I’m lightly active in the headphone enthusiast space. Even in the more light-hearted circles there is still an elevated amount of placebo bullshit and stubborn belief in things that verifiably make zero difference.
It’s rather fascinating in a way. I’ve been in and out of various hobbies over the course of my life but there is just something about audio that attracts an atmosphere of wilful ignorance and bad actors that prey on it.
Fun fact: this is where the “banana connector” came from. Before copper was discovered, early humans used bananas for all their audio connections. The name stuck, even though wires are made of metal today.
Behold:
5.4 Electrical Conductivity Measurement This method includes electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and dielectric analysis (DEA). The physical state of a material is measured as a function of frequency in EIS and the frequency ranges from 100 Hz - 10 MHz. It is simple and easier technique used to estimate the physiological status of various biological tissues49-52. Experimental frequency response of impedance is characterised by electrical equivalent circuits of materials. The physical properties of materials can be quantified by monitoring the changes in parameters at the equivalent circuit, among various equivalent models proposed53-54. DEA measurement is used in high frequency areas, generally 100 MHz - 10 GHz. DEA is used in moisture estimation and bulk density determination
So a overripe banana is an interesting high-pass filter, kinda like a capacitor, though the big takeaway is the conductance vs ripeness.
So if you want to test if a banana is ready to eat, hook it up… preferably with several other bananas in series. If the music is too loud, they are ready. Too quiet, and it’s not time yet.
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This is a really old test. There are forum posts of the same concept and some news articles with the test that are so old that they 404 now. An unshielded coat hanger is the most common. And yes, this is done frequently with analog signals. No, you can’t tell the difference.
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I listen to QUAD 77-11L speakers from like a lifetime ago, and a cheap class-D thing from Aliexpress. It’s fine.
HugeNerd is correct, 90+% of audio quality is in the mic and speakers. Transducers make electro acoustics real, everything else is support.
Get really great used speakers cheap and an adequate amp just good enough to drive them. Your shit will sound excellent for anyone.
Well, I’d argue the placement and room are an integral part of it as well.
In that sense the room is part of the transducer itself, yes, as the speaker cabinet supports the speaker driver, so do the walls and room size. Think of them as a system.
Pretty much, and I don’t think my stylish cardboard and wood-shavings condo is going to make expensive Totem Acoustic speakers sound their best… I had a pair of affordable Paradigm floor-standing speakers, but everything sounded hollow. They sounded great in the store, that happened to be a field-stone and timber construction with corner room treatments, etc
In my dry-wall and toothpick chamber, the sound just bounces around randomly. So then I got rid of the big speakers and got tiny QUAD ones, and that’s all I need. I can of course tell the difference from a premium setup, but I can’t afford a nice home.
I can also tell Angus steak from grocery-store all-beef hot dogs, but … money.
Hot dogs it is.
Good cables are shielded well. That she makes them expensive. That’s not transmission, that’s shielding. I don’t think they tested that but for digital audio is not surprising
