Brave man, McGowan...

Setting a pretty low bar for what constitutes bravery.
Paul’s expressed an opinion (marketing opportunity) to a tiny niche within a niche (music fans who also chase unicorn audio gear).

It’s not like he’s on the front lines fighting terrorism.

But he is willingly putting business concerns at risk, in some thinking in some people..
Try not to take a swipe at him and his market, like you just did (for no real reasons other than which might likely be selfish ones), and maybe the world will be slowly become a better place.

We’ve really got to try and get past these ’kill all whom I disagree with in order to achieve MY peace’ undercurrents of projections that are masquerading as solutions --- that run rampant in humanity.

It's kinda tough though, a real catch-22, as the fleshy box we project from and receive via --colors it all so mightily.

Anyway, I agree that Paul’s admitting that an expensive AC wire made a huge improvement on his best power plant design tells much about the imperfection of this design, but also about the failure of this design’s primary goal: which was to re-make the AC and make it pure. If AC wire for its input power makes a huge difference there’s no way this goal was ever met. It still doesn’t mean it’s POS, but its marketing certainly is.

I think it might be his polite way of showing that he does not know everything, you don’t know everything, I don’t know everything and..most importantly...


The oiler crowd and the naysyer crowd, really need to crack their head open and admit they don’t know everything and to stop attacking things they don’t understand. To embrace the reality that the world is full of unknowns.

To understand how science works.. and not attack everyone with ’facts’. As facts are for engineering and this is exploration, the realm of science, which has no facts, only theory. The word fact is a common misconception of the nature of reality and has no place in science. (go ask the entire professorial staff at any university physics department)

That the word fact can be bandied about and utilized, but with the fully realized and consciously carried deeper understanding that it is more an idealization of a deeply entrenched and seldom unpacked theoretical set of points or point...that is seldom wrong or seldom found to be incorrect, or not yet found to be wanting. A fact is nothing more than this.

Where empirical observation is not to be dismissed. As that is core to the very idea of science.. The two are inseparable.

But this highly desirable outcomes is not likely to happen any time soon, for some very basic reasons.

This sort of thing (fervent requests to have people open their minds, etc) has been said by others a thousand times over, and maybe some do finally get it..but... others seem to step into their space left open and continue the very sorry attack fest.

It is so bad, So rampant, so common...that the very idea of engineering was created as a system of formalized study to deal with such linear thinking mindsets (’fact’ oriented minds) - by the Germans, back in the early 1700’s.

The word engineer dates back to the middle ages. Facts do matter.

The word engineer does indeed go back that far. It was tied to the early bomb makers in the given military machine. The expression "hoisted by his own petard", for example, comes from the times that early bomb makers and/or engineers blew themselves up.

The formalization of teaching by rote and dogmatic text, as a method of giving these linear minded people something to do, outside of the military -- was the deal.

The Germans (more a regional reference than anything else) took it out of the military complex and applied to the the general public, in order to deal with all the areas of application that were not military in nature.

Which is the ’build out the world’ part of the origins of engineering. The world needed ’build out’ foot soldiers, who could follow directions. the kinds of people who could do this perfectly well but seemed to not be able to reach the theoretical exploration complexities. There was and is a large mass of them. Help them be useful to themselves and the world. 

thus engineering is for following orders and following texts and not being theoretical in anything but following specific and rigid rules, theories are expressed as facts and laws.

And Geoff tried to remind you about this projection issue, re his reference to Feynman's line about 'cargo cult scientists', who were indulging in scientism, dogmatic factualization and law references.

And this forum is strongly intertwined with exploration... not dogmatic scientism, or 'engineering'.

There are plenty of other forums that are 'flat earth maintenance' forums in the context of audio - that serve that need.

Pointedly...some here are strongly indulging in dogmatic scientism. Starting with the basics that is in the texts and applying rigor and so on, is fine, but to rail against unknowns as they don't fit the things one read in the texts, is categorically against science and it's origins and intent.

and you hit this mark and walk this dogmatic projecting walk all the time, incessantly so...to the point of notable nausea for all others...

perhaps you should consider taking youself to one of those ceaselessly projecting flat earth forums, as you seem to fit so well with that mindset.

atdavid,

Again, you miss my point.

It is simple.

You don’t know everything.

As for me attacking the inventive capacity of some in the engineering end of the pool, no, not at all ...that is your projection, a repeated error of yours. I said no such thing. Eg, Faraday was completely uneducated and self taught.

You seem to be spending an inordinate amount of your time and life energy to force this forum and it’s denizens to fit your mindset and projections about the nature of audio and exploration within it.

Your ideas on scientific rigor and how you apply it here, and against all in front of you.... on this forum....... are patently blind. You are, by your own text and screed, IMO and IME... out of your depth in many areas, and you can’t see it... or refuse to see it.

However, a good imagination and ability construct a model out of it is actually a very good thing for scientific exploration! You seem to be very good at this. one thing though (among many) is to no fool oneself with it. Admirable, commendable, in my book. But not in how you do it, here, on this forum. And I say this not with an aura or air of authority, no, no game, just communication of a observation that might be in the ball park.

In this crazy level of over the top posting frequency of posts (set to average 8000 posts in a year, if the average continues), posts with very specific directions and intent... you do the forum, it denizens..and audiogon as a company and endeavor...harm. Relentless, ceaseless, misinformed... harm.

This not an egoic game of one upsmanship. Just get over whatever it is you need to get over (your blind spot)... and move on. Thanks.