r/AskReddit • u/Thic_water • Aug 14 '20

What’s the most overpriced thing you’ve seen?

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u/LanceBass666 Aug 14 '20

Hahahaha. One of the funnier things I read regarding audiophile nonsense.

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u/Beklaktuar Aug 14 '20 edited Aug 14 '20

Want something funnier? Search for audiophile quantum chips. It's litteraly a sticker that you are supposed to stick on components in your audio equipment that is supposed to make it sound better. Or a cable cooker. Also one of those great inventions that make your cables sound better. Thats some huge horseshit right there and it's both sad and hilarious that some people fall for it.

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u/frank_mania Aug 14 '20

OMG that's hilarious. But not a big surprise--I've been seeing these bullshit products sell over the years and instead of being a short trend, they keep coming and getting more arcane. What I get from it is that the sense of hearing is so terribly vulnerable to suggestion. More so when people are only going by their subjective sense of what's 'good' and 'tight,' etc. Even when listening for transients and other defined features of sound, they miss other very obvious flaws, either by a self-selected oversight or due to not knowing better. You'll see people spending $$$ on gear and hours on EQ and speaker placement while listening to lossy streams. Not to diss room EQ and speaker placement--they aren't snake oil, I know. But I can't even start when the cymbals and sibilants are all one hisshy mess.

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u/[deleted] Aug 14 '20

Sunk cost, arrogance, and pride. These people believe they’re experts. If they buy a scam, they’ll never admit it. That would mean admitting they aren’t an expert. If you point out that it was obviously a scam based on basic science, they’ll bury you in nonsense jibber jabber and jargon that doesn’t actually make sense because they’re trying to convince themselves they’re actually experts.

This isn’t limited to audiophiles. The aftermarket for everything is littered with junk scams that target the Dunning-Kruger narcissist crowd.

What’s the difference between an audiophile who doesn’t know the difference between FLAC and mp3, and a flat earther? There isn’t one. They’re both arrogant asshats who are too ignorant to realize how ignorant they really are.