One Honest Statement
Audiophiles are a very gullible bunch. In search of the last bit of fidelity, they will spend stupid amounts of money on absolutely ridiculous accessories and useless tweaks. They will believe the techno babble passed off as fact and science on website and forums. There are hundreds of these products and many dozens of websites selling audio enhancement products. And somewhat surprisingly, there are major websites, record companies, audiophile societies, and magazines providing bogus reviews and testimonials in the hopes of getting a piece of the action.
Unfortunately, there are far less sites reporting on these rip offs. The fundamentalists and true believers continue to spend their hard earned dollars on things that have absolutely no scientific basis or sonic benefit. As someone that has spent the majority of my life trying to actually move the recording arts forward, it’s very disturbing when I read reviews and product announcements for things that are total BS.
Why are the people promoting and selling these things still in business? Are audiophiles just that blind that they refuse to see the foolishness behind virtually all audiophile accessories?
This topic came back around because I belong to a few Linked In groups concerned with High-End audio. There was posting there by the thread starter asking members to share a little bit about themselves to the group. Many individuals did so…including Geoff Kait, the CEO at Machina Dynamica, a company the sells audiophile tweaks online. You can get an idea of the types of products he sells by visiting his website or just typing in Machina Dynamica in a Google search. While you might think this is a joke, it’s not. It would be funny if not for the fact that there are real people spending real money on his products including the Animal Magnetism Cable Collars for ICs and Power Cords at $80 for a set of 8, Brilliant Pebbles for only $14.50 (Half price sale), and the highly reviewed Intelligent Box and Intelligent Card (shame on you 6 Moons!).
The techno babble that accompanies the Intelligent Chip is worth the read, “The Intelligent Chip works quantum mechanically via coherent quantum superposition and quantum entanglement. Two coherent light sources (the CD player laser and the quantum dots in the Intelligent Chip) interact with the atoms in the CD’s polycarbonate layer to produce long-lasting, superior optical transparency for better optical signal to noise ratio during the laser-reading process. The active material in the Intelligent Chip is quantum dots – artifical [his spelling] atoms grown in the lab tuned to emit photons of a pre-determined wavelength.
In the case of the original Intelligent Chip, CD laser light escapes the player through a number of small holes and narrow gaps in the CD player case. The emitted photons from chip commingle with the CD laser light that is everywhere in the room and inside the player; the commingled light resonates with the CD’s polycarbonate material, improving its optical performance. In the case of The Super Intelligent Chip, the process occurs entirely inside the CD player where all the interactions are more intense.”
Is there anyone on the planet that would buy this explanation?
This is the world of Bybee tweaks, spray on “enhancers”, and lots of other “snake oil” products. Can’t we just get past this stuff?
When questioned by a music technologist about reviewing the products, Mr. Kaitt replied, ” All testing information is proprietary. Performance data is also proprietary. All information that we deem relevant is published on Machina Dynamica’s website.”
Geoff Kaitt is a member of the same Linked In group as me. Here’s how he describes himself:
“Geoff Kait
CEO at Machina Dynamica
Machina Dynamica, founded 1998, snake oil a specialty. We started off with a Sub Hertz Iso platform with resonant freq. around 0.5 Hz, followed by the Clever Little Clock, Teleportation Tweak, infrared light absorber, intelligent chips, things in that vein. Latest product is the Particle Accelerator negative ion gun for CDs and cables.
I got this charming paragraph from a 6 Moons review of the Intelligent Chip:
The Buddha already said it: “Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense”. There are now two things we do know from personal experience. Both the Nespa and the Intelligent Chip work. Both can enhance the enjoyment of beautiful music on CD or CD/R. We recommend you investigate these ‘tweaks’ as we did and discover their effects for yourself.”
It reminded me of the item I heard on the radio the other evening about the success of Discovery’s Shark Week extravaganza. It was the highest rated in the history of the shows. And it turns out the best of the best was complete fiction. They had a real research scientist on the show and he pointed out that everything he said was taken out of context and made his statements sound like they were agreeing with the falsehoods in the show.
I had the same experience with my NPR interview. I was interviewed for over an hour by their reporter…they pulled a single quote and put it right after a statement by Cookie Marenco (the piece was all about her and the high cost of her downloads) making it seem that I endorsed her approach to making recording (analog tape, DSD etc), which I don’t.
Just say no to BS tweaks, avoid companies that endorse and promote this stuff and start insisting on better sounding recording. That would be money well spent…and maybe put these charlatans out of business.
