Alembic Guitars Club
Connecting => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: lbpesq on November 14, 2023, 02:07:54 PM
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This is perhaps the single most absurd "improve your sound" product I've ever seen. (And I'll bet someone is going to tell me how it really does work).
The MusicCord. Replaces the cord that goes from your amp to the wall socket. The base model is only $200, while you can get a Pro model for $250.
https://www.essentialsound.com/category/PRO.html (https://www.essentialsound.com/category/PRO.html)
What's next, new amp replacement knobs that "improve your sound"? A replacement handle that "improves sound"? A $75 pair of socks that "improves your sound"? Do people really buy this stuff?
Bill, tgo
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After seeing This Is Spinal Tap in the early '80's, I built a few guitars and put on volume knobs that went to 11.
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The hi-hi power cords are even spendier, $2500. Dad says there's an $8K on for your tube amp!
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I like the Victor Wooten signature cord! For us car buffs maybe they'll make some signature Lucas Prince of Darkness wire?
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I remember when Monster Cable brought out a line of very expensive high-end guitar cables in the mid-80s. I was working with Lee Ritenour at the time and they gave him a couple (yes, that's how many Artists operate). I think he didn't like them because they were impractically heavy - thicker than our original Belden 4-conductor Series cables. So he gave me one and I made a few patch cords out of it. Difficult to solder because the individual strands were lacquer coated. >:( Too large for a standard 1/4" connector shell so that had to be modified. :o Etc...
But I was trying to drink the kool-aid because of my audiophile leanings at that time. I think it's possible that a cable's specific materials, construction and insulating material might make the most difference with a high-impedance source like a standard passive guitar. Not as critical when the source is lo-z or a line-level signal.
Well, Monster Cable showed their hand completely when they followed this up by introducing specific "Rock" cables and different formula cables for "Jazz" and "Country". OMG people! And that was the end of my belief in the fairy-dust. Idiots.
It's tough to think an $8000 power cable for your tube amp wouldn't lead to rewiring your house and maybe trying to get bigger cable put in by your utility provider - all the way to the power plant. I'm sure that would improve my sound!
Jimmy J
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Well, I Did have to put in a dedicated 10AWG power line to my stereo. The lights would dim to the kick drum and Bass lines on the stereo. The Tice power conditioners did reduce the noise floor too.
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Sounds like a light show! Why fix it?
hehehehe
Bill, tgo
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You know, just yesterday I was thinking about gold-plated connectors. Yes, gold is an excellent conductor - but it's only conducting to the steel it's plated onto........
And I will slide these power cords (not to be confused with power chords) into the "Yes, Guitar Players Will Buy Anything" file.
Peter (who won't go into the use of gold-plated connectors in non-permanent applications, and the softness of gold)
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years ago I got some high-end speaker cables and connector cables from my work (actually a spool of cable and ends so I had to make the connector cables) and they honestly made my stereo sound much better, and it was good to begin with...bigger wire can pass signal with less resistance, etc. but, yes, there is a limit and don't be stupid about it...Tony.
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At least with speaker and patch cables there is signal passing through the wire. There is a reasonable theory that the size/composition of the cable can improve sound. But the power cord on the back of the amp? No signal passing through that. I could imagine a cord that has a built-in power conditioner/surge protector, but it would make more sense and cost less to use a regular power conditioner/surge protector that allowed multiple units to plug into it. And one can certainly get thicker power cable for less than $200, not that there’s any need for it.
Bill, tgo
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i played a christmas time gigs some years back where the band had to plug into the same extension cable as all the flashing lights. All through the gig we were getting clicks buzzes and crackling through our rigs. Next day, I bought an extension lead with a surge protector and power conditioner built into it's plugboard. No more crackling. That was the only reason the sound was better. I still use that same lead now.
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And a fun historical note in re the thread title:
In the 19th century, the palliative qualities of snake oil were widely recognized; the pejorative "snake oil salesman" was devised to excoriate those selling cures that purported to contain snake oil but, in fact, did not.
Peter (who does, in fact, have a whole head full of useless but interesting knowledge.......)
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that's a lot of colledge words, son!
🗿
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included in the stuff I got was a Furutech outlet; put a Furutech plug into it and you instantly you have the best electrical connection ever...like sex...
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I have been a member of an internet forum called the AMPEX list for quite a few years that consists of users, owners, and audio engineers whom use and maintain AMPEX tape recorders ,I own several (AG440B&C/AG350,etc). The purpose of this " Ampex Club " is to aid and support each other with technical inquiries and issues that have relevance of our ageing machines. We have members whom are truly golden sources of complex technical knowledge of electronics and the electromechanical specialities of this equipment .
