I am considering $5.7K speakers, but a lot of money. I am on the fence about it. My present Revel M22 with tweeter upgrade are serious speakers. I only use a TT and it is also a serious player with Ortofon AS-212 tonearm and HOMC cartridge. My tube amp is also great after using many other tube amps and I rolled about every possible tube with finding the best. What have you done to increase the performance of your stereo with an accessory? Power conditioner, but I believe my power is clean as it does not change late into the early morning unlike some areas? However, a power conditioner is not out. I am using Blue Jeans phono cables, I doubt I would hear much improvement with more expensive cables thus cables are out. Ideas?
My last "snake oil" improving listening, is very little know ... Not with adding something, but kind of "cut", last time, it was shortening speakers cables. Strange thing, I cut the cables in half, and unbelieving "flatten out" the listening on my well know records. I can not even BA test, now that the cables are cut.
The very definition of 'snake oil' means they just don't. Spend your money on a meal out or something actually useful.
I do that all the time. I did buy best of Doobies on Walmart Green album a week ago. Does not have the dynamics, I need to buy an earlier album.
If you want to listen to one of the best sounding album, I can easily guarantee you these albums will sound good on "any" stereo. Especially the On the Night (1993 live album). ............If you like his music.
For example, the disc I think I spy in ATR’s avatar. Is that Ronald Shannon Jackson’s Decoding Society?
First, I recommend you to listen the new expensive speakers side by side with our Revels, not only because it is a serious amount of money, but also there is a chance that they will not be the upgrade you expect, mainly because it can be wrong in your room and with your existing system. The speakers performance will be dictated by all the other variables in the system and room acoustics. I am saying this because lately I have been done some experiments with different types and brands, of speakers and amps (different price points) and the conclusion is: it is all about synergy! A cheaper (well designed) speaker can easily outperform a much more expensive one with certain components... you will be surprised how this is true! For that money you must always try at home first... and try more than one type of speaker In my opinion (in the bookshelf department) the sweet spot for top speakers is around $3000-4000, with interesting options from Reference 3a, Totem, Dali, Harbeth, ProAc, etc. Also you can try at home for 30 days (or more) the cheaper-but-performing Buchardt S400 MkII and return it if it doesn’t suit your taste. As for power conditioners, I strongly recommend the Puritan PSM136. It transformed my system, making every component silent and the sound better. It is not cheap though.
I think that you missed the point of the quotes, which indicate that others may believe such a product to be "snake oil", but the owner(s) would beg to differ.
Okay so you’re looking for something that’s not snake oil. You should define “snake oil” first, otherwise you’ll likely to get mostly useless suggestions since people have to guess its meaning.
Plenty of people believe higher-end (i.e. relatively expensive cables) to be "snake oil", but countless others, myself included, have had experiences that lead us to believe otherwise. I have never paid retail prices, but have auditioned and owned plenty of different cables, and found there to be differences. In some cases, the differences were very obvious. There is no doubt that many audiophiles are influenced by confirmation bias, etc., and I am certainly not immune. But the reason that I don't accept the blanket skepticism often shown by "objectivists" is that there have been more than a few times over the decades (I've had systems since the early '80s) in which my reactions were the exact opposite of what would be expected of confirmation bias. In other words, I wanted the (sometimes newly acquired, sometimes more expensive) gear to sound better, yet it didn't. A few years ago I upgraded my power strip to an Isotek EVO Sirius (one of their lower end products, but not cheap), and the differences were obvious. In fact, the flat screen TV that was attached to it was the most obvious, as the picture improved sharply (no pun intended). Of course it is possible that my electrical source wasn't good, and/or that my previous strip was faulty, but there are obviously times when such devices can make a substantial difference. Would it have been better than a less expensive device? I don't know, but as the build quality was high, and I got a nice discount, I didn't care to test. I used a pair of Inakustik speaker cables for a while, and their design is rather unusual. Small strands of copper around plastic pieces which ensure a column of air inside of them, and thin jackets. At one point I noticed a low hum coming from the speakers, and, after trying a few different things, decided to use some glasses to lift them off of the floor. The hum disappeared. Now, many argue that "cable lifters" are snake oil, but in that context they made a substantial difference.
Last year I bought this... SPEC Analog Disc Sheet AP-UDI This is a lacquer-encased aluminum turntable disc that is very smooth, completely stiff, and is medium thickness (about 2.5 mm). It is expensive, I paid $270 shipped directly from Japan, it retails for $350. I was using an Achromat and this blew the it out of the water. More detail and dynamics a more like you are there experience with the music
My post is asking about an item that is not the actual music playback system, but an accessory that actually performs. There is not enough room in the title to post all of this. Ok?
I am using cork mat with raised round posts and an acrylic platter on top. Dead quiet on an Lenco idler TT.
I believe snake oil covers more than the word accessory. Are you actually having a major problem with the title considering your many replies?
