James Randi Posts $1M Award On Speaker Cables

elrond amandil writes "James Randi offered US$ 1 million to anyone who can prove that a pair of $7,250 Pear Anjou speaker cables is any better than ordinary (and also overpriced) Monster Cables. Pointing out the absurd review by audiophile Dave Clark, who called the cables 'danceable,' Randi called it 'hilarious and preposterous.' He added that if the cables could do what their makers claimed, 'they would be paranormal.'"

Psychology

[Big Nothing]

As a long-time (+20 years) audiophile, I can tell you right now that many of the tweaks and products in the business has nothing to do with technology and everything to do with psychology. But that's ok. If Speaker Cable A sounds better than Speaker Cable B to me, why souldn't I buy it? It makes me think I've bought the better product.

Ofcourse - the whole industry is based on me thinking that there's some better product out there that I still haven't bought... Just around the corner is Eternal Bliss ®

He's also challenging the Broodwich

[Anonymous Coward]

He claims that it is not the best sandwich ever made despite the fact it was "Forged in darkness from wheat harvested in Hell's half-acre, baked by Beelzebub, slathered with mayonnaise beaten from the evil eggs of dark chicken forced into sauce by the hands of a one-eyed madman, cheese boiled from the rancid teat of a fanged cow, layered with six-hundred and sixty-six separate meats from an animal which has maggots for blood. And mustard...DIJON mustard!" Apparently, he takes issue with the lack of bacon.

Martians!

[PlatyPaul]

Blasphemy! The Martians [penny-arcade.com] are gonna eat your signal!

Re:From what I understand...

[saigon_from_europe]

Any perceived difference is in the listeners head.

If someone gives $7000 just for cables, there is certainly some difference in his head comparing to the head of someone who is not crazy and/or mentally challenged.

In other news

[Anonymous Coward]

In other news, Pear Cable has been named the sole supplier of audio cables to the Department of Defense.

Don't forget the cable towers

[QuietLagoon]

You know, you do not want your speaker cables to be resting on the floor. That results in distortion of the sound. Make sure you are using cable towers [cabletower.com] to hold the $900 per foot cables off the floor.

Re:From what I understand...

[jollyreaper]

All you need is an appropriate length of oxygen free copper cable/wire with sufficient shielding and appropriate gauge. All but the lowest of low end OEM cables meet these needs. Beyond this, there is zero difference in cables other than packaging and branding. Any perceived difference is in the listeners head.

Ah, but therein lies the rub. Does the listener possess a standard head or one with vacuum tubes? Because tubes sound better.

Re:All the things true Audiophile needs....

[purpledinoz]

I have ultra-high quality CAT5-e RJ45 cables for sale as well. For only $100 per meter, you can achieve up to 1 GIGABIT PER SECOND!!!!! That's 1 billion bits in 1 second! You can stream MP3s through these cables with unprecedented quality. Your streaming digital audio and video will be crisper than ever before. Not only are these cables made out of expensive COPPER, they are shielded by the high tech plastics.

Re:Who?

[PlatyPaul]

Well, I am a scientist [rochester.edu] (Comp. Sci.), and I don't recall ever hearing of James Randi before. But, then again, I haven't yet seen anyone manage anything approach "paranormal" involving a computer, unless we're counting Windows ME as "supernaturally bad".

Re:I dare them to go further.

[MemoryDragon]

The best example so far I have seen was a demagnetization device for CDs!, yes CDs you read correctly. The even sader part was, that some audiophile magazines wrote positive reviews on that device saying that it was improving the sound quality!

Re:From what I understand...

