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On Tue, 22 Aug 2006 19:06:24 +0100, "Pyriform"
wrote:

ChrisM wrote:
Help!! Is there ANY physics behind all this??

No.

What is the reasoning
(even if it's BS) behind such statements as these. What actually
happens to a cable once it's been 'burnt in' and why the hell would
it make any difference if you reversed it??

As with most "audiophile" tweaking, the effects are entirely in the listener
/ viewer's head, and it is this piece of equipment that often needs "burning
in". It can take time for it to reconcile the vast amount of money
squandered with its original perception that nothing has changed.

In my intense audiophile days, I used to leave my hi-fi equipment on
all the time so it performed at it's best. I suppose there's more
truth in this than the cable millarky. Now I'M paying the leccy
bills, it stays switched off 'till I need it :-)

Marky P.

John Cartmell wrote:
In article , Doz
wrote:
On Sun, 20 Aug 2006 10:58:44 +0100, Andereida wrote:

Saw this article in today's Sunday Times. I know this is the silly
season but thought it must be a late April 1st offering that didn't make
it then. Thought it would be of interest to the lurkers here who want a
35 GBP aerial fly-lead or a 75 GBP mains lead!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...3-2320293.html

Andereida

Omg.. I' seen it all now:

Do speaker cables require burn-in?

- Yes most cables take time to burn-in. This means that they do not give
their optimum performance until they have been carrying a signal with your
equipment for some hours. Before they have burned in they can often sound a
bit shrill.

Are speaker cables directional?

- Once a cable has burned in it would need to be burned in again if you
reversed it. For this reason most cables have a directional marker so you
can ensure that they are always fitted in teh same diretion.

From http://www.hificables.co.uk/PreviewArticle.aspx?art=54

Whilst that's obvious for digital signals (all those 1s and 0s stacked up the
wrong way) it's not true for the smoother analogue signals ...

I am still amazed at the power cable item:

"What is it? Power cable for a CD or DVD player.

Why buy? This greatly improves the output from most AV equipment, as the
cable’s “hyper-pure” copper conductors, insulated with Teflon, allow a
far more stable flow of electricity, and less interference, than the
free power cable that came with your player. Even sceptics will find the
Classic takes a duster to the sound. Try it."

Quite how 1 metre of cable insulated with teflon can make a more 'stable
flow of electricity', bearing in mind the convoluted hoops that current
has gone through before it gets to the 'Powerkord', is beyond me.

Andereida

In message , Rob
wrote

None of which bothers me overly. I'm far more disturbed by idiots
peddling lemon juice and garlic as a cure for the AIDS virus.

and those peddling water as holistic treatments.

--
Alan
news2006 {at} amac {dot} f2s {dot} com

Andereida" " bhk5835-ng1 wrote:
I am still amazed at the power cable item:

"What is it? Power cable for a CD or DVD player.

Why buy? This greatly improves the output from most AV equipment, as
the cable's "hyper-pure" copper conductors, insulated with Teflon,
allow a far more stable flow of electricity, and less interference,
than the free power cable that came with your player. Even sceptics
will find the Classic takes a duster to the sound. Try it."

Quite how 1 metre of cable insulated with teflon can make a more
'stable flow of electricity', bearing in mind the convoluted hoops
that current has gone through before it gets to the 'Powerkord', is
beyond me.

Indeed. Even fitting an audiophile grade mains fuse (pure silver and
handmade in Germany - I kid you not) can surely do little to address the
sonic deficiences of the average run of 15A twin and earth to the consumer
unit, let alone the unspeakable horrors that occur all the way back to the
power station.

I myself use a dedicated HT power feed from a hydroelectric power station
(for a more natural sound), with mains voltage step-down taking place at my
own toroidally wound audiophile grade substation.

On Mon, 21 Aug 2006 17:42:52 +0100, Rob
wrote:

Anyone who relies on an advert to fully inform opinion probably needs to
get out more. I have maths, physics and chemistry O levels, and I think
I'm right in saying no part of any topic would help me *determine* the
efficacy of all that cable nonsense.

If they really were "O" levels then that probably sets a time frame
that pre-dates modern electronics. OTOH a half decent 16 Y.O. hobbyist
in 1963 could sort the wheat from the chaff, (though I say so myself)

:-)

AFAICS it is only speaker (perhaps headphone) cables that can
have "subtle" effects on sound reproduction, (assuming that all the
other cables in the system are basically adequate). This is because
the speaker in it's enclosure forms a resonant system which is damped
by the output impedance of the amplifier. If the speaker cable adds
resistance then the damping effect is reduced. The speaker cable only
has to be good enough, usually it is.

Nothing mystical or quasi-religious about it.

I'm obviously not a good example
(as demonstrated elsewhere!), but it would take quite a technically
proficient bod to *disprove* those 'sharper, clearer' claims.

