The amazing Randi who has been challenging the paranormal, supernatural, and occult power's of many who claim to have these powers. He is now giving a new million dollar challenge. He Randi is challenging a very famous audio critic, for the critic to prove the claims that there is a difference in the sound of speaker audio cables. Please I am not stating that there are no sound diffence but just interested in all fellow Audiogon members if any have heard of this?
Yes, Randi has been playing this game for a couple of years now. The latest hubbub is over Mikey Fremer accepting his offer, at which point Randi backed down, claiming that the Transparent cables Mikey wanted to use where not real cables since they had network boxes on them. That's the last I heard. I thought like Tvad, that this latest challenge was dead in the water. Not that it really matters anyway..........
Uh, did any of you guys actually happen to read "the other side of the coin"? Shockingly, things may not be as you are painting them. This item has been going on for a while and it sure appears that Mr. Randi is not the one who backed down. It was Pear that bolted - they had absolutely nothing to gain.
James Randi has had a pretty consistent track record over the years. While this may not rank up there w/ Uri Geller and the lady who claimed she could make you urinate through the power of her mind, it's probably not going to end much differently than the Stereo Review tests, the Tom Nousaine tests, etc.
The longer this fiasco drags on the more petty each side appears. I'm getting the impression that Randi is afraid Fremer might be able to distinguish between the two cables and at the same time Fremer is afraid he might not.
Interesting thread - thanks for the link. None of this surprises me in the least - least of all the venom. Fremer sounds like an emotional fellow and this is just the type of person who writes good objective reviews.
If Randi has brains or good advice then the test will be with ordinary wires of short lengths ( no capacitors, diodes, resistors, inductors in the cable) furthermore he should use an easy speaker to drive (close to 8 ohms with no nasty dips to destabilize the amp) and a low output impedance high quality amp (run at levels far far below clipping). The test should also require music not test signals.
In this configuration, Mr Fremer will have a very tough job indeed, as the audible differences are known scientifically to be extremely small. And as you say other tests in the past have shown similar results - no detectable audible difference ( although we all know that a very slight difference must exist ).
Clearly Randi does have an objective....to show that triple figure cables are not materially different in their audible characteristics from the already exotically priced Monster Cables. This is probably why he is primarily focussed on two very high $$ cables...after all it will make a good press story whereas two similar priced cables might make no splash at all.
The stakes are high for both parties...if Fremer wins it would be tremendous vindication for the kind of reviews we read in Stereophile.
Personally I hope this verbal abuse from Fremer is not intended to leave him a way out of the test....he now simply claims it is impossible to work with a "LIAR" and a "Sack of Sh*t", as the test will be rigged anyway.
Interestingly this is the exit or avoidance strategy that many paranormal psychics etc have used with Randi in the past.It is a win win for them. They gain publicity by accepting Randi's challenge and then back down over a number of months, one excuse after another...
I think the whole Randi vs. Mikey thing is just a dog and pony show, a publicity stunt if you will. I doesn't matter to me what comes out of it. I could care less whether they have their 'pissing' contest or not.
It doesn't matter because you know cables have a sound all their own or that once the known paramaters are achieved it's like throwing money out the window?
I only posted the amazing Randi because I remember James Randi when he would make his appearence on many late night talk shows. I was amazed how he debunked many a phoney psychic of the day Geller,and many of the so called psychic surgeries coming out of east Asia. I have to say after reading MF letters to Randi and his earlier ones too Arthur Salvatore of audio critic, they all seem to possess the same language and sound points. His use of foul words and name calling does not belong in a business letter, even if the party you are addressing has in ways rubbed you the wrong way.I also would like to say about high-end that I cannot see why a reviewer would not question the price tag of ten feet of wire at the going price of seven thousand plus and much more. How much technology was invested and spent to manufacture wire costing that much for the connection between amp/speaker. I have been involved in bodybuilding for many years and please no jokes about the correlation between intelligence and muscle building. I remember in his early day's Arthur Jones a brilliant man and the major inventor of the nautilus training equiptment, who had trained many a famous bodybuilder in Deland Florida. One of his major complaints of the time was that many barbell comapny's were making more money not on the sales of weights but the food supplementation side of the buisness. He was angry that their was no way to tell if a supplement was really working or not. My point is I believe Mr Randi no matter right or wrong within this topic, does have a right to question the high-end audio industry with many of its claims, many that have no scientific data or are fraudulent at best. We should not be so hard on James Randi as much as we the consumer should be asking the reviewer to ask that hard question. Why so much for ten feet of wire that was purchesed at Dow Corning in great bulk?
If i was Michial Fremer I would call james randi a shit bag too if all that stood between me and a million dollars was to tell the difference between my reference cables and a pair of Monster Cables. hell I'll take the challenge, I mean I was using Monster Sigma 2 Speaker cable and after purchasing a pair of Anti Speaker Cables sold them because the Anti Speaker cables were better and there is no doubt that i could here the difference if the music was set at the same volume. Please randi get in touch with me,I could sure use the $$$.
11-17-07: Pbb It doesn't matter because you know cables have a sound all their own or that once the known paramaters are achieved it's like throwing money out the window?
Pbb: You piss and moan like a whore in church. Does that aid with you objective low-end status quo? Why don't you go whine to someone else, I'm tired of listening to you already. Are you still fuming from "the paradox of accurate speakers" thread? I don't give a rat's ass if you use shoelaces to wire up your system, why do you get your panties in a knot over what I'm listening to? Get a life dude! You'll fit right in over at Audioreview, them there's all JR's buddies. You'll find more peace of mind over there.....where everything sounds the same.....
Was this necessary langauge for you to use on your part DUDE? Schipo
Unfortunately Schipo, yes it was necessary when dealing with the likes of Pbb. He's like a tiny chihuahua that keeps nipping at your heels, eventually you need to give it a kick. Now carry on, and I will do my best to ignore him.
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