[Anonymous Coward]

actually, some of the more high-end cables use copper wire that's spec'd higher than others.. if you want to cut to the chase of the important bits: the ideal is copper that has been treated in such a way to produce a more uniform molecular structure. the point of this is so that the outer valence of electrons is as close to the next atom as possible, while retaining a uniform lattice of electrons so that the energy transfer is slightly more efficient.

the cost of this should be around 15% greater than that of bargain bin wire. the only other real factor is shielding, but it is not necessary to have some crazy triple braided pair with 30 wraps of shielding and all that.

if you really want to improve your audiophile-quality stereo system, use a power conditioner.. cleaning up the noise from 60 cycle hum will do far more than any hokey cables ever will.

PRAT

[tsa]

I never had cables with PRAT. I guess that's why I don't listen to music as much as I used to. Without PRAT, the joy of listening deminishes with time. I will go to the shop tonight and ask for cables with PRAT! PRAT is where it's at!
But I have one question for Dave Clark. I was told by my audiophilic colleagues in the late 1990's that as a true audiophile it is important to:

1. Check which way your amplifier is plugged in. Having the main power plug in the wrong way wreaks havoc on the sound,

2. Switch on your amplifier at least half an hour before even thinking about playing music, even if you have an amplifier that is devoid of any tubes whatsoever,

3. Put a second CD on top of the CD you want to play,

4. Keep your CD's in the freezer at all times.

This is all very very important for getting the best sound quality. Did you do all those things Dave? If not, I can't take your review seriously, sorry.

Re:I dare them to go further.

[Falstius]

I think most conversations about Yes and The Greatest Band Ever go like this: Some Quack: "Isn't Yes the greatest band ever?!?!?" Poor Dude: "Yes?" Some Quack: "Exactly! They're so great. Lets go smoke something" It really is an unfair name for a band. If you think this is off-topic, then you're taking a thread about someone saying someone else is cheating gullible idiots out of their money way to seriously.

Re:Who?

[Tim Browse]

Back off, man. I'm a scientist.

Re:All the things true Audiophile needs....

[TheMadcapZ]

Makes me think of some guy molesting a new stereo.

Re:All the things true Audiophile needs....

[binarybum]

I like using premium CAT5 cables for my internet data, I find they make porn a bit more 'fappable'.

Re:All the things true Audiophile needs....

[suv4x4]

Oh. My. God. One of the items in there is some sort of box for processing your disks [musicdirect.com]:

"New! Featuring four beams, nearly twice the rotation speed and improved timing processing, the Quadri-Beam is an ultra cool disc treatment. This patented process reduces the noise floor allowing far more information to be retrieved from the disc. It also works great on DVDs, giving you a picture that is brighter, sharper, crisper and cleaner. For those of you who have never experienced the sonic benefits of the Bedini Clarifier, it significantly reduces high frequency glare and increases retrieval of information, enhancing dynamic range. Detail and resolution are improved dramatically."

I won't comment. This is Slashdot, so I guess you have some entry level knowledge to know why this is the most ridiculous thing you've read in months.

Re:oxygen-free sharpie

[jollyreaper]

I find the audiophile phenomenon to be mighty amusing, even though I'm guilty of throwing away a few extra dollars for an "oxygen free" guitar cable or two. But holy crap, that's quite a price difference -- and for what?

My favorite is where they show you the difference in picture quality between the old style set and the cool new one -- in a commercial playing on your television. Now I know there's tiny, almost invisible text telling you the picture is simulated but I really don't want to know just how many people are taken in by this. "Marge, you can clearly see that the new TV has a better picture. Get your coat, we're heading out to get one."

fappable?

[Gary W. Longsine]

What does that mean?
What the hell does that mean?
on second thought...
I don't even want to know what the hell that means.

