Most hifi reviewers suffer from Freddie Feest syndrome, and many seem to suffer from Sid Waddell syndrome. Since anybody who isn't British won't be familiar with Sid Waddell and anyone who didn't grow up in my original home town of Worthing won't be familiar with Freddie Feest, I'll explain. Freddie Feest was the restaurant critic of my local newspaper, and since the paper wasn't willing to risk alienating its advertiser base, Freddie had a wonderful meal wherever he went. One week it could be a fine dining restaurant and the next McDonald's, always with the same result – a delighted Mr Feest (and yes, that was his real name) would proclaim he had just experienced the food of the gods. As the paper was small and everyone had to multitask, Freddie was also the motoring critic, and would try out a variety of vehicles from local dealers. I don't recall him ever meeting a car he disliked, either. Sid Waddell was a darts commentator famous for his malapropisms and convoluted hyperbole. When Eric Bristow won the World Championship, he commented: "When Alexander of Macedonia was 33, he cried salt tears because there were no more worlds to conquer... Bristow's only 27." His other legendary pronouncements included "The atmosphere is so tense, if Elvis walked in with a portion of chips, you could hear the vinegar sizzle on them", "Even Hypotenuse would have trouble working out these angles!" and It's the greatest comeback since Lazarus!". However, since my first career was as a copywriter, I wouldn't discount the possibility that some of those reviews were written as a joke or to win a bet. When assigned to write a campaign for Cunard, I looked at some of their competitors' literature, and discovered the following gem in one of them (describing how your stewardess would prepare your cabin each day): "She spruces it up with a practised hand." I suggest the writer who got that one through probably won a few quid off his colleagues. Similarly, we once had a bet in the office as to who could get two random uncommon words (in this case, it was "uranium" and "humidor") into the same piece of copy. One of my clients, Crest Homes, wanted to run an ad parodying a Batman movie that was about to be released, and I agreed to the dreadful concept solely so I could give "Crestman" a humidor and a uranium-powered Crestmobile, thus winning the bet.
Along these lines, one must recall the Mapleshade catalog. I seem to remember one set of wood blocks, or brass footers or something being touted as obviating the need for a subwoofer.
That was always a fun read. A long time ago, I took a pair of maple shade interconnects to my college professor to see if they could be repaired. They were the silliest things ever. They looked like used condoms with a tiny thread of copper running through them. He just laughed and said they were junk. It was a little embarrassing.
From their website: If youre feeding music data streams from a computer or server to a USB DAC or amplifier, the sound you get is totally at the mercy of the USB cable carrying the music data. And almost all conventional USB cables, cheap or expensive, sound terriblemainly because both their conductor wires and their plastic insulation are too thick, and the noisy USB power wires are much too tightly bundled with the signal wires. Many of the megabuck USBs add a fourth sonic sin: conductors of solid silver that harshen treble and smear bass. Needless to say, our USB design goes hard over the other way: really thin conductors of pure copper; minimal insulation using an ear-tested, good-sounding dielectric; and unbundled wires spaced much further apart and only loosely constrained by a minimum mass, gossamer-like mesh. When you move from the compromised sound of a conventional USBeven an expensive oneto the Clearlink, its like stepping out of a smoke-filled room to breathe fresh outdoor air: refreshing newfound transparency; airy, extended treble that lets your ears relax; bass thats so well-defined you can almost touch it; and unveiled midrange harmonic riches that lead you deep into the music. And well guarantee that result against the top of the line cables from JPS, Synergistic, Acrolink, Siltech, Audioquest and Wireworld, cables costing from $460 to $3600. Outright lies.
This is all bull**** the interconnects I had lasted a few months and then they fell apart. Also, they were too fragile to solder, so I ended up just throwing them away. On top of that, I had speaker cable from them that was too stiff to bend and it was bare. Eventually it just kinked up and had to be thrown out.
Mapleshade - the company that turns your system into an electrical shock hazard. I don't have the link at hand but for awhile there were pics of Mapleshade decked out system, a pretty expensive one, making the rounds on the internet. There was enough bare, uncovered copper wire in the room to make an electric fence. All the components had covers removed as well, even things like CD players. At the corner of the room there was a dedicated electrical box on the wall with exposed bare wire.
