Proper Blind Test of $2500 AC Power Cords

Journal Pan T. Hose's Journal: Proper Blind Test of $2500 AC Power Cords 2

Journal by Pan T. Hose on Tuesday February 15, 2005 @11:10AM

I submitted this story few hours ago and it just got rejected. Fortunately I saved the text so writing it was not a total waste of time and I can at least repost it here:

Jason Victor Serinus of the Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity and the Bay Area Audiophile Society have conducted a blind test to answer the question whether using $2500 Nordost Valhalla AC power cords to connect high quality audio systems to the electric outlet makes any audible difference. The entire procedure and the test results are described in the article Can We Hear Differences Between AC Power Cords? and further explained by James Randi in his commentary entitled A Proper Audio Test At Last.
The result of this test was negative but it is worth noting that a positive result would qualify for the one-million-dollar prize offered by James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) "to anyone who can show, under proper observing conditions, evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event." James Randi, or The Amazing Randi, a magician best known for investigating and demystifying of paranormal and pseudoscientific claims, has written about suspicious audio mods many times in his Commentary column. The items described include a $485 wooden potentiometer knobs and $120/oz audio lacquer, as well as various stones and audio tuning stickers (an idea similar to the battery life extending sticker recently described on Slashdot and by Randi).
In the past, all of the people from the audiophile community contacted by Randi refused to take the one-million-dollar challenge. This time Randi wrote: "Kudos! To Mr. Jason Victor Serinus for his courage to test his abilities and abide by the results, to his colleagues who participated with him, to the editor of "Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity," and to the Bay Area Audiophile Society."
This is a very good news for any true audiophile and melomaniac. In the world of high quality audio equipment it is not uncommont to see expensive products with no scientific basis sold to unsuspecting consumers. It is important to know that there are honest people like Jason Victor Serinus who conduct proper tests and provide reliable source of knowledge to their readers so we can be sure that we spend our money only on products that indeed increase the quality of our audio systems.

One has to wonder why stories about tsunami creatures, psychic random number generators and miraculous stickers are reported on Slashdot as facts (not "BatMax claimed to have developed" but "BatMax developed," not "the sticker is claimed to extend" but "extends the mobile phone battery life and reduces charging time" etc.), to the point that we are laughed at by James Randy's readers, but an actual scientific blind test of similar gadgets gets rejected in no time. Is it time to reevaluate my opinion of Slashdot being a serious news website?

This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.