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In Reply to: "Hi-Fi sense of direction" -- New Scientist on speaker cables, the same magazine that... posted by clarkjohnsen on February 16, 2007 at 09:57:00:
...that "directional" cables had shields that were grounded on only one end. Depending on how the component's grounds are wired, that could indeed create an audible effect, no new theories required--though I've got some directional cables and I've never heard this effect.To some extent there's a clash of cultures here. Scientists in academia--the audience for this magazine--are used to the free exchange of data and ideas. Things are different in industry, whether it's hi fi cables or pharmaceuticals.
I'd say New Scientist embarassed itself here. I could be wrong about directional cables, however. I've never disassembled one.
Follow Ups:
Jim, if you follow the link it says"Hi-Fi News magazine has an article that states as cold hard fact: 'All cables - yes all cables - have signal directionality... in one direction the sound is slightly louder, has lower distortion, is cleaner, smoother, sweeter, has deeper bass and overall wider dynamic range.'"
So we're not just talking about the one-end grounding thing.
On the larger issue, I suspect the initial poster does not understand that NS is engaged in gentle mockery.
PS Connoisseurs of woo might enjoy this story
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/012504.php
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/02/texas_legislature_officially_i.phphttp://fixedearth.com/ certainly gives us a compelling alternative physics, and a conspiracy theory to boot. Copernicus, Darwin, Newton, they're all involved!
...understands mockery, and the Feedback column is full of it (as it were). The fact remains, however, that almost any phenomenon heard by high-end listeners is going to be mocked in NS and I suspect you know that.
> On the larger issue, I suspect the initial poster does not understand
> that NS is engaged in gentle mockery.Mockery most certainly but I would disagree with the gentle. The author does not even feel a need to explain anything assuming that the intended audience will see what is wrong. He certainly put forwards nothing to excuse the claims.
Applying the word respected to Hi-Fi News is a bit odd though. Apart from some audiophiles, I suspect Hi-Fi News lost the respect of the rest of mankind sometime in the 1ate 1970s when it adopted a "flat-earth" position on hi-fi equipment. Perhaps the author felt the word was necessary to justify the p*ss taking rather than simply ignoring nonsense from unreliable sources which is the normal position.
> > "Hi-Fi News magazine has an article that states as cold hard fact: 'All cables - yes all cables - have signal directionality... in one direction the sound is slightly louder, has lower distortion, is cleaner, smoother, sweeter, has deeper bass and overall wider dynamic range.'"So we're not just talking about the one-end grounding thing. < <
Um, well, okay. Those claims do seem a little...far-fetched.
EVERY respectable science magazine constantly "touts" global warming because almost every climate scientist who's not employed by an oil company believes that the evidence supports anthropogenic global warming. That doesn't make it true, but it does make me wonder what you, Clark, know that they don't.
NT
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