"EXPENSIVE SNAKE OIL" per se ,has also been one of our topics of discussion such as such power cables mentioned here at the Alembic Club . As well, those high-priced" Oxygen free copper wire speaker interconnects” costing far, far too much. Some folks refer to the purchase and promotion of such questionably deceptive practice as " Audio Phoolery",and the purchasers as " Audio Phools" .
That said, there is a consensus that the use of 10 & 12 gauge extension power cables (OSHA required in some cases) VS smaller gauges is reasonable and prudent practice, with the addition of a quality surge /RFI filtering protector. A GFI /ground fault interruptor circuit for outside use SHALL be added. All such power cords and devices are standard hardware store stock, that are available at reasonable pricing. :)
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you sound like an electrician, sir! 😶🌫️
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a slight thread hijack to say:
Sonicus, I love learning about the AMPEX list, that is true high-end audio there. And wasn't our chief wizard Ron W involved with that company early in his career? Very cool.
"Audiophool", that's perfect. :)
Jimmy J
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Jimmy J,
Thanks for chiming in ! I believe that you are correct.
Sonicus
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I use phil jones speaker cables for my phil jones rigs and I believe I can hear a difference.
From their site: It’s not uncommon for today’s bass player to use amplifier power up to 1000 watts and beyond. These high-power amps develop high currents feeding low impedance speakers sometimes peaking to 30 amps or more.
Speakers at this power level need great control by the amp’s damping ability. That’s the ratio of amp impedance to speaker impedance. Kind of like putting on the speaker’s brakes so your speakers stop and start on a dime – giving your bass sound tighter punch and better dynamics.
Using cables with the slightest of loss can be disastrous on low-ohm loads. Even a fraction of an ohm in cable resistance can result in wasting some of those precious watts.
PJPS speaker cables use four conductors instead of two found in normal speaker cables and with the high-purity copper multi-strand conductors (9 AWG equivalent), resistance is ultra-low so your speakers get virtually 100% of the power delivered by your amp.
I remember hearing of Anthony Jackson's extremely expensive cables and special cones that he placed his speaker cabs on.
Reminds me of the digital vs vinyl debates. Personally, any noise, pop, sizzle or crackle drives me around the bend, but to each his own.
Also studio cans, IEM makes and ear buds.
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As a young man I came under the wing of a paving contractor/electronics whiz named Ken Dean (who drilled into me "If it's not absolutely and completely perfect, it's 100% wrong"). He came out to a gig one night to find me soldering a broken speaker cable. A soon as I was done he grabbed it, plugged it into the cab, whipped out his multimeter (yeah, he was the kind of guy who'd show up to see a band with a multimeter in his shirt pocket.....), and hit the other plug; it nailed 4Ω exactly. He gave me a satisfied nod and walked away.
It was generic bulk cable and a standard Switchcraft plug. 0Ω from the cable. That's all I'm sayin'.
Peter (who has actually seen claims that a coiled guitar cord sounds different than a straight one)
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Again, it’s one thing to claim an instrument cable, or speaker cable, that is carrying a signal can affect the sound of the instrument. It's quite another to contend that the power cord, which NEVER carries the signal, can improve the sound of the instrument. Gee, I wonder if imported beer improves the sound of the instrument compared to domestic beer? And if you live in England, does imported Budweiser make your instrument sound better than domestic Guinness?
Bill, tgo
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Depending on the current draw of an amplifier and the circuit design of the amplifying circuit, a lack of a difference of potential AKA voltage can affect the tonality or timbre of the audio signal. There was an early studio technique to change the timbre as well as inducing distortion by the use of a Variac aka variable voltage output transformer. There is searchable documentation of this technique of changing the “sound” of an amplifier by starving it of supply voltage "power ".
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Of course choking the power source will affect the sound. Heck, unplugging the cord will REALLY affect the sound. Not paying your electric bill will affect the sound. That doesn’t improve the sound of the instrument.
Bill, tgo
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I am all for heavy duty speaker cables. Large and short cables make a lot of sense for that application. Not so sure about "oxygen free" and other such esoteric material claims. I believe automobile jumper cables would work nicely! I admit to using a set of older monster speaker cables (4-conductors twisted) which terminate with banana plugs that have expanding center posts. You literally lock them into the banana socket so they make great electrical contact and have no chance to vibrate out. Count me in on having heavy amp to speaker wires.
Yes, the Variac trick to make an amp sound different is definitely a thing for tube amps. But I'll add that the voltage supplied by the utility can also vary in different locations and even at different times of the day. Michael Landau now carries a regulator so he can select the exact voltage powering his amps. I think the reason it makes such a difference is because plate voltages of tubes is stepped way UP from the input voltage. So the difference between 115V and 120V could mean quite a swing in the higher voltage - and that could indeed affect the sound.