It would be quite simple and easy with the proper equipment to prove
that a gold plated, low oxygen USW, USW, USW, cable made no
difference.

If it was
straightforward the Press Complaints Commission and the ASA would sort
it out - non?

Non !

They don't even sort out obvious scams in over the counter medicines,
vitamins, food supplements, non-functional car accessories, oil and
fuel additives, damp proofing treatments for buildings, etc. Ever
watch shopping channels ? Seen the fantastic promises made of wrinkle
creams etc? They can go at it all day ! 30 quid for 50 grams of fat !

And I do wonder how many physicists, mathematicians et al
have paid over the odds for fancy cable ...

None, of which I am aware.

In 1975 I did come across in a bar in Amsterdam a dealer who used to
drive over to England (IIRC it was to Rank Warfedale quite near to
me) to buy gold plated phono plugs, which he laughingly said were
"Strictly for the Kooks".


None of which bothers me overly. I'm far more disturbed by idiots
peddling lemon juice and garlic as a cure for the AIDS virus.

Not come across them, but it's not so far removed from the "clinics"
in Bavaria who proffer cures for cancers by having all your teeth
removed. Quite famous (and by now dead) people have fallen for that.

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/conte.../310/6990/1341

"She is particularly impressed with an American technique called
visualisation. After her surgery she visualised a beautiful red rose
in place of her uterus and herself going up in a transparent bubble,
ejecting her cancer into space, and then--"to make it safe for the
environment"--turning her tumour into a star. I was a little puzzled
here, her tumour having just been removed, but if visualisation of
this kind makes some people less fearful for their future, that's all
that matters."

But I
understand your annoyance here - it's something you know about.


Well, another thought to conjure with is it would appear to be futile
to spend all this money on the cables in your home if the program
material comes from a studio that is not "Gold Phono Plug & Magic
Mains Lead" compliant, and they are not. We won't mention the hundreds
of miles travelled over Post Office lines (showing my age here). Why
they don't even use "Magic Brasso" on their double enders.

Let's not even go there.

DG

Alan wrote:
In message , Rob
wrote

None of which bothers me overly. I'm far more disturbed by idiots
peddling lemon juice and garlic as a cure for the AIDS virus.

and those peddling water as holistic treatments.

Best not read this story then
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...320718,00.html

"MADONNA and her husband Guy Ritchie have been lobbying the government and
nuclear industry over a scheme to clean up radioactive waste with a
supposedly magic Kabbalah fluid.

The couple, both followers of the Jewish spiritual movement, approached
Downing Street, Whitehall and British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) promoting a
"mystical" liquid tested in a Ukrainian lake. "

I particularly liked this bit:-

"It was like a crank call . . . the scientific mechanisms and principles
were just ********, basically," one official said.

In article ,
Alan wrote:
In message , Rob
wrote

None of which bothers me overly. I'm far more disturbed by idiots
peddling lemon juice and garlic as a cure for the AIDS virus.

and those peddling water as holistic treatments.

and "holy" water as useful for neutraling radio-active substances

--
From KT24 - in "Leafy Surrey"

Using a RISC OS computer running v5.11

In article ,
Derek ^ wrote:
On Mon, 21 Aug 2006 17:42:52 +0100, Rob
wrote:

Anyone who relies on an advert to fully inform opinion probably needs to
get out more. I have maths, physics and chemistry O levels, and I think
I'm right in saying no part of any topic would help me *determine* the
efficacy of all that cable nonsense.

If they really were "O" levels then that probably sets a time frame
that pre-dates modern electronics. OTOH a half decent 16 Y.O. hobbyist
in 1963 could sort the wheat from the chaff, (though I say so myself)

It depends on what you mean by "modern electronics". Mullard published
"Transistors for the Experimenter" in 1956, the year after I did my O
levels and they went on to publish "Reference Manual for Transistor
Circuits" in 1960. (I still have both these books.) Digital technology
started appearing in the late 1960s. GCSE, replacing O level, didn't
appear until 1986.

--
From KT24 - in "Leafy Surrey"

Using a RISC OS computer running v5.11

In message , Derek ^
wrote

Well, another thought to conjure with is it would appear to be futile
to spend all this money on the cables in your home if the program
material comes from a studio that is not "Gold Phono Plug & Magic
Mains Lead" compliant, and they are not.


With CDs, any deficiency in the recording process can be removed by
painting the edges of the disk with a green pen

--
Alan
news2006 {at} amac {dot} f2s {dot} com

"Marky P" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 22 Aug 2006 19:06:24 +0100, "Pyriform"
In my intense audiophile days, I used to leave my hi-fi equipment on
all the time so it performed at it's best. I suppose there's more
truth in this than the cable millarky. Now I'M paying the leccy
bills, it stays switched off 'till I need it :-)

As my children moved out I took great delight in visiting them in their new
homes and turning all the lights on.

Bill