PS The Machina Dynamica website is so poorly done, that it should be a clue to this guy’s motives.
I know that site. Many people guess it is a satire site. Too obviously comical pictures are dead give-away.
It’s not a joke or satire…this guy is making his living from this stuff!
Mark, for the most part I would have to agree with you. One recent exception is my experience with Synergistic Research. I recent purchased their FEQ unit and 15 HFTs. After positioning all of the parts it made a huge difference in my listening experience. The soundstage was wider and deeper. Everything was clearer, sharper and more detailed. I had the option to return them within 30 days. I kept them. I was so impressed I’m giving another of their products, ECTs, a try with a similar 30 day return policy. If I don’t like them I send them back. But to my ears they work and are worth the money.
Rich
Of course, it’s completely up to you what you spend your money on…but IMHO the only thing Synergistic Research has that Geoff Kaitt doesn’t have is a much better web site.
Folks like “Rich Luongo” are the perfect targets that predators like MD and SR are trying to reach in the most efficient manner possible. As research has shown per http://research.microsoft.com/pubs/167719/whyfromnigeria.pdf, the most efficient way to target the vulnerable and gullible is to be outrageously defiant of logic, science, credibility and reason, as a way to sift out those that are actually looking for any of those things and avoid wasting time and money on unfruitful marketing to them.
So unfortunately, the predators that engage in such tactics are very shrewdly applying efficient marketing practices. Publications like TAS also understand this – it’s the reasoning behind their outrageous articles. They attract the gullible and vulnerable like moths to a flame and thus offer a very good value proposition to those that advertise with them. Of course, if morality, reason, science, etc mean anything to you, this is all a bit upsetting. The key enabler of the entire audio snake oil audio industry is that the FTC, FCC etc have repeatedly stated they don’t care about this and have other priorities even as they acknowledge that such snake oil efforts likely or obviously violate many federal laws. Over the years, the feds tasked with enforcing laws in this area have stated they focus on products and claims that involve health, safety, and politically important topics – and snake oil audio, knowing all that, shrewdly stays away from the trigger that would get the feds involved.
I refer to them as “audio whores”. Pathologies come in many dresses. Audio prey , as the “audiophilephool”, are not victims of anything other than wanting to be belong. Their sense of well being, euphoric at first, wanes with the ever present perceived needs promoted in all the wrong places, as Mark deservingly points out. My message to all is this, if you can’t measure it, it does not exist. Before all purchases, repeat 3 times, ” the absence of evidence, is the evidence of absence”. Good luck !!
In the UK ion the 80’s it was worse than the above, there was a revolt against common measurement techniques commonly used (by magazines) since they had apparently little bearing on the perceived sound quality of the equipment – it also came out of the fact that during the ’70s there was a trend for manufacturers of amplifiers to use a large amount of negative feedback which brought total THD right down, but lead to objectionable amounts of odd harmonic distortion. Thus the “forget about measurements and use your ears” philosophy began.
I remember tackling a manufacturer of interconnects in the mid ’90s over claims of interconnect cable directionality: I asked how could a cable which passes an AC signal be directional, it would be impossible, unless it had diode properties which, if true, would then degrade the sound.
And guess what, there are lots of cables out there that do indeed alter the sound, though not necessarily in a manner which provides a greater insight into the music.
Cables can affect the sound but not in the ways described by most of the ads and promo literature. Save your money.
Indeed. Here’s an interesting article on feedback which clearly still rages after all these decades.
As always Mark, bravo for having the “Vidalias” to speak out against these useless and wasteful “Things” and the audiophile numb sculls who promote them.
The irony is, however that by knocking them, you also draw attention to them. Unfortunately some ignorant schmuck who reads your blog will be attracted to and fall for the bull and buy this pile of dung. I know that more needs to be said about this, but it is a double edged sword. I personally am tired of knocking these useless tweaks to find that my words have fallen on deaf ears.
I almost want to stop talking about them and hope that they’ll just go away; especially when I think of the words of the greatest huckster of all time, Mr. P.T. Barnum who said “There’s no such thing as negative publicity.”
It’s tough…and you’re right. My reason for stepping in again is because the guy at Machina Dynamica actually comes right out and states that he sells “snake oil”…that’s the only positive thing that I can say about him. People love music and they want to believe that fuses, special cables, power cords and other accessories can provide a better musical experience.
