Most ridiculous Hi Fi upgrade

[DaveReading]

We had a salesman vainly attempt to sell us a gold plated lead set for £50, while we were buying a new TV.

I refused to buy and he eventually gave up.

He'd been so persuasive that I checked with my elder son, who designs, programs and builds computer control systems for use in extreme environments. His comment was it's digital, either the 1s and 0s get through or they don't, unless it might get wet or dirtied in some other way you don't need the gold plating. As our lounge is dry and has a stable temperature...

It depends what the cables were carrying, and to where. If we're talking about an analogue output, say to an amp, then gold-plated interconnects may not be such a bad idea.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Going from 78 rpm to 33 and 45 rpm.

 

[Profpointy]

Want a new needle for you record player?
£6999!
https://www.audioaffair.co.uk/ortof...MIk_e3pYqm8QIVSPhRCh35Qgy5EAQYAiABEgJZ7fD_BwE

In fairness that's merely an obscene amount of money for a genuinely critical component where quality really matters. Surely way into diminishing returns, but conceivably it could be better than a £2000 one. I'd not pay it but people do spend that kind of money on amps or speakers. I've even known people spend that on a car after all.

 

[raleighnut]

I can supply some artisan crafted ultra-high resistance fuses if anyone wants some.

You'll send the cost of Dowel Rod sky high with that idea and actually HiFi needs the lowest resistance possible so use Silver/Gold for the conductor. The snag is in certain conditions when the wire 'goes' it can cause a 'plasma' effect that still conducts electricity rendering the fuse useless hence they pack the conductor in an inert material to prevent this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_arc

 

[newfhouse]

HiFi needs the lowest resistance possible

A fuse is only a fuse because it has resistance. What causes the fuse wire to melt?

 

[raleighnut]

A fuse is only a fuse because it has resistance. What causes the fuse wire to melt?

A problem with the electrical pixies.

But seriously the length of the wire within a fuse is so short that it's resistance is close to zero until it's capacity to pass current is exceeded leading it to overheat and melt, this is more due to the gauge of the wire than it's resistance hence the difference between 'slow blow' and 'fast blow' fuses.

 

[newfhouse]

A problem with the electrical pixies.

But seriously the length of the wire within a fuse is so short that it's resistance is close to zero until it's capacity to pass current is exceeded leading it to overheat and melt, this is more due to the gauge of the wire than it's resistance hence the difference between 'slow blow' and 'fast blow' fuses.

The gauge and composition of the wire is what determines the resistance. The wire melts because it is heated beyond the design tolerance. The heating effect is a simple Ohm’s law calculation, W = I^2 * R. Thus a zero resistance fuse will never heat, and never protect your equipment by blowing.

 

[palinurus]

And all they're going to do is slap Oasis on the cd player...

Went to a HiFi show once when I was younger at a local Hotel (I just did a little Googling and 30+ years later there are still HiFi shows at Hotels).

Anyway, bunch of men in suits. They had nice gear but shoot records.

 

[Grant Fondo]

Naim have got a new record player out - its £16k.

What Hifi think its good .... It was plugged into the company’s Statement pre/power combination (£160,000) and a pair of Focal Stella Utopia Evo EM floorstanding speakers (£95,000).

 

[raleighnut]

Naim have got a new record player out - its £16k.
View attachment 595146
What Hifi think its good .... It was plugged into the company’s Statement pre/power combination (£160,000) and a pair of Focal Stella Utopia Evo EM floorstanding speakers (£95,000).

Nice but it's no LP12 Klimax (£18,870)

 

[Lee_M]

I have an LP12. It's great, I did buy it in 1981 though, for a massive £340 (that was more than my student grant for the whole term).

It has had considerable money spent on it since, but I'm still probably about 15k behind the price of that

 

[MontyVeda]

They weren't ridiculously expensive (but I guess some were), but ultimately useless* (IMO) for the home listener...

in the late 80s and early 90s seemingly every hi-fi had a graphic equaliser, be it a piddly little 3 or 5 channel one, or a whopping 10 or even 20 channel graphic EQ per side!

...I've not seen one this century. Can't think why


*Ok, they did have their uses... bootleg cassettes of live recordings needed a lot of tweaking, but they still sounded sh!t.

 

[Grant Fondo]

I have an LP12. It's great, I did buy it in 1981 though, for a massive £340 (that was more than my student grant for the whole term).

It has had considerable money spent on it since, but I'm still probably about 15k behind the price of that

My grant went on a Dual 505 in 1985 .... long gone now. The extra for an LP12 was a lot of beers

 

[raleighnut]

I bought my Thorens from a bloke who'd changed to the LP12, many years and tweaks later (big one being the arm change to a RB 250) it sounds really good.

 

[lazybloke]

The heating effect is a simple Ohm’s law calculation, W = I^2 * R. Thus a zero resistance fuse will never heat, and never protect your equipment by blowing.

The website in the original post sells 13amp fuses at an eye-watering £65 a "pop".

But I've yet to see a superconducting fuse!