It's that time of year, when we recognize those 2006 products that stand out as extraordinary in the marketplace.

Now there are some things that are controversial among us, such as interconnects, speaker spikes, etc. - some of us think these are Hooey, and some of us are believers.

On the other hand, some things are just obviously HOOEY - worthy of special recognition.

I am nominating two products, that I think are the silliest I have seen. Anyone own these?


Resonators
http://6moons.com/audioreviews/acousticsystem/resonators.html
(Actually recommend putting one in your refrigerator :) )

The Intelligent Chip
http://www.machinadynamica.com/machina64.htm
http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue18/intelligentchip.htm
(These are so affordable I'm tempted to buy one for laughs;) )

Add to that the Noise Harvester from PSAudio, and many of the other products they sell.

Also the Clever Clock.

Green Markers.

ETC ETC ETCETCETC

How about aftermarket power cords and those stupid gold fuses?

Jon

How about mono? It's obsolete. We have two ears, therefore we need stereo.

;)

It's that time of year, when we recognize those 2006 products that stand out as extraordinary in the marketplace.

Now there are some things that are controversial among us, such as interconnects, speaker spikes, etc. - some of us think these are Hooey, and some of us are believers.

On the other hand, some things are just obviously HOOEY - worthy of special recognition.

I am nominating two products, that I think are the silliest I have seen. Anyone own these?


Resonators
http://6moons.com/audioreviews/acousticsystem/resonators.html
(Actually recommend putting one in your refrigerator :) )


The Intelligent Chip
http://www.machinadynamica.com/machina64.htm
http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue18/intelligentchip.htm
(These are so affordable I'm tempted to buy one for laughs;) )

We all agree the room affects the sound, yes?

Therefore, if you change the room, the sound is (at least theoretically) affected, yes?

So, I doubt the changes are as dramatic as stated, and certainly that part about the resonator outside the room seems pretty far-fetched. But, if one were to place enough of them in the room to change the room characteristics, then the sound MUST change, yes?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating them, just trying to apply some elementary logic, or perhaps play the devil's advocate, since there is so much talk about how big of a factor the room is.

Yes, the room does affect the sound. It's much more important than I used to think.

However, there are some special things about the resonator that I found especially humorous:
- they are really tiny. They look about the size of a fingernail. The article claims that a pair of these has gigantic effects on the sound.
- they are very expensive.
- they are offered in copper, silver, gold and platinum - obviously at rapidly escalating prices. The only difference is the material and therefore the resonant frequency - there are cheaper ways to change the resonant frequency of a little cup than making it out of platinum.
- look at the photos & you will see surprisingly poor construction quality.

I simply nominated these because the review and the concept seem way over the top to me.

That is pretty small, I missed that in my skim though the review. That's for the "professional" model. The consumer-grade units are roughly 2" square - still pretty small.

And, I agree, it seems way over the top.

Let's not forget the target audience in general - people to whom cost is not an overwhelming factor in most decisions.

Hey, I won't dis your magic rock if you don't dis my green marker. ;)

BTW - I noticed both reviewers had Dr. titles, anyone know their field of "expertise".

Those chips are one of the stangest things I've seen... looks like an SD memory card, but it is full of quantom dots and fake atoms??