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Audiophile kool-aid? How much? I just bought some tubolator for my opamps and some cool volumne controls for my stereo and I'm looking for a beverage that can enhance the experience further.

To hell with a bridge... Sell'em interconnect cables at $50 a foot, or speaker cable at $100 a foot (or whatever the going rate is these days). They'll pay you for those. I was trying to find those wooden knobs for US$495 but I found one several times better (read:funnier) (from the same company too!) The Potentiometer !!!

And if you believe that, I have this volume control you might want to buy... :-)

I think they would be better off replacing the volume controls:
http://www.referenceaudiomods.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=NOB_C37_C

Those will solve all of the worlds problems!

Used to be that 1F was a beast of a thing but now they sell 'em in the motor shops to beef up your bass when the wiring can't deliver
100A on peaks

500 of them is heavy, but not THAT heavy - seriously, go take a look at your local auto hi-fi store

For something lighter:
http://www.referenceaudiomods.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=RAM&Product_Code=ELNA_1F

That allegedly weighs just 0.02 pounds, so 500 of them is 10lbs the lot.

That's OK. Audiophiles are known to be the stupidest people on the planet.

http://www.referenceaudiomods.com/Merchant2/mercha nt.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=NOB_C37_C

ROTFLMAO. My favorite is the Wooden Volume Knob.

It's funny. Laugh.

"You will hear loss of dynamic transience."

But that can be fixed with some magnetic phase-inducers and cable-elevators. And wooden knobs. Can't go wrong with those knobs....

I wasn't saying ANYTHING about China or the quality of their products, you asshat.

I was critiquing the ability of the audiophool crowd to distinguish worthwhile products from technobabble, marketing scams, and flat-out bullshit. And how an endorsement by said group says absolutely NOTHING about the technical merits of a product. Here are only a few examples of the utter BULLSHIT that the audiophools buy into:

A wooden volume control KNOB for $500 (need 2 for stereo, BTW) that promises buyers that "The sound becomes much more open and free flowing with a nice improvement in resolution. Dynamics are better and overall naturalness is improved.":

http://www.referenceaudiomods.com/Merchant2/mercha nt.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=NOB_C37_C

Special "secret mojo" paint to apply to the D/A chip inside your CD player to create the mystical "tube sound":

http://www.altmann.haan.de/tubeolator/

A $1500 POWER CABLE that is described like a glass of fine wine. "The Clairvoyant's signature is engaging, energetic, and bristling with light and microdynamic life"; "lifelike timing and pace" coupled with "clarity, definition, lithe touch, and articulation throughout the lower registers."

http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/audiomagic_clai rvoyant.htm

The previously mentioned bottle of magic pebbles to increase listening pleasure:

http://www.machinadynamica.com/machina31.htm

Of course, no post on this subject would be complete without the obligatory $500 potentiometer knob and concrete turntable links.

Tara Time and Space Speaker Cables (oldies but goodies)

Ha ha, cables! May I suggest you also try wooden knobs? ;)

If you believe that analog is better, it does not matter if it is true or not, you will "hear" the difference.

Being able to "hear" the difference is what lets people sell $485 volume knobs. I find it interesting that this is the exact same 'proof' that is most commonly offered in the cd vs. vinyl debate.

my most favorite audiophile product is a wooden knob that costs $500

my most favorite audiophile product is a wooden knob that costs $500

Silver Rock Signature Knob

Can't stand the nasty vibrations my current volume knob gives off!

"rolling my eyes"

No no, it really works. Apparently this guy used to keep his pile of cash sitting in front of his speaker. Now that the pile is gone, everything sounds much better.

Hey, at least a 6 gauge power cord *could potentially* offer some benefit.
These guys here would have you believe a $500 wooden knob actually improves the sound

And isn't just a piece of wood...

No no no!

You need wooden volume knobs!

Are you talking about this?

They spend extravagant amounts of money on silly things that don't make much difference

I can't afford this keyboard at the moment--I'm buying wooden knobs for my preamplifier

feh, only 32 bits?

