Gizmodo
Wasting money on expensive audio cables is one thing, but spending money on "audiophile grade" power cables? That seems downright idiotic. So you probably won't be too surprised to learn that $300 Virtual Dynamics Power 3 cables contain about $15 worth of components.
Yes, a poster on the Head-Fi forums had his fancy-pants power cable disemboweled by his cat, only to discover very little of value inside. Once ripped open, all he found was "a couple of bucks worth of 14 AWG PVC insulated bulk wire (VD's "LiniPur" conductors) and some ferrite powder, (VD's "5 dielectric layers") shoved into some heavy braided-wall PVC tubing to make it appear thick and meaty, and put together with dirt cheap connectors and DIY build quality."
But honestly, if you spend $300 on a power cable, you know, deep down, that you're pretty much throwing your money away, so you shouldn't be too surprised. [Audio Junkies]
Comments
i can haz power cable?
Even the cat knows that cable was over priced.
Re-tard-ed. Honestly, I'd like to meet whoever came up with this and promptly kick him in the nuts.
The author refers to himself as a "proponent of high-end cords", which is silly because "knob" is much easier to spell and has the same meaning.
Cats, having very fine hearing, would be the first to dismantle and analyze overpriced cables. Gray Tabby FTW!!
Well, at least this story was from 2008 (02-05-2008), compared to the coat hanger audio cable story, which was mid 2004.
well duh. this is why you never buy any cable from somewhere like best buy. they have nothing reasonably priced. my $10 hdmi cables still rock. Monster cable has a really good scam going on, almost as good as de beers with the diamond/rock industry.
Hahahaha! You spent $300 on a GARDEN HOSE!
The beautiful thing is that he apparently thought they were worth the $300, as he hadn't returned them. So PT Barnum continues to be correct.
I don't care if they blend. But any tool who thinks they should buy these deserves to be blended.
@styrofoam: @impliedsurprise: The original author didn't purchase the cable, but rather won them and paid only 20 bucks shipping. RTFA.
That's so funny that his cat had to give him an education on not getting ripped off. Good kitty!
I wonder... if I wrap one of my turds in shiny steel braiding and cap the ends with gold plated connectors, how much do you think I could get for it on ebay?
@styrofoam: Did P.T. Barnum write "People don't read the articles."?
The moment I saw the cat, I knew what happened. I am always trying to get mine to stop chewing on cables, certainly power cables. Every time I chase her away I think of how cute she was when she was a kitten playing with that ball of yarn. And then I think that getting her that yarn was a really bad idea!
That's one bad ass cat... and he knows his cables.
@dhaberer: Partially; cables that carry digital information can indeed be bought without issue at the cheapest prices because 1's and 0's are very easy to transmit without error. Analog cables can influence quality by a small bit due to their construction, but no where near what high end cable makers would have you believe. Honestly, I like the better connectors, jackets, and workable copper in 'pricier' cabling versus Home Depot's bulk cable, but the price premium I'm willing to pay is very small.
Virtual Dynamics have a very basic website. Don't let that fool you. Somewhere behind that gray and gold layout lies a genious of advertising and marketing. $300 power cables do not sell themselves.
@FightingChance: What you say about digital cables is TOTALLY true. It either works or it doesn't. Case in point... I bought a 50' HDMI cable for my front projection home theater. Paid about $80 at Fry's for it, for fifty feet. Works perfectly, and I'm sending 1080p over it from a PS3.
At the same time, I spent $250 on Transparent Cable speaker wiring for my Monitor Audio and Speakercraft surrounds for this same theater , after comparing these cables to cheap Radio Shack wire. I did notice a difference. But in comparison to many high end cables out there, I didn't spend all that much. It makes sense to spend a little more on analog cables, but you quickly get to a point of diminishing returns on these things. My local home theater installer was nice enough to loan me a length of the good stuff to try first.
My kitty ate our christmas tree lights last year. They gave her a good zap one time. it was hilarious. Get the thin cables so they can make contact with the current!
I am glad a cat was able to help in audio testing and reverse engineering scenarios. if anyone needs cat assistance in the future, be sure to leave me a message.