Here's a current piece of What-Hifi BS, a CD player "review" - NAD C 538 review | What Hi-Fi? . It makes all sort of claims about the sound quality. It is considered to be inferior to a competitor's product, a WHF favourite. Typically for that scurrilous rag, there's no mention of the amp or speakers that were used in the review. It's a totally worthless shill for a competitor (WHF advertiser?) masquerading as a review!
Nah, one still need to share power with neibors. You get cleanest power with solar power. My system in the morning sounds absolutely great when the sun is up and my solar panels started to feed my home electricity. My system sounded dull during night time when I have to share dirry power with neighbors. Point is, everyone should get their own solar panels for best audio performance! Well, at least during sunny time of day.
You guys -and gals and others- are gonna make me post a parody audio equipment review template with instructions....
Genius stuff there! Mothea Power! We at Mothra Research have tackled this major problem in the marketing industry head on! Our new service - Mothra Power ™ - delivers audiophile grade power directly to your home. Choose from two services: Mothra Power Gold - Using a special patented technology that is an offshoot from the top secret Russian Military Quantum Mechanics program, Mothra Power can utilize the existing power connections to your home and still deliver near perfection in audiophile quality power. How do we do it? We could tell you, but then we'd have to shoot you. So trust us, this is the best price/performance selection currently on the market. Mothra Power Platinum - Costs a bit more than our gold service, but worth it. Working directly with your power company, we rewind select turbines and transformers with 99.9999% oxygen-free copper, capacitors are all specialty grade and very espensive. Then we use our own uniquely fabricated, hand-braided transmission lines, constructed with pure silver wire, in an optimal configuration, teflon coated under a pure argon atmosphere. Then, in one of those touches that only Mothra Research can provide, we fire the meter reader from your local power company and replace him with our own specially trained "power technicians."
Even though this thread is more about reviewers than products, it made me think of this. http://kalecoauto.com M. M.
I just read this in Stereophile: "At first blush, the sound of the Vandersteen Model 2Ce Signature transported me to a bucolic nature trail in the Berkshires on one of those high, dry August days when the amber stillness of late afternoon imparts a sense of otherness against the endless vistas of green and brown and blue. In my Wordsworthian reverie, as I made my way up the mountainside, remembrances of venerable loudspeakers past called out to me from the sturdy stands of New England foliage. Mark you the lofty maple and the supple white birch; the noble pine, the mighty oak and humble larch; there, on the crest, an Acoustic Research AR3a; farther up the ridge, a copse of Advent, KLH, and Allison—and finally, high on yonder peak, beckoning like God's own flip-top, crush-proof box, the Vandersteen 2Ce Signature." That was the introductory paragraph. I stopped there, unable and unwilling to torture myself any longer.
didn't know Kimber Kable was so versatile- (From TAS) "Tilting a tad toward the yin, the 8TC has that elusive ability to remain musical no matter what is happening fore or aft, ideally mediating detail, liveliness, tonal neutrality, and dynamic contrasts within a very realistic, holographic soundstage."
Not joking at all! I quoted the paragraph verbatim, as it was written by Chip Stern in the October 5, 2000 issue. I find it hard to fathom how the publishers of Stereophile could print such drivel without considering its impact on their readers. Not only does the review NOT make me want to purchase the Vandersteen Model 2Ce Signature, it makes me want to run away in the opposite direction and never glance at the magazine ever again!
TAS: "Compared with the towering prices of some .... power cables, the AQ Dragon Source and High-Current wires are something of a steal." [ $4200 or $5200 for a power cord.] TAS: "After a couple of weeks ..., it rounded into form, filling out in the lower mids and upper bass and developing considerable wallop in the mid-to-low bass." [Another power cord, for $11,000.] How good a power amp do you need for a $5200 cord? For an $11,000 one? Is the amp the component or the accessory?
I cannot find the link to this cable review, and it's in italian, but the guy is rewieving some home made 40 euros per meter speaker cables and then at one point he says: "You might wonder way these cables are better than any othe cable, what makes them better? The answer is that they are better because they are just better". Couldn't get any better than this, right?