I'm upgrading all my servers to 64 bit so I can use 64 bit color depth video cards when they come out! Once you see 64 bit color you never go back. The color is "warmer" and more "photorealistic". Of course if you use cheap knobs on your monitor, you risk causing videoresonance effects that will cause your color to be off". I only use these

Check out this site :

Reference Audio Mods

If you feel an urge to buy *any* of the stuff on the page, well then monster cable is definitely for you.

A 30 watt solid state amplifier , costing 6000 bucks (!), that doesn't come with a power supply - the battery supply (!!) suggested is another 2000.

Seriously, now - What. The. FUCK.

Oh, and some nice wooden turned volume knobs for that extra sweetness in the audio (!!!) will only set you back another 500 each, because as we all know "the micro vibrations created by the volume pots and knobs find their way into the delicate signal path and cause degradation (Bad vibrations equal bad sound)."

I keep this page bookmarked as "Audiophiles are idiots", and send to anyone who asks me about what kind of cabling they should run for their system.

Holy. Fucking. Shit. Audiophiles are the stupidest people on earth.

$1,200.00 is not that much for a high quality digital cable, but notice the arrows on the pictures. They indicate the direction in which the sound should flow. Of course it works best with quantum sound purifiers which strips electronic noise from individual electrons. When you are at it, don't forget to buy your tuning dots: "Marigo's VTS Tuning Dots have been one of the most effective and dramatic steps I have taken to improve my system's performance. The improvements were not sublte. They brought great transparency without losing musicality. Clarity, dynamics, inner detail, midrange bloom, bass slam and articulation have such an improved sense of openness that they represent a major paradigm shift in resonance control." Yes, those are little round stickers in various sizes that cost between $5 and $20 a piece, that you should stick to every single piece of equipment and flat surface in your listening room. It is not surprising that when James Randi offers them a million dollars if they can demonstrate that it works in a simple double-blind test (search the commentary archive for audiophile) they don't want it--if I was selling stones and sticks for thousands, I wouldn't want that laughable million either.

Holy. Fucking. Shit. Audiophiles are the stupidest people on earth.

$1,200.00 is not that much for a high quality digital cable, but notice the arrows on the pictures. They indicate the direction in which the sound should flow. Of course it works best with quantum sound purifiers which strips electronic noise from individual electrons. When you are at it, don't forget to buy your tuning dots: "Marigo's VTS Tuning Dots have been one of the most effective and dramatic steps I have taken to improve my system's performance. The improvements were not sublte. They brought great transparency without losing musicality. Clarity, dynamics, inner detail, midrange bloom, bass slam and articulation have such an improved sense of openness that they represent a major paradigm shift in resonance control." Yes, those are little round stickers in various sizes that cost between $5 and $20 a piece, that you should stick to every single piece of equipment and flat surface in your listening room. It is not surprising that when James Randi offers them a million dollars if they can demonstrate that it works in a simple double-blind test (search the commentary archive for audiophile) they don't want it--if I was selling stones and sticks for thousands, I wouldn't want that laughable million either.

Holy. Fucking. Shit. Audiophiles are the stupidest people on earth.

I'm sure that the guys who are selling audiophile lacquer for $200/oZ and wooden potentiometer knobs for $500 a piece will have a much more amazing explanation involving quantum audiodynamic subparticle field wavetransformation theory, that not only makes your audio equipment sound more open and free flowing with a nice improvement in resolution, better dynamics and improved overall naturalness, but also improves the taste of wine making it older in a matter of seconds (a widely known property of magnets), but I--a boring scientist--will only tell you this: they bounce.

I'm sure that the guys who are selling audiophile lacquer for $200/oZ and wooden potentiometer knobs for $500 a piece will have a much more amazing explanation involving quantum audiodynamic subparticle field wavetransformation theory, that not only makes your audio equipment sound more open and free flowing with a nice improvement in resolution, better dynamics and improved overall naturalness, but also improves the taste of wine making it older in a matter of seconds (a widely known property of magnets), but I--a boring scientist--will only tell you this: they bounce.