I like the imported beer analogy Bill!
Jimmy J
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My ignorance of wiring, and electronics in general is well-documented here. I am however, quite educated in amateur herpetology. No oil is associated with snakes. They are smooth and dry. Some are friendly, like Hercules and a Hognose snake. This one wasn't down on Copperline; he was just passing through Mason's Cove a couple seasons ago.
(interesting thread... I get smarter just hanging out here.)
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A heavier gauge zip cord from the hardware store can be used to make your own speaker cables. The most important thing, as everyone knows, is to only use “stranded” wire for speaker connections. And gold-plated high-priced connector cords are nonsense. As P.T. Barnum said, “…there’s a sucker born every minute.”
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Hey Greg, I always knew you were cool! I also have had a lifetime affinity for reptiles (my Dad wouldn’t let us have dogs or cats). Alas, I had to sell my Ball Pythons when I hooked up with Senior Management. I even attained the “Reptile Study “ merit badge in Boy Scouts!
Bill, tgo
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Now I've learned about snakes! The education never ends in here.
FYI, Hercules was a dog but I don't know the full story or how that worked out.
Jimmy J
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We have quite a few Northern Redbelly Snakes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_redbelly_snake) in The Northwoods. They don’t get very large, not sure what their Ohm rating is either.
I like Guinness.
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Let's be fair, nothing English about Guinness.
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Regarding snakes, I was in a cohabitating relationship with a Woman in the 1980s who owned a Reticulated Python with a length of about 11 feet (3.35 m), I remember sitting on her couch with it wrapped around me whilst I viewed television. It was a most pleasant creature and quite friendly. 8)
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I too remember the Monster Cables. I fell for it and bought a number of the ones that were supposed to enhance bass. They were too stiff to use. I think I threw them away in the end. I think I was conned.
Wiser now.
Glynn
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Well, Reptile Study isn't among my sash full of merit badges (yeah, Eagle Scout here) - but here's the San Francisco garter snake; supposed to be the most beautiful snake in North America.
Peter
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that is a cool looking snake...
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We used to catch these cute little Ring Neck snakes in upstate New York. Only about 8-12” long.
Bill, tgo
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I became interested, and eventually fascinated with reptiles, especially the snakes in teenage years, generally because where I lived (and still do) they are everywhere. You could either be terrified and kill them all (only good'un izuh dead'un), or learn to identify which ones were dangerous and how to avoid them. Then I took it to the next level, and got involved with a group who were studying the idea that timber rattlesnakes (C. Horridus) in this region of the United States might actually migrate, not unlike some birds do. Not sure if they ever got anywhere with substantiating that theory, but I tagged along on quite a few tagging expeditions, and for sure we found that a number of our control group traveled up to twenty miles to a rocky outcrop on Little Onion Mountain in Bedford Co. annually to breed, then disperse. The fear went away when you began to understand what was going on.
I made use of what I learned later in life. Black rat snakes (E. Obsoleta) or what we just call a common blacksnake out here in the country, have a very high metabolism and consume mice by the dozen. If you import, and keep a few of them around the shed, they will hunt and gobble up the food supply a timber rattlesnake, mostly a slow, sedentary creature would need. So the dangerous animal stays up higher, out further in the wild, away from people, where it finds food. Timber rattlesnakes are among the most mild-mannered of all rattlesnakes. If you don't mess with them, most of them will ignore you. I remember very few exceptions that put up any fight when captured.
I do have one Monster Cable. It's a nice, heavy gauge, gold connectors, coils up nice too. I like that it has a right-angle plug on one end. Makes a nice, satisfying *snap* when you plug it in. Doesn't make my bass sound any better, and certainly doesn't help me play any better. Just a decent cable. One of the guys at Fret Mill Music gave it to me, iirc...
~Gregory (who didn't get much further than the required badges of the Webelos before other things got in the way...)
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I, too, have a Monster straight-to-90°, gold-plugged, cord - "bass-specific" no less - but in my defense, mine was, like Greg's, free. Not only does it not make the bass sound any better, it does not (as one would logically expect form a "bass cord") make the guitars sound worse.
Peter
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I have several Monster cables but am not a fan of them at all. Some of them had too thick a gold plating on the ends and fit too tight as well.
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I have a couple of Monster cables. The end jacks separated from the cable and just hang there on the internal wires. I believe they currently reside in back of a closet.
Bill, tgo
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I started using Monster cables after I got my first Alembic. The bass upgrade clearly outweighed whatever benefit the cable offered. I did like that they would replace a cable for free for whatever reason it failed. I used the free replacement program twice.
