High fidelity Accessries=Rip Off?

Posted by: Km on 26 July 2002

Hi Everyone,
Just looking through Audiophile Candy brochure and couldn't beleive the price of some of the products.
Here are the examples:
(1) Clearaudio Magix mk2 isolation syst.@£180 each(which you need 3 or 4 under an equipment)
(2) Audio desk cd sound improver(it claimed that not all the cds are round enough hence we are losing infos & this makes cd perfectly round)£450
(3) Audio Desk cd cleaner(which looks like a meat mincer that my granny use to have)you put the cd in this and it wash, clean and dry it for you all with a touch of a button.£740
I could go on forever.I mean forgive me for being naive as I am still relatively new to hi-fi world, But if we own a system that cost say in a region of £3000-£6000 surely that system should produce high quality sound without having to spend additional say £1000 on tweaking.
This is same story with that Russ Andrew guy, I mean give me a break. Some of his claims seems as though he can perform miracles.This brings a new point, if all these claims are true then why the hell hi-fi manufacturer charge us arm & leg for their equipments and not make them perfect,after all £2000-£3000 for a cd player or amp isn't exactly cheap, is it?

mad
Posted on: 26 July 2002 by Phil Barry
Uhh...have you listened to any of this stuff? I know it's hard to believe, but some may be worth the price.
Posted on: 27 July 2002 by Larry
Yes it's hard to believe!
Larry
Posted on: 27 July 2002 by Tony L
Over the years I've been involved in audio there are just two accessories that I would wholeheartedly recommend:

1. A proper wet vacuum record cleaner (I have a VPI 17F).

2. A decent stylus cleaner (I use the Audio Technica vibrating one).

Both these unquestionably improve the record listening experience and are definitelty worth their money. The record cleaner goes even further as it actually improves the record buying experience - more second hand vinyl is available if you know it can be easily cleaned.

Other audio accessories tend IMHO to be either little more than fancy tone controls, or to be too system dependant to fully recommend.

Tony.