Sorry, for "Rediculous" this one has you beat

[Alzheimers]

Sorry, this one has you beat by about 25AU [machinadynamica.com]

To Quote:
The Teleportation Tweak is the phenomenal new product from Machina Dynamica. The Teleportation Tweak is an advanced communications technique discovered and developed by Machina Dynamica for upgrading audio systems remotely -- even over very long distances. The Teleportation Tweak has a profound effect on the sound and is performed during a phone call to Machina Dynamica; the phone call can be made via landline or cell phone from any room in the house. The tweak itself takes about 30 seconds.
...
The effects of the Teleportation Tweak are instantaneous and the improvement to sound quality will be audible immediately. The Teleportation Tweak excels in 3-dimensionality, lushness, inner detail and air. Bonus: The picture quality of any video system in the house will also be improved - better color and contrast! Customer should pay via Paypal or check/MO (payable to Geoff Kait) prior to calling Machina Dynamica via landline or cell phone. Machina Dynamica's Teleportation Tweak $60.

Transation: They will call you, for the bargain price of $60, and not only make your entire audio system sound better, but it will improve the picture quality on your televisions!

ALL THROUGH A SINGLE 30-SECOND PHONE CALL

Science just jumped out the window, and took Logic and Reason with her.

Re:All the things true Audiophile needs....

[cayenne8]

"Good, bad or otherwise, the outfit that sent this moron hardware to review should be embarrassed and issue a memo to never deal with him again."

Hmm...it seems the error in this article was that the reviewer forgot to FREEZE the cables, prior to listening. This of course helps the molecules to align correctly, for better electron movement, directionally speaking.

If this had been done and written into the review, of course, we'd not be having this /. discussion.

:-)

IT Paranormal

[phorm]

How about predicting the future? The magic 8-ball has been predicting "Outlook not so good" since inception. Obviously it foresaw many of the issues that came to be with that horrible pretender to an email client.

Re:fappable?

[Anonymous Coward]

If cats could speak it's the word they would use for autoerotic stimulation.

Of course your expensive cables didn't work

[Overzeetop]

You must not have broken them in. While many prefer to break in their cables for a week or two using the preferred content, I find that the best uniform results occur with a volume-modulated version of pink noise for 10 days. Once that's done (and it only needs to be done once) you can sub-condition for yuor content. For example, if I'm going to listen to classical, I'll run some recordings by the same composer and orchestra for a day or two first. Afterwards, I'll cleanse the path with at least 4 hours of pink noise before either changing composer or orchestra. I prefer 12 hours or more of pink noise if I'm going to switch to jazz or rock.

You see, by not properly conditioning your cables, you made a mockery of the entire double blind test. These are sensitive, precision pieces of equipment, and can't simply be handled the way zip cord can.

You'll have to excuse me now, it seems my tongue has seriously bruised my left cheek.

Thank God for the RIAA

[Anonymous Coward]

If it wasn't for the RIAA producing such crap, I may have succumbed to becoming an audiophile.

Nigerian Audiophile needs help

[Mjlner]

Dear Madam or Sir, I am contacting you in the strictest confidence, because I know you to be an honest and reliable person. I happen to have *SCIENTIFIC PROOF* that brand Pear Anjou speaker cables offer greater quality audio than ordinary speaker cable. This proof would win me US$1000 000, which I am prepared to share evenly with you. I only need a brand Pear Anjou speaker cable, but since my family's assets have been frozen by an evil, oppressive regime, I can't afford the cable or the necessary expenses. If you could can finance me with US$8000 I want to give you US$500 000. Thank you for your confidence! Cecil Rhodes, Nigerian Audiophile

Emperor, Clothes, New

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

'Nuff said.
Stan the Man

Re:A fool and his money

[mrjb]

Another had a custom listening room built as an annex to his house. ...the acoustics of which were instantly deformed as soon as he would actually *enter* the room to listen to some music in there. You can buy the greatest and latest cables, but if you're gonna be in the room where the audio is being played, you're going to distort it. So better not be present while the music is being reproduced. That way you'll know for sure that there will be as little audio distortion as possible.

Re:All the things true Audiophile needs....

[Rogerborg]

suddenly I have much less respect for the audiophiles I know.

I find the implications of that worrying. For what did you respect them before? Their sad devotion to their ancient religion?

