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Audiophiles in Japan Are Installing Their Own Power Poles

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Re: Audiophiles in Japan Are Installing Their Own Power Poles

#281

Post by algesten »

Udik wrote: post #279
SOLAR_FIELDS wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wine might be a better comparison (at least a Rolls and a Toyota look different). Many could tell the difference pretty well between a $5 and $20 bottle (hint: the $20 one is the one not loaded with sugar), but not a whole lot of people can tell the difference between a $20 bottle and a $200 bottle. The law of diminishing returns kicks in pretty quick with both wine and audio. I think with audio once you’re in over a…

> difference pretty well between a $5 and $20 bottle (hint: the $20 one is the one not loaded with sugar) Wine loaded with sugar??? AFAIK, in a dry wine all the sugar is converted to alcohol- even in the case it's been added before the fermentation, which is still pretty rare, at least in major wine producing countries. That is definitely not the difference between a $5 and $20 bottle of wine (in Italy you can still…

whether it's rare depends on the wine. most champagne has added sugar before fermentation.

search for "brut nature" which for cava, champagne and the like means it's only the sugar in the grapes themselves.

Re: Audiophiles in Japan Are Installing Their Own Power Poles

#282

Post by Udik »

algesten wrote: post #281
Udik wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> difference pretty well between a $5 and $20 bottle (hint: the $20 one is the one not loaded with sugar) Wine loaded with sugar??? AFAIK, in a dry wine all the sugar is converted to alcohol- even in the case it's been added before the fermentation, which is still pretty rare, at least in major wine producing countries. That is definitely not the difference between a $5 and $20 bottle of wine (in Italy you can still…

whether it's rare depends on the wine. most champagne has added sugar before fermentation. search for "brut nature" which for cava, champagne and the like means it's only the sugar in the grapes themselves.

If it's added before fermentation, it's still not in the final product, as it's been converted to alcohol. But you're right, champagne, even the best brands, has some sugar added after the fermentation, about 12g/l. It's part of the method. It's still a rather tiny amount if you consider that an orange juice without added sugar has about 90g/l (and you do drink it by the litre, as opposed to champagne...)

Re: Audiophiles in Japan Are Installing Their Own Power Poles

#283

Post by bwilliams18 »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #246
imgabe wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A $1000 bottle of wine is going to be from a specific year, from a specific vineyard. There's naturally a limited supply, so price will increase with demand like any collectible. A wooden knob is not unique and anyone could manufacture an unlimited amount at low cost.

There is no natural limit on bottles that are labeled with a specific year and a specific vineyard. The only way to know the label is genuine is the stringent chain-of-custody requirements that have become normal in the world of expensive artwork under pressure from forgeries. As far as I know, those are not yet the norm for wine.

I wouldn't say they are the norm, but they're certainly expected by any re-seller (auction house, retailer, restaurant) when dealing with the highest echelon of wine (1st Growth Bordeaux, Premier Cru Burgundy, Vintage Champagne) they'll also expect a description of the storage conditions over time.

See the documentary Sour Grapes to understand how this system was undermined and trust evaporated from the industry.

Re: Audiophiles in Japan Are Installing Their Own Power Poles

#284

Post by ip26 »

tgtweak wrote: post #278
andrewvc wrote: post #16

Even if you buy into this theory, how is this cheaper or better than using batteries to power your gear?

DC to AC converters in common inverters (where your battery power gets turned into AC wall current) are usually digital (mosfets usually) and unless they're running at 96khz+, which is probably not the case even with "pure sine wave" inverters¹, they could also introduce some noise. Additionally, if you were charging the batteries at the same time, that charger could be carrying some noise into the DC current. Visibl…

So many things these days just convert AC back to DC though. (Maybe not vintage audio equipment though)

Re: Audiophiles in Japan Are Installing Their Own Power Poles

#285

Post by vortico »

zmix wrote: post #205
vortico wrote: post #78

I work in the audio industry, and I can say two things: 1) most everything they do is audio mysticism (i.e. complete BS), and 2) they are very profitable customers.

As what do you work in the audio industry? Marketing? Sales? Engineering? Programming?

All of the above. Most people want to buy a product that solves a particular problem. Some want to be convinced that what they get results in "perfect" audio, for whatever definition of perfect they have.

Re: Audiophiles in Japan Are Installing Their Own Power Poles

#287

Post by Kimitri »

hermitdev wrote: post #207
vortico wrote: post #78

I work in the audio industry, and I can say two things: 1) most everything they do is audio mysticism (i.e. complete BS), and 2) they are very profitable customers.

As a trained EE, non-practicing, I would think it would be far easier to install filters/conditioners on the line to normalize the voltage and current (e.g. performing phase correction). Also, if you had a local AC->DC->AC conversion, could probably get a more uniform power source frequency. Not sure, been a long time since ive studied this, but I think a lot of thw high-end audiophile stuff is snake oil. I've been a…

+1 for the electrostatic speakers. I bought a used pair of Martin Logans about ten years ago and I'm still totally in love with them. The model is Aerius i and they are from '99. Paid 1350 euros for them.

Re: Audiophiles in Japan Are Installing Their Own Power Poles

#288

Post by andyroid »

hermitdev wrote: post #203
imgabe wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A $1000 bottle of wine is going to be from a specific year, from a specific vineyard. There's naturally a limited supply, so price will increase with demand like any collectible. A wooden knob is not unique and anyone could manufacture an unlimited amount at low cost.

I've had a $400 bottle of scotch (37 yr McCallan over 15 years ago), and it was significantly better than the 18 yr old you could get at the time for about $120. Was it worth it? Yes-once. I wouldn't do it again, but I enjoyed that bottle over a 3 month period.

So not a blind test at all then, and just as easily biased as the expensive wooden knob that subjectively was so much better.

Re: Audiophiles in Japan Are Installing Their Own Power Poles

#290

Post by bassman9000 »

AdrianB1 wrote: post #95
bayindirh wrote: post #59

I don't understand this type of audiophiles. I also have a fairly high end, vintage audio system at home, but I'd never do anything like that in the name of audio quality. There's a quote I love about these people: A normal person uses the audio system to listen music, while an audiophile uses music to listen to his audio system.

You don't understand the power of naivety, placebo effect, dreams and stupidity composed (multiply all). Not in any way intended to insult these people, I know a few (not as rich) and they simply do not want to understand the basic principles behind digital signals, error corrections etc. I know people that work in IT and still pretend that audio transmission over USB can add jitter to music and that a DAC can "open"…

Power audiophiles don't do digital. Noise is a very real thing in analog. Go to any rehearsal studio and ask about the power conditioning: almost sure they're not using power as coming from the steet.
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