JSharp

Useful, but much modern equipment uses jacks that allow 1/4" 2 conductor or 3 conductor plugs to be used. All the discussion in the thread to be considered when you start using 2 conductor plugs and cables and connecting balanced and unbalanced lines...

Go ahead and put your Sony CDs in your drive....the malicious spyware won't get installed unless you click yes in an install window. So if it requires you to install a program to play the disc, then simply cancel the installing and not play that particular CD. It seems the Sony rootkit is now about as dead as it can be. Even MS anti-spyware is treating it as it should be treated and will remove it. http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=1944F:25787 "For example, Microsoft initially responded cautiously when questioned about its position on Sonys use of rootkits, but Jason Garms, a member of the Microsoft Windows Defender team (formerly Microsoft Antispyware), announced in the Windows Defender blog this weekend that Microsoft is also releasing signatures and a cleaner for the rootkit."

Not Craig and not pertaining to tube amps, but this is commom design practice on all types of circutry. You'll see a bulk large value electrolytic bypassed by a smaller tantalum bypassed yet again by a still smaller ceramic. It's done because the different types of parts of different values have different characteristics at certain frequencies. You would think that going larger in value would always work better for bypassing, but in fact, you often see reduced noise by going from something like a .2uf or.1uf part to a .01uf part. Youre' dealing with the fact that different cap types have different ESR/frequency curves and different self resonant fequencies even if they are of the same measured capacitance. Lead length and postioning matter too since they effect the overall characteristics of the circuit with the components connected. These issues are typically far above the audio range though...

Here are a couple of notes that are applicable to this conversation I think. About balanced and unbalanced connections - http://www.rane.com/note110.html About grounding and shielding - http://www.rane.com/note151.html The common instrument balanced to unbalanced transformers are not useful for a preamp-amp connection because in addition to performing this conversion, they also perform an impedance transformation. They are typically used to adapt something like a high impedance 50K ohm microphone to a low impedance 300 balanced panel input. Unbalanced line level inputs and outputs are commonly 600 ohm impedance so while we theoretically need some impedance matching, it's not of the same magnitude as the microphone case. Balanced inputs and outputs don't have any practical advantages with short cable runs between low impedance circuitry. The advantage appears as the cable runs become longer and any noise sources become of greater magnitude relative to the signals. In the case of balanced line that noise will be a common mode signal and not seen at the differential inputs of the devices. I have a pro style eq with balanced inputs and outputs with the connections tied single ended on both sides connected in the tape monitor loop of my preamp. I can hear no difference in the noise floor with the eq switched in or switched out using 3' cables between the components. It's likely though that if I increased those cable lengths that would no longer be true...

Opps... As if this wasn't predicted too... "Viruses exploit Sony CD copy-protection scheme SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - A controversial copy-protection program that automatically installs when some Sony BMG audio CDs are played on personal computers is now being exploited by malicious software that takes advantage of the antipiracy technology's ability to hide files. The Trojan horse programs -- three have so far been identified by antivirus companies -- are named so as to trigger the cloaking feature of Sony's XCP2 antipiracy technology. By piggybacking on that function, the malicious programs can enter undetected, security experts said Thursday." http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/personal_technology/13134753.htm

The Radio Shack part numbers are 64-4336 for the pen applicator, and 64-4338 for the spray cleaner and lubricant kit. They even call it DeoxIT in the catalog. Sounds like the drones at your local RS stores are even worse than usual... http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?kw=deoxit&kw=deoxit&kwCatId=&fbc=1&f=Brand%2F1000312%2F&fbn=Brand%2FDeoxIT

I just noticed this. It was filed right away. That didn't take long at all did it- http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2005/11/calif_ny_lawsui.html "A class-action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of California consumers who may have been harmed by anti-piracy software installed by some Sony music CDs." "The suit alleges that Sony's software violates at least three California statutes, including the "Consumer Legal Remedies Act," which governs unfair and/or deceptive trade acts; and the "Consumer Protection against Computer Spyware Act," which prohibits -- among other things -- software that takes control over the user's computer or misrepresents the user's ability or right to uninstall the program. The suit also alleges that Sony's actions violate the California Unfair Competition law, which allows public prosecutors and private citizens to file lawsuits to protect businesses and consumers from unfair business practices. '

Sorry about the chest pains. When you pointed out that three "audio capacitor companies" were using parts built by the same manufacturer, then pointed out that a couple of other more common passive component companies didn't build parts in many of the values needed for crossovers, I assumed you were pointing out that there were few manufacturers of these devices or that the volumes were low. Do those statements mean something different to you? If so, then what is it? It's true by the way, there just aren't that many actual manufacturers of these devices nor is the volume large on them comparatively. How many 30uf 250 volt audio caps do you think get sold worldwide compared to something like a .1uf, 10volt smt0402 ceramic capacitor? Or Bob's GE motor runs for that matter? It's many orders of magnitude different. And there's the rub. Small volume components cost far more to make than those that are built in larger quantities even when everything else about them is completely equal. It follows that cost has only a loosely coupled relation to the quality and performance of an item or the cost of the raw materials used to build it. We see that last point proven when we notice that less than $.01 worth of sand can end up selling for $300 when it's made into a CPU. Outside of the questionable and unproven audio differences between something like the GE caps and some of the specialty parts, this is my real problem with a lot of the high end audio products. You're not necessarily paying for anything superior, you're often paying for nothing more than manufacturing inefficiency because of design criteria and tight specs that aren't proven valuable, and low manufacturing volume. So while I thank you for the links, I don't see one study that shows any correlation between the more obscure characteristics and construction techniques of capacitors and the audibility of those items in use. But maybe I missed it? That is the subject of this thread isn't it? While you're looking for those, hopefully you'll do some research into manufacturing cost vs. volume curves in electronic component manufacturing so you can see where the costs come from in specialty component manufacturing. Hint - it's mostly not quality, performance, reliability, or any of the other things people might want you to think it is... -- Jim