Randi is seriously uncool

[Steeltoe]

It doesn't matter. Randi is notoriously known to hecle and intimidate his test-subjects, so there's no chance anybody is ever going to pass his tests. Basically, the whole thing is scientifically unsound: Randi is declaring all the rules, and may change them at will and will basically threaten you if you start doing well. He is far from objective about the whole test, and is acting as both executor, judge and bank.

No sensitive person is going to stand being around him. Randi is a piss-poor loser. Paranormal sensitive types or audiophiles, I don't think that's going to make a difference because of this. If you're in a bad environment, how are you supposed to be sensitive and soft? It is just lack of understanding, both of the subject and testing-process itself. For people who dabble in the subtle realms, this is both sad and hillarous.

Myself I am not audiophile, but I have observed "paranormal" phenomenon which science cannot - or will not explain, and which I _know_ where quite real and perfectly natural (although very rare nowadays) (which is another part of the whole scheme of Randi - How can anything be proven to be "paranormal", ie. unnatural. That is impossible.) It's just that you have to tune in to it, to really have the experience, let it come to you and not be impatient. This cannot be forced by our male-dominated will, but will descend on you when you are ready. Someone with over-active intelligence and too much scepticism will just not be aware of what is really happening (at any moment really). When you start becoming aware, life suddenly becomes much more interesting and amazing. It is especially amazing how much people speak about which they have not experienced themselves (second-hand stories for instance. Why waste time & energy on fantasies, when reality is much more interesting..)

The whole Randi scheme is a scam and a fairy-tale for adults, and those adhering to the dogma of science is falling flat-nosed over it..

I really hope someone is strong enough to beat him at his own game though and he'd be forced to pay up (btw, he doesn't even have the money...) It's just that the very people he challenge, sensitive people, are also notorious to escape life and not be balanced in their approach to life either - or the really superior ones will not see the point getting harassed and accused by Randi of cheating etc. Be not mistaken: It is a power-struggle, and it gets really dirty. It's simply not compatible with eachother (but free-thinking science is very much compatible with spirituality - and the very best thinkers always researched different paradigms and understood science to be just an incomplete model in the human mind. People like Einstein, Newton and many many more were both religious (without dogma) and researched Vedic texts and other sources of wisdom).

I know this all might seem ridiculous, but there IS more to life, if you are willing to really investigate (instead of ridiculing other viewpoints you have not researched yourself). I know, because I have experienced it many times, and everyday life is different for ever for me. I am healhy, good fit, have tools to get more energy and know how to get what I want / need. I probably earn double what other people earn, partly thanks to a different approach to life, but also thanks to good luck and good blessings. And most important, all that is totally unimportant to me, because I can never really lose ME - and this is imortality, which is granted to everybody to realize when they are ready. By realizing, you don't really gain anything, but you lose the illusion that you are a human body. Even if this is just on the intellectual level, it is a great freedom in it. How long will we be here? Just a few years, most of us have probably between 20-40 years left, then the body leaves us. How can we then be so bound to this illusion that we are a human body?

And no, it can neither be proved or disproved. It can only be realized, and even this is not a gain - just a realization of who we really are as energetic

Re:A fool and his money

[mcvos]

Another had a custom listening room built as an annex to his house. ...the acoustics of which were instantly deformed as soon as he would actually *enter* the room to listen to some music in there.

Ah, but that is easily solved! Instead of sitting in that room yourself, you should put a microphone in there, and transmit that sound to your the headphones you wear in a different room. That way you can truly enjoy the perfect, undistorted sound of your listening room.

Re:Don't forget the cable towers

[kop]

those specs are incredible!

