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Hype, Hyperbole and high price!

Okay, I understand that this site has to make money by having advertisers, but cheese and crackers, the claims that are made are just laughable if not down right criminal!  Before I attended an engineering university I too was duped into buying expensive wires and such.  Now, armed with an engineering and physics background, I can see through the BS claims made.  I try and not let it get in the way of my enjoyment of good quality stereo equipment, but when a salesman tries to sell me something based on testimonials, hype and hyperbole, I tell him politely my background and then ask him a series of questions which leaves him dumbfounded. 

Such crap as directional wires - (I used to work for both Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman) and trust me, if we had to test the miles of wires for directionality in every piece of equipment built...well you get the gist.

I have friends that are audio snobs and although they argue with me (Basically buyer's remorse) they know that what I say is true and end the conversation.  Oh well, I suppose I will continue to get a headache when I read said claims.

Sigh!
128x128kenny928
whart's avatar
whart
2,972 posts
 
grm- don't take any of this personally. Hang in there. 
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mapman's avatar
mapman
21,860 posts
 
Geoff, those teletubbies would kick your invincible butt!  Don't think otherwise. :^)
whart's avatar
whart
2,972 posts
 
For what it's worth (perhaps very little), this phenomenon is nothing new, and is not confined to the audio industry. I encounter it daily in my dealing with "customer support" (that's a euphemism), bad service in restaurants and I largely avoid flying, not because of airplanes but because of the whole airport "experience." 
It is also nothing new: Paul Fussell wrote "Bad: The Dumbing of America" at least 25 years ago. He wasn't just picking on Americans- we were on the front end of the large corporate middle finger; as Fussell explained, the difference between the "hype" and the "reality" was growing as indifference, cost cutting and profit drove things. I'm not going all political here--just pointing out that we've been suffering from this for decades. In some cases, you simply can't buy a quality product at any price now- everything is disposable. 
One of the things I like about this industry is that it is still made up of small, "cottage" type manufacturers. And, there's quality out there.
Apologies for rant, but I thought it topical. 
bill hart
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Mapman wrote,

"Geoff, those teletubbies would kick your invincible butt! Don’t think otherwise."

My Teleportation Tweak eats Teletubbies for breakfast. What chance do you have?

Look, let me give you some advice while we’re or least I am on the subject. If you want to be somebody and be a big star in the eyes of the Naysayers and Pseudo Skeptics and other assorted tweakaphobes, obviously something to which you aspire. Contact Better Business Bureau or Consumer Protection Agency or even AES or NASA or whoever you think the proper authorities are and report my Teleportation Tweak, the Super Intelligent Chip, Brilliant Pebbles, the Particle Accelerator, Dark Matter and/or the Quantum Temple Bell and explain to them how upset you are and that I’ve broken some unspoken rules of marketing or product naming conventions and that I’ve broken actual Laws of Science or Physics or whatever  and that even though you’re not exactly sure what those laws are, there must certainly be some!

Be sure and let us know how that works out for you.

tootles
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