It is an eternal verity that suckers are born every day. It has always been so and it will always be so. That is why I have stuck by Mothra power cords and Ghidorah interconnects. The cables are welded with radioactive flames.
As much as this statement might offend some, belief is universal. It is no different than religion.band someone’ lost dollars are far more desirable a consequence than a lost life, don’t you agree?
I guess. My neighbor is also a snake oil salesman. In fact, I see him providing testimonials for sites like Machina Dynamica. Shakti Systems has the usual array of ridiculous and expensive accessories. He’s doing quite well, I might add.
No offense intended, but don’t “You Know Who” have no problem stocking the shelves with “Healthy Edibles” and other things that aren’t good for us, a country who has never been sicker or more overweight? The typical consumer has learned to go with what they are told rather than use precious energy working things through for themselves. We want to spend our money, it feels good to spend money! This has become an unfortunate mantra, because we are so lost in the gadgetry of it all that any shiny bauble will suffice.
There are dozens of these scams…whole companies and fancy websites that sell this snake oil. Even my own audiophile society, put Jack Bybee in front of the annual Christmas Gala. During his 20 rambling speech, he said nothing about anything relevant about audio. Just that it was so secret and sophisticated that we couldn’t understand it.
So the choices are to either see people lose money to scams, or lose their lives? Nice false dilemma fallacy. I’m not offended, just disappointed you think there is an audience here to fall for such.
The timeworn Australian term “bullshit artist” comes to mind. So does Stan Freberg’s sketch circa 1958 “Dr Herman Horn on HiFi”. For all who haven’t heard it:-Horn, an audiophile Victor Frankenstein whose Igor is the oppressed assistant Strudelmeyer, gives an insight to the 1950s’ latest Be-The-First-On-Your-Block petit bourgeois consumer folly. Tolle aude tolle aude (to paraphrase Augustine). Cheers, JamesMarchment
Do we have any proof that anybody has ever actually bought anything from that site? I know that he has links for items to buy, but has anybody successfully sent money and received a product?
There are scores of people talking about the site online, but no reports (that I can find) of that happening.
That screams out to me that this is a parody. Heck, even the “snake oil a speciality” line in his company description gives it away.
I think me being skeptical in this case isn’t so much being skeptical of his claims (far too obvious foolishness) but rather more being skeptical of the assertion that this isn’t satire. I’d require proof of money changing hands (and not being returned).
Yes, this guy has been selling products for years and from what I hear from my neighbor does a very good business at it. If you do a little research, he’s responded to a number of email requests and contributed articles to some of the audiophile sites. The reviews on various sites are real…people are buying.
…CHIPS IS QUANTUM DOTS…PHOTONS..IS THIS STAR TREK EQUIPACIÓN?
At Capital Audiofest, I spent some time in a first floor room (The one with the lava lamps). The system had the usual garden-hose-sizes speaker cables for what I later learned was a 1.5 (that’s one-point-five) watts per channel amp. There was no real bass whatsoever and the system had the cramped dynamics I have heard from every full range driver setup I have heard. I found out later (in the Absolute Sound commentary naming it ‘Best of Show’) that the total system cost was over $100K. Phooey. Being an ‘audiophile’ used to mean you were interested in the technology behind the reproduction of sound. Now it’s all about foo foo dust. Even in the headphone area at CAF there were headphone amps-HEAPHONE AMPS-costing $10K. PLEEEEZE….
Jason Serinus gave similar kudos to a room at the CAS because of the Bybee power and some phantom cables. It’s everywhere.
It all comes down to the difference between the sounds that your ears detect and what you think you`re hearing. It is a paradox that these two things are different. Another paradox is that the placebo effect actually influences the latter. Believing in these nonsense products will in fact make many people actually hear an improvement, or think they hear an improvement, which in the case of the willfully gullible, is the same thing. In other words, these scam products don`t work for the skeptical but do for the credulous. I have an audiophile friend, who I otherwise respect very much, who is 100% convinced of the efficacy of `audio boards`, the many-thousands of dollar planks and slabs that are placed under audio components and speakers to cause some hocus-pocus improvement in sound. It costs him huge money, but seems to give him real pleasure . . .
I am not sure if I have a point to make, just adding my observations.
I greatly enjoy your posts, btw, and your sampler is awesome ! Though I think we disagree on DSD.
David
Tokyo
Thanks David…good comment.
I never thought it would happen to me, but we bought a very rare and expensive Neumann microphone for a studio I worked at, and every one who sang through it had a distinct German accent while using it.
No joke!
Yeah, thanks.