Details:
Decrease Smear - Increase Resolution
Uninterrupted Cable Flux Field
Controls Resonance
Unequaled Performance Design
Low Contact Surface Area
Stable Four Point Design
Non-Conductive Cable Retention Ring
Two Cable Support Capability
Extremely Low Dielectric Constant
Low Capacitance to Ground Test Results
Exceedingly Low Insertion Capacitance
Accepts Cables to 1.4" - 37mm
4.5"/11.5cm Tall - 3.5"/9.0cm Wide
State of the Art CNC Machined Acrylic
Made in USA
Four Designs Patent Pending
Available in Black or Clear

Re:I dare them to go further.

[Theaetetus]

I tried back when I worked in stereo showcase. double blind tests and even testing with high end equipment showed that the $100.00 a foot directional low-oxygen speaker cables were no different than the lamp cord.

Directional cables? Heck no! I want my speaker cones to go both in and out, thank you very much.

Re:Randi and his cohorts

[Random_Goblin]

I agree. Just because he gave the same link to wikipedia doesn't mean everything in his entire post was redundant.

[citation needed]

Re:All the things true Audiophile needs....

[ChakatSanddancer]

Ahh, but will it display squant? [negativland.com]

Re:From what I understand...

[tsm_sf]

This statement is probably provably false

Don't do that.

Re:From what I understand...

[Alzheimers]

Feedback?

That's when you hold the mic too close to the speakers. Happens no matter the gauge of the cable.

Re:All the things true Audiophile needs....

[mikael]

More importantly, are the connectors gold, platinum or silver plated. That makes all the difference in sound quality. You don't want your "Down on the Corner" played by Creedence Clearwater sounding like a busker in a subway station.

Re:worshipped as a cult-like persona, over-hyped

[Tablizer]

I'll give you a million dollars if you can prove that Randi does not live up to the hype surrounding him.
     

Still uncool and flawed methodogy

[Steeltoe]

Bending a spoon helps who? Not many other than the spoon-benders own pockets. I agree.
So-called psychics, who make people depend on _them_, and not their own judgement? Not in the longer run.

But the teacher needs ignorant pupils.
The doctor needs sick people.
The world is full of diversity and "exploitation". It is indeed necessary for the world to function, so nothing to fret about.

Nevertheless, it doesn't help _us_ to get disturbed all the time thinking about all the problems.
It actally hinders our _own_ objective investigation and proper judgements...!

I have no doubt it is possible to bend a spoon, with our without physical force, but it is just a trick nonetheless. Wether it is by warmth, by some exotic particles, by quantum potentiality or brute-force and trickery, I know still that what happened is perfectly natural.

I also know that debunking one, does nothing to debunk every claim. It is a hopeless crusade based on flawed logic and knee-jerk reactions to the world.

The way Randi goes about science, if you are interested in the scientific method, you should condemn such practice. The means doens't justify the ends. It is a scam, and too many here are swallowing it and crying for blood, in much the same flawed way people swallow religious dogmas or try to use the Bible in scientific schoolclasses. It actually hinders real investigation by making a circus out of it. You can never test something having already decided on the result. How many scientists have falled in this pit, and still do? The man is a perfect example who should NOT represent science.

The man who is open for the result, is a _real_ scientist, that deserves praise and respect. Most important discoveries have been accidents with bieffects caught by the acute awareness of the discoverer.

If you're REALLY interested in science, DON'T be on _anyone's_ side.., or be on _everyone's_ side! Keep your mind open.

Btw, sceptics never ever came up with a new discovery. Only free-thinkers ever managed that (per definition you can even say ;)

Sorry, for such a long OT note above, I just got inspired. I hope it can inspire someone to investigate that there really is more to life than what they're being told. I also write this because there seems to be a herd mentality here about the subject, which is also quite unhealthy for scientific progress.

Re:oxygen-free sharpie

[Anonymous Coward]

Stepped on?

onfession time

[Anonymous Coward]

I repaired somebody's Krell preamp, and I used cat5 throughout.

He never noticed a thing.

Re:All the things true Audiophile needs....

