Avoid It

[Copper]

Check the authors sources

I assume she is paid by the competition of the 9 American Electronics Brands You Might Want To Avoid.

Most of the reviews seem to come from something called Trustpilot.

Here are 8 pages of complaints about trustpilot at the Better Business Bureau.

https://www.bbb.org/us/ny/new-york/profile/digital-marketing/trustpilot-inc-0121-149835/complaints

[George K]

I had a Vizio flat screen die after 3 years.

[Doctor Phibes]

That guy from Compaq has got a bit of bloody cheek criticizing Apple after some of the unmitigated crap that company produced.

I would agree about Monster Cable and Skull Candy. Horrible value for money.

[George K]

Can I ask a question about "Monster Cable?"

@kluurs and I talked about wires a couple of months ago.

I'm no electrician, but I do understand that V=IR, and that R is inversely proportional to the "size of the pipe." So, for electrical signals, does there come a point at which, the size of the pipe becomes irrelevant? Is there any difference in material, assuming resistance is the same?

Short version: Is a $500 cable for my speakers really all that much better than some 14 gauge on a spool? Can you really HEAR the difference?

[Renauda]

Having worked in a hifi store that sold all the high end components; no, you probably will not hear an audible difference so long as both cables are of equal length and the run is not in excess of 10 feet max from amp to speaker.

Many however will argue otherwise but I have experimented a fair bit with what was available in the store, and found no noticeable difference to justify the additional expense. What I did notice that made a difference was in the quality of interconnects between components and amp. In particular, between a preamp and power block amp. In other words source components and connections did make a difference. Speaker quality is also a huge factor.

Perhaps it comes down to the condition and age of the listener’s ears and what they expect to hear. In my case, I think only my dog can hear the difference but he doesn’t really care either way.

[jon-nyc]

I suspect much of high end audio products being perceived as better comes down to the placebo effect. Especially since it’s usually older guys who have already lost much of their high frequency response.

[George K]

@jon-nyc said in Avoid It:

older guys who have already lost much of their high frequency response

Harrumph....

[Copper]

The audiologist pointed out that losing high frequency response means that you can't hear your wife as well.

For some it might be a blessing.

[Axtremus]

Cited in the article is a former Compaq PC engineer saying that Apple, Inc.'s hardware is not that reliable. I have never used Compaq's computers before (at least not that I can remember), so I am curious to ask: if you have used both Compaq and Apple's hardware, which do you find more reliable?

[Doctor Phibes]

@Axtremus said in Avoid It:

Cited in the article is a former Compaq PC engineer saying that Apple, Inc.'s hardware is not that reliable. I have never used Compaq's computers before (at least not that I can remember), so I am curious to ask: if you have used both Compaq and Apple's hardware, which do you find more reliable?

If memory serves, they were a behemoth in the bad old days when PC compatibles were really expensive. Reliability wasn't really the issue as much as cost. They were pushed into obsolescence by companies like Dell and Gateway which really was the point at which the PC became the default for home computing rather than non-PC alternatives like Commodore and Atari.