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Chip Thread Below Turning Ugly... (LONG)

Posted by TeddiJackEddie (A) on February 23, 2005 at 15:25:00

Well, it's been going on for days, and everyone knew it would turn ugly sooner or later. First we have a reviewer saying that you should just read reviews and then blindly go to a store and purchase what the reviewer told you to buy (and that anyone who doesn't do that is a fundamentalist who only reads Audio Critic and Sensible Sound and is somehow not as intelligent as the people who follow). Of course, this isn't true, but the folks on the other side do have a tendency to say 'I have a $9 patchcord and it's better than some $300 patchcords.' As with all things in audio and in life, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
As a child in surburbia, there was a community activity center to keep the children happily occupied and out of trouble. They gave a basic electronics course one evening a week for a couple of hours. After three weeks, the math got to be too much, so my friends and I blew off the course and spent the rest of the time smoking cigarettes and watching the girls volleyball team practice. What I did learn in the first two weeks was how to solder and how to read a simple (tube) schematic. They say a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing, but it's taken me through a dozen kits and mods over the years. So, here is a true example of what I'm talking about.
I have an audiophile friend. He's a physicist. He went to Radio Shack and bought a $10 gold patchcord. He drove all the way across town (1.5 hours round trip in traffic) to a cryogenics lab. A few days later, he made the same trip, paid for having the patchcord cryogenically treated, came home, puts the patchcord between his CDP and preamp. Guess what? It sounded better than his $300 patchcord. I had both cords here - it bettered the $300 one by a whole lot! But let's do some math: $10 for the patchcord, whatever the cryogenic lab charged him, and whatever 3 hours of his consulting time as a physicist is worth. So when he gets on a blog and says his $10 RS patchcord beat a $300 one, it's not entirely true, is it? I have not voiced an opinion on the 'miraculous' chip, other than posting my prophylactic mod last week. I will continue to refrain from posting about it, only to comment on the ugliness that is coming from both sides.

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