On 7 Mar 2004 16:47:18 GMT, Rich Wood wrote:

On 6 Mar 2004 01:52:51 GMT, (Larry W4CSC) wrote:

Want to send them to a Psych ward? Have an audiologist do a spectrum
analysis on their hearing.....(c;

It had better be a quiet psych ward. An analysis would be futile when
you're dealing with people who believe they need power cables that are
$400 a foot because they make the system sound better.

I got a great story for that, too. A new audiofool neighbor moved in
under the main lobe of my 1500W HF ham radio station. He installed
his $20K stereo system with the train engine starting cables to the
speakers, big enough to crank the train with no loss in voltage up to
800 yards. I could hear a terrible buzz right through the walls of my
house from way over there when my packet radio modem keyed up the
beast for a beacon. Man, those are SOME audio power amps! Are they
240VAC? 480? 3 phase?

Well, my ham antennas are pretty easy to spot. Looks like a little
VOA installation. I'm responsible for any toaster that won't toast
within 20 miles. "It's that damned ham radio of his!", they curse. I
guess he didn't notice them before he moved in. Of course, I got a
threatening phone call, referred him to FCC so he could get the free
RFI booklets, all very friendly and helpful.

"Listen, I'd be happy to come over and solve YOUR interference
problem. I'll even pay for the new cables and any connectors YOU
need.", I offered. After he cooled down a few days and his BP dropped
below 200/170, he asked what I wanted to do.

I wanted to replace the starter cables with #14 foil-shielded mic
cable, because I had a 500' roll in my service truck. Oh, ballistic
we went again. That would make his stereo sound like a Radio Shack
Flavoradio! Oh, God, NO! Ok, let's compromise. I'll come install
the new cable and we'll compare it to the battery cables off the
train. Should be easy to hear the difference, eh?

Wrong......There wasn't any difference in the sound. There also
wasn't any RF feedback from the speaker-leads-acting-like-big-antennas
back into the input balancing act of the big DC-coupled power amps,
either. 1500W on 20 meter SSB never made so much as a click. The
cable is made for XLR mic cords I make up for churches whos PA systems
I fix. The speaker was hooked to the two #14 conductors and the foil
shield drain wire was connected to the stereo chassis ground lug and
left open on the speaker end, creating a Faraday Shield (the late
Michael Faraday (1791-1867):
http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/Faraday.html
would have been proud of me using his invention.

Happy neighbor, now good friend. Several audio myths blown all to
hell. Better informed consumer...(c;


If you want real proof, look at the back advertising section of
Stereophile magazine and see what's being sold, how much it costs and
what it claims to do. I have an audiophile friend who falls for all of
it. 20 watt mono tube power amps at $20,000 each. I'll bet his system
cost him $100,000 or more and it only has an incredibly expensive
turntable as a source. There isn't a CD within eyeshot.

I'm an ASCAP and BMI-licensed DJ and do a lot of outdoor audio work
for parties, car lots, etc. Thousands of hours of MP3 music on 360GB
of hard drives pumping a nice DJ board from Winamp (before AOHell)
with compander and cross-fader plugins. It runs itself until some
cutie has a request to look up at the party.

Time and Time again I have been asked what kind of source I use for
all this wonderful music that sounds SO good being played through
APPROPRIATE speakers, those that require TWO people to lift and load,
not something 6" across in a pasteboard box labeled "woofer" by
Tweeters at $800. The just can't believe it's ALL MP3 music being
played. (No, I can't hear the 128Kbps sampling rate, either...(c

IBOC will be perfect for those who are content with 64kbps MP3s and
have no live music frame of reference. Look at what the manufacturers
did to AM sections of their radios. I don't think that's where good
quality is going to come from.

I'm still wondering why we're buying IBOC, now that "music" is no
longer played on AM, AT ALL, outside of Nashville's WSM. Who needs to
hear Rush or Bill or Gripe Radio Locals in digital? A little white
noise makes the program more interesting!

The best test is with a very high quality pair of headsets where
you'll hear every artifact up close. I can't even listen to C-Quam
because of the gyrating stereo image. It causes motion sickness
standing still.

I'm very protective of my Sennheisers, here. Have you played with
those $150 little plastic Bose phones? HOW CHEAP they're built! Best
Buy can't keep them out for a demo because the plastic headbands keep
snapping off.

Most all headphones over $20 have about the same sound. BUT, I rate
them with NO INPUT. I put them on and move around, listening for the
headphone-induced, plastic creaking noises most all of them make. The
better Sennheisers are like HEAVEN in comparison to most other
brands......they just don't CLICK OR CREAK...which drives me crazy.

I seldom listen to "broadcasting" any more because I used to be in the
business back when you HAD to actually put program material on the air
that didn't include an 800 number and playing 40 minutes of Di-Teck
Dot CON per hour would result in license revocation and heavy
fines.....you remember....when the FCC was run by SANE ENGINEERS, not
political hacks and lawyers trying to sell off the publics property on
Clear Channel's payroll.



Larry W4CSC
POWER is our friend!