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Biggest myths in audio that tick you off/General things in audio that tick you off. - Page 29

post #841 of 997
4/26/12 at 11:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rutgar View Post

How MIT was compensated is a Red Herring.

Can I draw from this comment that we should believe celebrity endorsements of other products?
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post #842 of 997
4/26/12 at 11:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jinjuku View Post

And there are 1000 other studios that don't. I wouldn't be surprised if this wasn't a promotional affair/back channel deal. Heck if MIT wants to send me a bunch of their finest I wouldn't mind a few press releases on the matter

I wonder what Telarc, Abbey Road etc... use.

From Abbey Road Equipment Page:

"We wouldn't be one of the best recording spaces in the world if we didn't have some of the best recording equipment. Our exhaustive microphone collection encompasses the finest models from the past 60 years, while our carefully-selected loudspeakers provide equal clarity at the opposite end of the signal chain.

The AMS Neve 88RS consoles in Studios One and Two provide the latest in high quality analogue signal processing, we have SSL 9000J and Duality consoles in Studios Three and 52 respectively, and the AMS Neve DFC Gemini makes our Penthouse Studio one of the most powerful digital facilities available.

Our extensive range of classic and modern outboard equipment from EMI, Fairchild, Urei, Lexicon and TC Electronic is used alongside the latest plugin offerings from Waves, Universal Audio and Sonnox, as well as those from our Abbey Road Studios plugins range.

We have Pro Tools and Pyramix systems that can be combined with an array of interfaces, along with a wide and varied assortment of analogue and digital tape machines that are maintained to their original specifications.
"

Hmmm. No mention of cables or other interconnects.

Which belies the argument that studios install premium cabling to impress and attract clients. Therefore if Abbey Road is using Monster Cable or MIT it is because people working there think it sounds better than generic cable.
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post #843 of 997
4/26/12 at 11:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Riffmeister View Post

Which belies the argument that studios install premium cabling to impress and attract clients. Therefore if Abbey Road is using Monster Cable or MIT it is because people working there think it sounds better than generic cable.

No, it implies they got the cables for free in exchange for the marketing value.
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post #844 of 997
4/26/12 at 11:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Riffmeister View Post

Which belies the argument that studios install premium cabling to impress and attract clients. Therefore if Abbey Road is using Monster Cable or MIT it is because people working there think it sounds better than generic cable.

You are missing the elephant here.

It means that since/if Abbey Road, S.S, Telarc all have wired with Monster cabling, that there is this sonic improvement then you should be able to pop in over at Best Buy or RadioShack and pick up their premium interconnects, take them home, plug them in and start experiencing the same thing.
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post #845 of 997
4/26/12 at 11:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bfreedma View Post

No, it implies they got the cables for free in exchange for the marketing value.

Sounds like your reaching to me.
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post #846 of 997
4/26/12 at 11:40am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rutgar View Post


Sounds like your reaching to me.

I don't think that's reaching.

Take the studio that has the B&W 800D. (I think it's Abbey Road) B&W markets that (and their diamond tweets ) up the A$$! The 800D has terrible off-axis/directivity & plays through cone breakup. It is not the most pleasing or neutral speaker out there. Either Abbey Road is getting big bucks from B&W or they are really stupid. Lol

For those of you who like the B&W 800: I have no issue with that. I'm happy you found a product you like.
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post #847 of 997
4/26/12 at 11:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rutgar View Post

Sounds like your reaching to me.

Sounds like he's in touch with reality to me. IMO the prudent person simply isn't going to see it the way you want to describe the transaction.
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post #848 of 997
4/26/12 at 12:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Monkish54 View Post

I don't think that's reaching.

Take the studio that has the B&W 800D. (I think it's Abbey Road) B&W markets that (and their diamond tweets ) up the A$$! The 800D has terrible off-axis/directivity & plays through cone breakup. It is not the most pleasing or neutral speaker out there. Either Abbey Road is getting big bucks from B&W or they are really stupid. Lol

For those of you who like the B&W 800: I have no issue with that. I'm happy you found a product you like.

I'm not a fan of B&W speakers either. But it is reaching to assume that those speakers, or any other equipment a studio is using, was given to them just because it is something that you yourself is not fond of.

Moreover, after checking with my inside guy at MIT, he confirmed the cables were indeed sold to Skywalker Sound.
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post #849 of 997
4/26/12 at 12:20pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rutgar View Post


I'm not a fan of B&W speakers either. But it is reaching to assume that those speakers, or any other equipment a studio is using, was given to them just because it is something that you yourself is not fond of.