[the_fat_kid]

shhhh... don't tell anyone.
I'm going to put my VERY expensive speaker cable's gold plug into your socket....
there isn't that better, doesn't it sound clearer?
mmmm...
wait, wait I have some wooden knobs to put on your pre-amp.
oh, yeah, that's the good stuff...

Re:I dare them to go further.

[VAXcat]

that reminds me of a chat I had with some of these hard core audiophioles. This particular set of morons were of the tube amplifier sub-species. They were discussing how a great source for hard to find small signal tubes was older tube based Tektronix oscilloscopes. As an admirer and collector of old Tektronix gear, I was a little distressed to hear this sort of talk...so I sez to them, that this is now a good idea, since the jagged sawtooth sweep waves used in oscilloscopes would permanently etch the cathodes of the tubes in the scope, and thus render them useless for the smooth sound the stereophiles were looking for. Since this sort of twisted reasoning was right in line with the rest of their delusions, they bought it hook line and sinker, and abandoned their Tektronix wrecking strategy

Re:All the things true Audiophile needs....

[prescor]

where vast masses prostate themselves

Can someone please explain exactly how you do this? It sounds like it might possibly be...enjoyable. I feel like I'm missing out.

Re:All the things true Audiophile needs....

[The-Bus]

Eh, the only knob I see is the one writing about the item.

Re:worshipped as a cult-like persona, over-hyped

[russ1337]

>>>'ll give you a million dollars if you can prove that Randi does not live up to the hype surrounding him.

Hello kind Sir, I would like to take you up on your offer.

I am the son of a deceased King, and currently located in Nigeria, and I would like if could put the money into a neutral escrow account while I process your request. I know there are too many scammers out there and want to stay away from them, so I always use a trusted escrow located in Switzerland. you can trust me as this is not a scam. you are my friend. I will send you the numbers and you can send your million dollars to the escrow using western union. Once there I look forward to providing you the truth that you seek.

I must solicit your strictest confidence in this transaction. this is by virtue of its nature as being utterly confidential and 'top secret'. I am sure and have confidence of your ability and reliability to prosecute a transaction of this great magnitude involving a pending transaction requiring maximum confidence.

Yours Faithfully,

russ1337


[if you're from the FBI read this [megnetwork.com]]

Re:All the things true Audiophile needs....

[hondo77]

When you say "freeze" you, of course, mean "freeze with dry ice in an oxygen-free styrofoam cooler". Freezing in your typical refrigerator/freezer will introduce quantum shading from the motor. Don't even get me started on the freezer light when you open the door. I recommend stabilizing the coolor on sand to dampen vibrations which might affect molecular alignment.

Re:From what I understand...

[Surt]

Your comment has given me an excellent product idea. I'm going to build audiophile gear that does in fact skew the output in some noticeable way. I'll declare this skew to be better, sell the gear to audiophiles for millions, and then they can legitimately pass double-blind tests that show they hear a difference with my gear.

Re:Emperor, Clothes, New

[Anonymous Coward]

The Emperor's New Clothes was a hot story, what with the nakedness.

'course, it's always hotter when the story is pumped over Pear Anjou speaker cables...

(Dear god I'm sorry... Anonymous out of shame)

Re:fappable?

[maxume]

Fap is an onomatopoeia.

Re:All the things true Audiophile needs....

[Hoi Polloi]

I personally only buy cables made from Cu65. That Cu63 isotope is so pedestrian and isn't "danceable".

Re:All the things true Audiophile needs....

[Hoi Polloi]

That is only recommended for jazz or classical music. For rock you need to use a cyclical freeze-thaw process using liquid argon and the skull of a saint.

Re:All the things true Audiophile needs....

[isomeme]

bimetallism can occur over time

...and next thing you know, William Jennings Bryan is making impassioned speeches in your living room.

Tranny amps?

[Skadet]

who was vocal in his preference of tranny amps

I know what you meant, but HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Re:All the things true Audiophile needs....

