Posted on 10/04/2007 9:32:58 AM PDT by Notary Sojac
Our rant about those $7,250 Pear Anjou speaker cables found its way to the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF), and Randi offered $1 million to anyone who can prove those cables are 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."
We see that the Pear Cable company is advertising a pair of 12-foot "Anjou" audio cables for $7,250; that's $302 a foot! And, as expected, "experts" were approached for their opinions on the performance of these wonders ... Well, we at the JREF are willing to be shown that these "no-compromise" cables perform better than, say, the equivalent Monster cables. While Pear rattles on about "capacitance," "inductance," "skin effect," "mechanical integrity" and "radio frequency interface," - all real qualities and concerns, and adored by the hi-fi nut-cases - we naively believe that a product should be judged by its actual performance, not by qualities that can only be perceived by attentive dogs or by hi-tech instrumentation. That said, we offer the JREF million-dollar prize to - for example - Dave Clark, Editor of the audio review publication Positive Feedback Online.
This is not Randi's first clash with audiophile reviewers who claim to hear differences between various pieces of exotic equipment. He promises a million dollars (which he has waiting in an account for them) if any can prove in double-blind scientific testing that their extraordinary claims are true. None have stepped up so far.
When I got my HDTV, I was in the market for HDMI cables. Not knowing much about the new cabling, I went to Circuit City where I saw the Monster ones for $89.99. I was shocked. After a little research online, I found I could buy an HDMI cable for $12 that would do the same job.
My telephone line knew he was going to say that.
Monster Cables - P.T. Barnum
I wouldn’t consider myself a stereophile, but I can detect marked difference between the way my music sounds when played on my computer with iTunes and how it sounds coming out of my car CD player from a burned cd. The sound isn’t as rich on car stereo. I haven’t figured out if something is being lost during CD burning, my CDs are of poor quality, the speakers in my car don’t have the audio range that my Bose headphone on my computer has (quite possible), or my CD player doesn’t have the audio range as the sound card in my computer. Or some combination thereof.
The Amazing Randi!!
(chuckle)
Amen.
Monster cables MIGHT be of some benefit in an analog situation (e.g., a guitar cable).
In a digital environment (e.g., HDMI) all cables are essentially equal especially given the small distances covered.
I see nothing wrong with spending $2100 on a Marshall amp if you can afford it. But cables for that much money?
I guess you don't want to hear about the 12AX7 vacuum tube preamp I have in my computer mouse then.
I too have enjoyed Randi's work and efforts.
You can’t tap dance on pillows.
But oxygen free copper speaker cables allow the music to ‘breathe’ and sound ‘more airy.’ Cheap hardware store zip cord ‘restricts’ the music.
Your car stereo does have to compete with glass windows and other strangely-shaped surfaces, whereas your home stereo, even your PC, may not.
Some audiophile claims aren’t BS at all; the quality difference between stereo equipment can be immense. But I agree with Randi on this — $7000 cables? Lunacy.
Maybe it’s just that your car has bad acoustics and lots of ambient noise. I remember Maximum PC magazine did a blind sound test among several audiophiles and audio hardware reviewers, testing mp3s, turntable records, reel to reel and cassette. Most of the audiophiles said before the tests there is no substitute for a record on a turntable in terms of sound quality. The MP3’s (160 bitrate) won.
I've been telling people Monster cables were scam for years - I'm so jazzed to see Randi taking this stuff on.
Are they saying the cables aren’t better or that they are better, but the average person can’t tell the difference?
LOL
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