Leap forward, there are honest lovers of listening and hobbyists building our own speakers, modifying our setup...new boards from Van Alstine for that Dynaco Mk III , etc...rational enthusiasts. BUT, to read the magazines, and to believe that you can spend hundreds of dollars on a frickin' POWER CORD

Here is this one...for a WOODEN VOLUME KNOB! For a very High tech separate volume control

"Good vibrations, Bad vibrations it’s all about vibrations!! RAM would like to introduce a new signature level knob developed for the mighty Silver Rock potentiometer. The standard bakelite knob is certainly the best sounding compromise... but now Audio Consulting has taken this aspect of the Silver Rock much further. The new knobs are custom made with beech wood and bronze where the bronze is used as the insert to mount to the stem of the volume pot. The beech wood is coated several times with C37 lacquer for best sound as pointed out by Dieter Ennemoser. How can this make a difference??? Well, hearing is believing as we always say. The sound becomes much more open and free flowing with a nice improvement in resolution. Dynamics are better and overall naturalness is improved. Here is a test for all you Silver Rock owners. Try removing the bakelite knobs and listen. You will be shocked by this! The signature knobs will have an even greater effect…really amazing! The point here is the micro vibrations created by the volume pots and knobs find their way into the delicate signal path and cause degradation (Bad vibrations equal bad sound). With the signature knobs micro vibrations from the C37 concept of wood, bronze and the lacquer itself compensate for the volume pots and provide (Good Vibrations) our ear/brain combination like to hear…way better sound!!

http://www.referenceaudiomods.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=NOB_C37_C&Category_Code=VOLUME&Product_Count=2

Of course, to get this benefit you MUST order the volume control unit
and immediately take off that HORRIBLE, discusting,(these people have some nerve!) sonically inferior bakelite knob (included in the $6850.00) an replace it with the audiophile superior, more natural, better dynamics, etc... purer sounding WOODEN KNOB!!!

http://www.referenceaudiomods.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=SLVR_RCK_SGNTR&Category_Code=VOLUME&Product_Count=1

Are there REALLY that many gullible schmucks out there? Is it just me, or does this just seem a tad F@#%$#g ridiculous?

"It makes your hair grow back, and lose that 40 lbs you've always needed to lose, and the ladies will loooooooooooove you"

They just want you to justify the dough for "dynamics and clarity"(bullcrap)so you will spend the money for a wooden knob that costs them probably less that 10 bucks.Try explaining it to your wife!I think to a certain degree things are worth the money for quality equipment, but this is out and out fraud. But if people buy, good for them, they deserve what they get. PT Barnum is smiling somewhere!

There's a lot of Tomfoolery in audio. That's one of the reasons I set about doing my own thing - Too much psuedoscience, snake oil and sales rhetoric in hifi and prosound. I prefer real science or real art to a weird voodoo mixture of them both. Add a touch of ego to the mix and the audio field is replete with charletans.

That's why I like this forum and ART in general, it's sort of a "no spin zone."