Moreover, after checking with my inside guy at MIT, he confirmed the cables were indeed sold to Skywalker Sound.

It's not my bias that makes me believe that.

If Harmon did that with the Salon 2 (my favorite speaker) I'd just as easily assume Abbey got them for free.

But I understand what you are saying. In fact, I agree. I have no proof that B&W traded a pair of 800D for marketing purposes, therefore, I can not say say they do. However, I feel their marketing BS with Abbey does imply they had a deal.
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post #850 of 997
4/26/12 at 12:30pm
Do you recall what amps they were using when they got those MIT's, Rutgar?
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post #851 of 997
4/26/12 at 12:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rutgar View Post

Moreover, after checking with my inside guy at MIT, he confirmed the cables were indeed sold to Skywalker Sound.

Full price, or was there an incentive (i.e. discount)? I'd love to see the invoice.

If a studio uses a particular brand all it means is the studio believes that brand satisfies necessary performance thresholds. If I had the choice between lamp wire and expensive cables and they were anywhere close to the same price I'd go with the expensive cables, even if I absolutely knew performance was identical. If I could afford it I would even pay a bit of money for something that had no marked improvement if it was a better looking product. Why would studios be any different?
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post #852 of 997
4/26/12 at 12:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rutgar View Post

I'm not a fan of B&W speakers either. But it is reaching to assume that those speakers, or any other equipment a studio is using, was given to them just because it is something that you yourself is not fond of.

Moreover, after checking with my inside guy at MIT, he confirmed the cables were indeed sold to Skywalker Sound.

Well that seems very convenient Did he remember the transaction from 10/271999 off the top of his head or did he have look it up for you?
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post #853 of 997
4/26/12 at 1:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by nooshinjohn View Post

Agreed... that dog don't hunt.

My rule of thumb is that cables and such should be no more than 10% of the cost ot the piece of gear being connected with them. A $1000.00 cd /sacd player therefore gets a Benjamin spent on cables. I picked up for that hundred bucks, a pair of minty -fresh MIT Shotgun S3 1 meter cables with locking connectors. Man does it sound sweet!

I also tend to not buy anything new as I prefer to spend my money on gear the has already taken the retail price hit.

I was thinking more in the neighborhood 1%...maybe. $100 for a single cable is wasting $$ IMHO.
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post #854 of 997
4/26/12 at 1:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chu Gai View Post

Do you recall what amps they were using when they got those MIT's, Rutgar?

Am I mistaken in remembering something about you looking into the Skywalker/MIT deal and finding out that the person or persons involved in acquiring or approving the deal were no longer with the company? Or am I thinking of something else?
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post #855 of 997
4/26/12 at 1:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cybrsage View Post

Was just repeating what I was told. Now, this was 20 years ago, when you needed a zillion different cable types to connect everything and there was alot more to connect (Cassette, DAT, Phono, TV, LaserDisc, etc), so the price for cables was naturally higher.

Still, I thought it was funny.

I put my first system together when I was in high school 40 years ago...but even at the "audiophile" store I frequented they never tried to ******** me about cables. Just the opposite...it's pretty simple stuff except for "audiophiles" who read too much and have too much money and think spending more money makes for higher quality. As Mr Barnum said, there's one born every minute... .
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post #856 of 997
4/26/12 at 1:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by CruelInventions View Post

Am I mistaken in remembering something about you looking into the Skywalker/MIT deal and finding out that the person or persons involved in acquiring or approving the deal were no longer with the company? Or am I thinking of something else?

Good memory. They've moved on and that was quite some time ago. I don't know if they wired up with MIT in their new location. What we don't know is how much was paid, if there were side deals, or what. It's a long time to milk one testimonial. Also, Skywalker never returned my inquiries.
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post #857 of 997
4/26/12 at 1:25pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by lovinthehd View Post


I put my first system together when I was in high school 40 years ago...but even at the "audiophile" store I frequented they never tried to ******** me about cables. Just the opposite...it's pretty simple stuff except for "audiophiles" who read too much and have too much money and think spending more money makes for higher quality. As Mr Barnum said, there's one born every minute... .

I put my first system together 4 years ago. =D
I was 15.

