Snake oil??

"Would it be "Snake Oil" at $5.99 a bottle?
If not, when on the price continuum between $5.99 and $599.00 does it transform into "Snake Oil"? "


It’s not primarily a price issue.

It’s a question of something purporting to do something out of the ordinary, when it clearly doesn’t.

"I just reviewed an email that came to me from Agon about a mysterious substance involving something called 3-Dimensional Enhancer, the NPS 1260. It claims to cure literally all my audio problems for the low price of $599."


Therefore it’s safe to classify it as a simple contact cleaner being sold as snake oil.

Breathtakingly expensive top of the range snake oil, but snake oil nevertheless.

If you believe in the need for contact enhancers, and many don’t, they argue that the simple breaking and making a connection every couple of months is sufficient, then the tried and trusted Caig Deoxit D5 contact enhancer might be more palatable to your pocket.

Or a careful wipe with a trusted metal cleaner or simple wipe with isopropyl alcohol instead.

As Mark Twain once wrote, ’you pays your money and you takes your choice’.

"What you have done, what you are hearing, times one hundred. Yeah. And people wonder why I rave about my system."


They do indeed.

They might also marvel at your commitment, endeavour and striving for the title of the "audiophile’s audiophile".

As for the clever pulling out of the hat idea of micro-arcing, nice try, but doesn’t this seems to contradict the rather badly written, yet impressvely lengthy blurb the advertisers (?) themselves have put out?


"What different about NPS-1260 is that this solution does not focus on electron transfer in a traditional approach. Not at least as it does in a "traditional contact enhancer"Instead, it focuses on magnetic or more precisely “electro-magnetic field” transfer.It is uniquely set apart in this concept, design and application."

"The is an understanding that is has more to do with the power of electro-magnetism and the subsequently produced magnetic fields associated with electrons and less to do with the actual electron (forward) movement thought to be responsible for electricity in traditional theory."

"The reason for this is that if connections are one of, if not the largest problem that will cause’s distortion. NPS-1260 is simply a method to prove and show this."



Just for the record, for anyone still interested, or even awake, I’ve got some crystal clear fluid that I can provide myself at a negligibly small cost.

You can get a whopping 30ml of S.O Magic 11- 345 at the giveaway sale price of, wait for it, $599.00.

If you were to carefully use it in conjunction with some Caig Deoxit and Autosol metal cleaner you may notice a tremendously dramatic, earth shattering, 100s of times magnification improvement in soundstaging, dynamics, timing and timbre.















Or you may not.

@glupson.

No worries, shipping is included in the price. The usual Covid precautions will also apply.

For the first 50 customers I might even throw in a free teleportation tweak!


@ausaudio,

"They are cartoonish."

Yes, even the latest OLED screens I’ve seen from Sony and Panasonic are cartoonish and chocolatey I’d say.

With suitable material they’re lovely to look at. However the pictures are nothing like what we see outdoors here in the usual drab UK light.

This question of authenticity, or objective v subjective doesn’t seem to trouble movie fans or cineastes the way it might with some audiophiles.

It seems as if they’re more interested in a form of ’heightened’ reality that no doubt aids in providing a greater amount of the suspension of disbelief that movies necessarily demand.

Movies are basically like life, often set to a musical background - but only they’re bigger, brighter, more glamourous, and far more intense with most of the boring bits chopped out.

@mhnyc,

"While I'm a bit of an audiophile, I work in film."


It's good to hear that some people in the industry still care about sound. 


"but the question of fidelity is about the preservation of the intentions of the filmmakers who made it."

That's also good to hear. Whilst mastering engineers like Steve Hoffman claim they are trying to do the same thing with historic audio recordings, virtually everything digitally remastered nowadays seems to have had excessive amounts of compression applied.

On metal, rock, and punk albums, this can have the effect of making them virtually unlistenable. Yet it continues. 

I also remember there was a bit of a controversy back when Shane (1953 George Stevens) was first transferred to Blu-ray and Warners announced they were going to alter the aspect ratio from the original 1.37 to 1.66. Incredible.

Since genuine improvements seem so hard to attain (due to marketing?), perhaps it's fair to say that snake oil can come in many different guises?

https://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2013/03/shane-aspect-ratio-conflict/

Yes, good luck with the recovery.

My dad had a stroke about 10 years ago and it partially paralysed his left side.

He did recover the use of his arm but it took time.

Later they discovered a blocked carotid artery in his neck which was then successfully operated on. 

@dorkwad

"can’t just read on occasion instead of invading the OP with nothing but ignorance to share with their readers."


What are you suggesting?

Censorship?

Untramelled unchallenged free advertising?


Remember this is an audio forum and debate is welcome.

When a highly contentious product is being discussed all opinions should be regarded.

Especially when that product retails at the ridiculous price of $599 dollars.

Btw I’ve also got a miracle contact enhancer for sale. It can be yours for only $249 a bottle.

That’s a saving of 50%.

It’s based on 99.99% pure isopropyl alcohol - but it’s that 0.01% mystery additive that works the magic.

Similar to how homeopathic medicine works.