interconnects will wear out from use.

    Because these cables are expensive, what the speaker wire industry really needs now is an alternative to new cables. Yes, you guessed it, ladies and gentlement, a "reverse FryBaby", to restore cables to new. Or, better yet, just-about-new (ie, freshly broken in) standing.
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    Post by Bill Edler Thu Oct 22, 2009 8:34 pm

    I actually saw a devise like that several years ago and I believe it was tested
    in Stereophile. It was a CD that you played for several days in your system. It
    was supposed to make your system sound like new again by removing all the
    electronic "spider webbs" that build up over time. According to the reviewer it played
    odd harmonic intervals and screeching notes that made it uncomfortable to stay in the room
    The reviewer stated that it worked so well that he thought he had to break in his system
    again because now it sounded a bit too new.
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    Post by Tube Nube Fri Oct 23, 2009 12:04 am

    Sounds like it follows the same principle as the man who would bang his head on a brick wall.

    When asked why he did do, his reply was "It feels oh so good when I stop."

    : /
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    Post by Guest Fri Oct 23, 2009 8:34 pm

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    Post by GP49 Sat Oct 24, 2009 2:31 am

    Captain Coconut wrote:Here's another good one: http://russandrews.com/product-Cable-elevators-4227.htm

    The seller doesn't explain whether one should pull the wires tight and straight, or let them sag in between the cable elevators in a smooth catenary curve. Inquiring minds want to know whether using one method BLOWS AWAY the other one. :-)
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    Post by Bob Latino Fri Nov 06, 2009 11:19 am

    Here's a company called Machina Dynamica. It has an entire array of tweaks to "improve" your stereo system. The funniest one I found on their site is the "Teleportation Tweak". The Teleportation Tweak is probably the most off the wall tweak I have ever heard of. You call them on the phone (and they charge you $60) and they send a signal over the phone to your home for about 20 seconds to make your stereo system "(1) Clearer, (2) More information, (3) Greater frequency extension and (4) Lower distortion." It will even improve the video on your TV for " better contrast, color saturation, color fidelity and definition"

    Check out this company's "products" and their "white papers" on some of the tweaks ...

    http://www.machinadynamica.com/index.html

    Bob
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    Post by bizi Fri Nov 06, 2009 3:36 pm

    After briefly scanning the products from this company Machina Dynamica, I'm almost embarrassed to be part of this hobby. God, I hope nobody is foolish enough to buy this stuff.
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    Post by Guest Fri Nov 13, 2009 10:14 pm

    Here's a good one: http://www.alanmaherdesigns.com/QIEC.aspx

    And, you only have to wait four weeks for break in! I wonder what's happening then that isn't happening after three weeks and six days.

    When some company suggests break in periods like this, run away as fast as you can.
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    Post by bizi Thu Dec 10, 2009 8:49 pm

    I saw this product mentioned on another site and felt it needed to be included here. Check it out http://alanmaherdesigns.com/InfinityCBF.aspx

    The "exclusive liquid treatments" is wonderful!
    JunkyJan
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    Post by JunkyJan Sat Dec 12, 2009 11:38 pm

    bizi wrote:I saw this product mentioned on another site and felt it needed to be included here. Check it out http://alanmaherdesigns.com/InfinityCBF.aspx

    The "exclusive liquid treatments" is wonderful!

    Someone else mentioned that he is becoming embarrassed about being part of this hobby... I am beginning to feel the same way too (I tell people "No, I just REALLY like music").

    What is wrong with these fly-by-night companies (usually not much more than a telephone, a fax machine and a flashy website, plus a few boxes of junk / few reels of common wire) - do they think that we're all idiots? ("Audiophile: Synonym for IDIOT, MORON, GULLIBLE FOOL")

    There is another company selling astoundingly expensive kits (and they're mentioned somewhere on this website in another thread), and I know that those control knobs & buttons used in said kits are available at your local Radio Shack. Not that a fancy turned aluminum knob would have made any difference (or a turned wood one from a broomstick), but still - $0.45c components on $1000 kit? El Cheapo components through-out, so as to maximise the profit?

    And apparently we lap it all up? Sheesh!
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    Post by GP49 Sun Dec 13, 2009 3:44 pm

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    Post by Captain Fri Jan 08, 2010 10:09 pm

    Here's another great product

    Sponsored content


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