Craig I think my last post missed the mark by more than 1/2 but I never claimed to be a writer. I wasn't claiming some of these specialty audio components were bad so much as they are very often designed to outlandish and questionable specifications and consequently overpriced, then sold with dubious claims in an attempt to justify this price. And the case of many of them, it's more a function of how they're marketed and the volumes they're manufactured in than it is in any use of superior materials or better manufacturing techniques. As you've said, there just aren't that many people building capacitors of this type anymore so the likelihood of them being built on the same lines as commodity parts is very high, as is the likelihood the performance is almost identical. It's not my point reject any and all hi-end components so much as it is to try to do exactly what you say - find the meat and avoid the bones. I'm probably just oversensitive to ordering "the best tasting chicken meat in the world," paying $20 a pound for it, then being sent a bucket of skinny wings with an endorsement that says they'll taste better than any other wings because they were grown on all natural farms, high in the andes, with soothing music played to them though out their scientifically determined optimum length life. Damn, you did all that and all I wanted was decent quality chicken meat? And to make it worse, the meat tastes just like the meat from the local farms I can buy for $1.59 a pound. In my case, my skepticism is probably caused by spending too many years of trying to engineer to meet specious marketing specifications... -- Jim Jim, Your quoting Dean and addressing me is this a mistake? Craig Yep, it sure is a mistake... Trying to do too many things at once... I'll edit it now. -- Jim

Dean - I think my last post missed the mark by more than 1/2 but I never claimed to be a writer. I wasn't claiming some of these specialty audio components were bad so much as they are very often designed to outlandish and questionable specifications and consequently overpriced, then sold with dubious claims in an attempt to justify this price. And the case of many of them, it's more a function of how they're marketed and the volumes they're manufactured in than it is in any use of superior materials or better manufacturing techniques. As you've said, there just aren't that many people building capacitors of this type anymore so the likelihood of them being built on the same lines as commodity parts is very high, as is the likelihood the performance is almost identical. It's not my point reject any and all hi-end components so much as it is to try to do exactly what you say - find the meat and avoid the bones. I'm probably just oversensitive to ordering "the best tasting chicken meat in the world," paying $20 a pound for it, then being sent a bucket of skinny wings with an endorsement that says they'll taste better than any other wings because they were grown on all natural farms, high in the andes, with soothing music played to them though out their scientifically determined optimum length life. Damn, you did all that and all I wanted was decent quality chicken meat? And to make it worse, the meat tastes just like the meat from the local farms I can buy for $1.59 a pound. In my case, my skepticism is probably caused by spending too many years of trying to engineer to meet specious marketing specifications... -- Jim edit: to fix my mistake...

Those parts may be "motor run" capacitors by application, but in fact, they're actually high quality polypropylene in oil capacitors of the correct values. They're parts with likely conservative ratings, built by a real electrical device manufacturer ( as opposed to audio industry charlatans), and made to operate in severe industrial environments without causing problems in expensive motors attached to possibly multi-million dollar equipment. I seriously wonder what people would think of them if Bob had never mentioned where they came from and instead had sent them out to have some exotic finish applied to them, then charged $90 each for them...

XCP-Aurora Support Please choose an update from the list below. Software Updates Latest Update Service Pack 2 2|Nov|2005, 3.253Mb This Service Pack removes the cloaking technology component that has been recently discussed in a number of articles published regarding the XCP Technology used on SONY BMG content protected CDs. This component is not malicious and does not compromise security. However to alleviate any concerns that users may have about the program posing potential security vulnerabilities, this update has been released to enable users to remove this component from their computers. No matter how much they spin, Sony = 0wned by the internet once again.

Found it - http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/sony-eula.htm The friendly Sony EULA. Good luck getting anything more out of it than "We warranty nothing, we can change our mind anytime we like, and you accept everything." I'd post an embedded link but for some reason the link button doesn't work in Netscape. Anyone have a fix for that? DMCA is a mess. There are unanswered questions like "Who*really* owns the rights to a digital photo if your camera uses a form of encryption to store the file or portions of it, and you don't have explicit permission to unencrypt it from the camera manufacturer."

I don't recall ever seeing an EULA in the package with an audio CD. There's probably some ultra fine print somewhere on the CD label that points you to a website that has it or something else just as disingenuous. Making copies is allowed under DMCA, but tampering with another person's software is a somewhat of a gray area, and doing so to any software that falls under any sort of loosely defined "encryption" scheme is a lot less gray. It would be poetic justice if Sony fell into one of the traps with the law that they've attempted to set for everyone else who they "think" might be stealing their product. Things like this certainly make a person think Sony is crying crocodile tears over their alleged lost revenue. As if we didn't know that already...

Craig - There's probably more going on than can be heard instantly with some form of simple ABX switching. But I think some people use that as a way to sell $5K speaker cables and then claim a person should "let them break in for X hours before you decide" thus getting around the fact that people can't differentiate between those cables and 12ga zip cord from Home Depot. So even though I agree, there's probably a time factor in order to hear small but real differences, I think that conclusion gets misused. And here are two things I can't reconcile - It's hard for me to accept that all these minute sonic differences are just some form of groupthink that large numbers of people are infected with. People with different experiences, with different equipment, in different places, and at different times. But when we can't measure any substantial differences electrically, people have an impossible time determining what's been changed, if anything, unless they have some prior knowledge of the changes. Another <shrug> I honestly don't get it. -- Jim