When I started using a small pedal board, I got a shorter Monster cable to go from bass to board. The second time I used it, it failed. When I got it home and unscrewed the connector I found a nice shiny, round solder bead on the positive terminal and a nicely tinned positive wire that didn’t quite actually touch each other. I whipped out the soldering iron and fixed the Monster.
I don’t have a lot of snake experience, but I worked at a pet store in the early seventies that sold boa constrictors. We got a call from an exotic dancer who wanted to trade her 4 footer for our 3 footer. The pet store was in the main entrance to the mall and she attracted some attention just showing up there. She wasn’t in her stage clothes. The snake she wanted trade had hot pink lip-stick embedded in the scales on top of its head. No deal was made. Laughs were had.
Actually, another incident, this girl who worked there liked to walk around in the pet store with a little boa in her smock pocket. One day, as she was attempting to sell a Yorkie to an elderly lady, the snake pops up and the poor lady ran screaming the entire length of the mall.
Looking back, I bet the insurance that place had to carry was unreal.
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Maybe I'll try to tie this all together by mentioning the Monster cable Multi-channel audio snake? Most commonly found in the Amazon (store) with reported sightings of up to 4-meters in length! They're mostly friendly and cooperative beasts. As they age they've been known to make a humming sound.
sorry :P
Jimmy J
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I own one Monster "bass" cable. Not my favorite cable but it came with a life-time guarantee so I have had it replaced for free a number of times. I suspect most people don't bother to make a warranty claim but I can say I have definitely gotten my money's worth.
No snake stories except that I still have never been able to identify the big snake I came upon while mountain biking out in Morgan Territory a number of years ago. It had thick alternating bands of yellow and black along the entire length.
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I didn’t know Monster has a lifetime gaurantee. I’ll have to poke around the back of that closet.
As for snakes, your description, Stephen, sounds like it might be a California King snake. Quite common in these parts.
Bill, tgo
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King snake looks like the one I saw. I was pedaling up a steep hill and had to stop because it was stretched across the trail. I would see rattlesnakes all the time when biking but only the one King snake. In fall I would come across tarantulas all the time riding the fire trails up on Mt Diablo. At that time of year they wander around individually looking for a mate.
You may need a copy of the original invoice for the monster warranty. I bought mine in the late 80s, it is probably 20 years since my last replacement I have no idea if they stopped offering a warranty at some point.
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In fall I would come across tarantulas all the time riding the fire trails up on Mt Diablo.
I'm intrigued; what were the tarantulas riding on the fire trails? (nyuk nyuk)
I have a fair bit of experience with 150' snakes; mostly Whirlwind.
As a guy with hair halfway down my back, I always maintained that every band should be required to carry one burrhead on their crew for snake coiling duties......
Peter
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Ha. I love this thread. I live on an island where just having any power during a rainstorm is aspirational, let alone having any kind of stable, quiet power. Here I’m happy to just have the little red and blue lights come on when I hit the switch. This thread reminds me of my previous life, before the island.
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Audiophool.... that made me laugh, I have a bunch of friends that are into that audiophile thing and one time I joined audiophile forum, read a few topics and went for some audiophile shows... I felt like being in Flat Earth society... I can't really say what's wrong with the idea because I don't have technical knowledge, but somehow that felt so wrong. Specially music they are listening on their 2.000.000. stereo. :)
I mean their attention to detail to take your money, like with some small pyramids that you put around your living room for better sound, expensive cables, 24karat CDs... their imagination is insane...
It's like having sneakers with lights, can't we just enjoy music.
I remember once someone said that best stereo system from him was when he was little and took one of those antenna stereos from 70's and went to his room, cover with blanket and listen to his favorite station and feeling was so he remembers that for rest of his life. Imagine if he had a 2.000.000 dollars stereo in the room, that wouldn't sound so good in that time, because you would loos highs when covered with blanket... hehe
I mean I love how audiophiles enjoy their stereos and music, just I don't like their religion. :)
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I remember back in the early 70's we had a friend who had a nice Marantz system in their living room (practically no other furniture but the sound system) and we would visit just to hear the thing.
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Marantz? Mere consumer-level stuff.
I never got into the high-end audiophile equipment (purely for monetary reasons), but when I got the insurance settlement for getting my face shredded in a car wreck, I did lay out for a JVC turntable, Yamaha integrated amp, and Infinity speakers; there were only one or two systems on our campus full of trust-fund hippies that could top it. Cost almost as much as the new Triumph Spitfire I got at the same time.
Peter
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My brother had a pair of Omega 300 speakers. Pop the front off of them and kept his weed in the sound port. 😄
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Somewhere in storage I believe I still have an old, incredibly basic, AR turntable, an AR amp, and a pair of Wharfdale speakers with the sand-filled back.
Bill, tgo