[Lloyd_Bryant]

Be sure you don't use a freezer that hasn't been thoroughly cleaned before it had food stored in it. It makes a big difference, trust me, I made that mistake. My old Meatloaf albums haven't been the same since.

I kind of like the effect that those Red Hot Chilli Peppers had on my old Meatloaf albums. It seem to have spiced things up a bit.

A friend of mine claims to have found the ideal ingredients to prepare his cables for playing a Find Young Cannibals album. A couple of other friends have gone over to listen, but for some reason I haven't heard back from them.

Re:All the things true Audiophile needs....

[gertam]

I hope you guys aren't forgetting to put these things in an autoclave before using any method of cable freezing. The audio characteristics of bacteria interacting with the cables causes intensely harsh (or as I like to say "brown") sounds.

Re:Interestingly...

[RobKow]

I'll wager she didn't hear an improvement, she said something to stroke your ego and make you happy while also preempting your inevitable interrogation about the improvement.

Re:All the things true Audiophile needs....

[sobachatina]

where nearly all audio is lossy compressed and/or has less than 16kHz or so of frequency response

Funny you should say that. I'm not an audiophile by any means but I've found that close to 100% of the audio I hear during the day is not only lossless but has perfect fidelity and a frequency range well beyond what my ears can detect.

It is, of course, unfortunate that the majority of that audio is the sound of my computer fan next to me. I need my own personal orchestra. I wonder if my coworkers would mind.

Re:All the things true Audiophile needs....

[Jeremy Erwin]

I've always wondered how they operate in the real world (that is, away from their precious home or car systems), where nearly all audio is lossy compressed and/or has less than 16kHz or so of frequency response...

Your ears need new drivers. When I go outside, and listen to birds, I'm hearing the latest lossless codecs. The presence is amazing-- you feel as if the birds are actually alive, and not just hologramatic replicas.

Um ... what IS that in your sig?

[plurgid]

That appears to be a Christian sex-toy site. No really, I think that's what it is. Ok then ... I think that's all I had to say on the subject. I'm going to go spend some time off the tubes for a while, my brain hurts.

Re:All the things true Audiophile needs....

[j33px0r]

I did that once and my DM gave me what seemed like a sweet artifact ring of elemental control but it ended up turning all the ladies I met at the bar into ice zombies. It really messed up my paladin cause he said it qualified as an evil act.

We don't speak anymore.

Re:fappable?

[Gilmoure]

Fap is an onomatopoeia.

I once knew a chick who was into it but she also wanted to peia on me. No Way!

Re:All the things true Audiophile needs....

[RichardX]

Hmm.. you might want to try some of those wooden knobs. I hear if you glue them to the birds the improvement in sound quality is stunning. You might want to try freezing them first, too.

Re:Do you remember tube data?

[persnowfall.se]

Aha! Thats why the internet is such a great sounding idea, since its nothing but a set of tubes!

Re:Do you remember tube data?

[pclminion]

My primary reason for selecting larger cables is to reduce power loss, not safety... but larger cables have other benefits, however marginal they may be.

This is why I use sections of railroad track for speaker wires. A little heavy though. :-)

Re:All the things true Audiophile needs....

[Reziac]

But think of the poor folks who'll think their $10k stereo system is broken... ;)

Hmm. It could be worse. They could be playing Dr.Hook.

Re:fappable?

[fbjon]

Bimetallism? Is that when you're attracted to both Glam and Death Metal?

Re:All the things true Audiophile needs....

[GPL Apostate]

Silver plated teflon jacketed wire may seem excessive, but only until you've evaluated the performance of solid silver teflon jacketed cable. The skin effect will convince you of the difference.

Re:All the things true Audiophile needs....

[Furmy]

"I can't see it being an issue."

That's because you're using lower quality cable - I can see it just fine with my graduated density cable.

Re:Do you remember tube data?

[RMH101]

...except, um, this one goes up to eleven.