I bought a pair of $25 speakers from Radio Shack. I upgraded to $50 speakers. Then I was told about the super cheap Best Buy speakers - I bought those. Finally, my uncle gave me a pair of TagMclaren Calliope speakers. Better than the others, but not very good. On the 13th I bout a pair of Philharmonic Audio 2's. My first real HI-FI speaker.
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post #858 of 997
4/26/12 at 1:26pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chu Gai View Post

Also, Skywalker never returned my inquiries.

I'm shocked :rollseyes:
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post #859 of 997
4/26/12 at 2:04pm
MEh...I have always used red/white or red/black lamp cord all my life. Only recently did I use monster cable because a friend had a roll lying around. I could not find any difference.
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post #860 of 997
4/26/12 at 2:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chu Gai View Post

Do you recall what amps they were using when they got those MIT's, Rutgar?

Hey Chu! Long time no talk to (of course I really haven't been on the forums much in while).

In answer to your question, I don't.

Hey, what happened to your sig with the links? I miss the 'Indecent Proposal' clip. My nurse still gets a kick out of that one. She also really likes this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqVVywso90U
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post #861 of 997
4/26/12 at 2:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by chikoo View Post

MEh...I have always used red/white or red/black lamp cord all my life. Only recently did I use monster cable because a friend had a roll lying around. I could not find any difference.

Well, that's because you are listening to two paper cups connected to a Fisher-Price record player! If you had a real system, you'd be awestruck by the difference.
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post #862 of 997
4/26/12 at 2:38pm
^ ROFL

no wonder. I guess I need to upgrade to treated Cellulose speakers.
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post #863 of 997
4/26/12 at 2:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rutgar View Post

Hey Chu! Long time no talk to (of course I really haven't been on the forums much in while).

In answer to your question, I don't.

Hey, what happened to your sig with the links? I miss the 'Indecent Proposal' clip. My nurse still gets a kick out of that one. She also really likes this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqVVywso90U

If you hadn't asked, I wouldn't have realized the links weren't there. I'll check my control panel or maybe they were deleted for me. Reason I asked about the amps is some amps actually benefit from those type of network cables. Nice to see you're still around.
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post #864 of 997
4/26/12 at 3:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chu Gai View Post

Also, Skywalker never returned my inquiries.

His son caused his death. His son foolishly charged into danger and Skywalker sacrificed himself to save his son. Pretty sad, really.
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post #865 of 997
4/26/12 at 3:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chu Gai View Post

If you hadn't asked, I wouldn't have realized the links weren't there. I'll check my control panel or maybe they were deleted for me. Reason I asked about the amps is some amps actually benefit from those type of network cables. Nice to see you're still around.

Yeah, I'm still around. Mostly a lurker these days. Every now and then though, I temporarily lose my sanity and jump into the fray.
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post #866 of 997
4/26/12 at 3:36pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by cybrsage View Post


His son caused his death. His son foolishly charged into danger and Skywalker sacrificed himself to save his son. Pretty sad, really.

Bahahahahahhahahaa YES!!!
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post #867 of 997
4/26/12 at 3:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rutgar View Post

Yeah, I'm still around. Mostly a lurker these days. Every now and then though, I temporarily lose my sanity and jump into the fray.

You've always been a good guy and your insights were appreciated.
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post #868 of 997
4/26/12 at 4:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rock_bottom View Post

One of my favorites is people claiming to hear subtle differences in audio components, such as cables and the like, from another room. Teresa Goodwin, a writer for Positive Feedback Online, once claimed that her mother could hear the differences between different speaker cables from another room while doing the dishes . John Atkinson of Stereophile once claimed that he could hear the audible difference made by an LP demagnetizer from another room, saying that "there's more bass!".

You going to LSAF?
I'll do a cable swap, you tell me if you can hear it out in the hallway

cheers,

AJ
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post #869 of 997
4/26/12 at 5:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay1 View Post

The entire audio review industry. It seems like home audio is the only market with this bogus "expert" segment. The golden eared voodoo magic reviewers somehow have these jobs with no technical background, or ability to pick a product apart. Every speaker is as good as speakers costing twice as much, but not as good as the expensive speakers they previously reviewed. It's even worse when places like stereophile have measurements, yet the reviewer doesn't even base any of the commentary about what he's hearing on the measurements, and even makes observations that are opposite of what the measurements show.

+1. Nice post.
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post #870 of 997
4/26/12 at 5:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by d_m1010 View Post

+1. Nice post.

Agreed. The magazines serve the industry, not their readership, though I'm sure they'll argue otherwise. Instead of being fair-minded critics and observers of the industry they cover, they act as cheerleaders.
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