@TJ: Or steal his next idea.
@redman042: you have the wrong idea...gold plated connectors would add value to your product, which goes against the high-end cable theory in every way.
I don't know, my cat can tell the difference in the sound. Maybe that cat was deaf.
@redman042: That depends: Are your turds "danceable"?
@Ryanraven: I hear you, and if she would learn a lesson I would do it. Except she often forgets what the big furry thing that chases her every where... Well, when she finally catches it she learns quickly that it is in fact her tail. But only after she bites it.
There is no bigger fraud in audio than these 3rd party power cables. There is absolutely zero benefit to using one of these over the one that comes with your component.
@Camaro02: Try bitter apple spray, which you can pick up at almost any pet store. I have 2 cats and a puppy that won't touch my audio gear because it tastes so bad.
Who buys these over-priced cables?
@redman042:
really? dude... i know an easy way for you to earn yourself a coooool million bucks!
damn im in the wrong business I need to sell me some cables
Snake oil kitteh makes expensive power cablez.
As the inventors of this unique technology we were quite pleased to see the interest here at Gizmodo and thought we should shed a little light. This "Cat tore up my Power 3" was started at head-fi.org. Reading through the entire thread you'll see that the author, in the end understood the value of this invention.
"the author's final post" VV
[www.head-fi.org]
The invention in this cable is a unique process called dynamic filtering. You can learn about how this unique process works to lower distortion in electronics. We are currently undergoing a large test with the University of Toronto that we'll be posting publicly later this spring, shedding light on the technologies, and how and why they work.
+ Watch video
There are also reviews of some of our more expensive cables that you may find of interest.
[www.head-fi.org]
Thanks,
the Virtual Dynamics Team
I agree with Way. Virtual Dynamic's website and marketing are what sell this cable.
Read this: [www.virtualdynamics.ca]
It is as if they are screaming "We are ripping you off" to the customer in the advertisement itself. Straight from the Virtual Dynamics P3 power cable page:
"A growing trend in the audio industry is to price products outrageously high and then see what happens. Prestige established through price."
"Consider the following; if I take a bottle of wine and charge $10,000 for it, will that make the wine taste any better?"
"Our thinking is, instead of listening to our sales pitch, listen to your system with the Power Three installed."
"Can a $350 Power Cable out perform a cable costing $2,000 or more?"
They even say that they are not going to provide a sales pitch. I visited the site to see what claims they could be making about a POWER cable (audio cables are a different story although often overpriced). What did I find? No discussion of line noise, ground loops, or anything close (not that the cable would solve either in the first place to begin with).
Frucci said it all... deep down inside, you know.
Tech
@redman042:
It depends how you label it. (ie: i would leave out the wording of a smelly turd in the center of the cable)
@logruszed: HAHA I second that.
Isn't anyone who buys a cat getting ripped off?
You're just preaching to the choir here, unfortunately. The real knobpolishing audiophiles refuse to acknowledge the validity of double-blind or empirical scientific testing, instead favoring the battle cry of "GOLDEN EARS, MAN!"
Wild guess: These cables help give the music a wider soundstage, warmer dynamics, and a crispy, buttery crust.
Someone tell me that these cables are NOT UL listed. I don't think that "hose" counts as a listed wireway. What a knob.
href="http://gizmodo.com/370715/linux-ubuntu-804-hardy-heron-beta-is-out#c4820186">
I feel bad for the guy...
We live in a market of ripping off consumers, regardless of how much (or the lack thereof) restraint a person has.
I don't know... I'm just in a pissy mood today... But my mother tried to buy a laptop from Best Buy the other day and if she hadn't called me, she would have been ripped off for $300 worth of bloatware added to the laptop because they said it was "required."
For those of us "in the know" it's obvious not to buy $300 digital cables, because we know a digital signal is 0s and 1s...
@Ubik2501: You also forgot ear wax cleansing properties and a garlic/Parmesan crunchiness.
Toasty.
@sonicwind: I would never buy a cat. I found mine eating bird seed. And compared to my other habits/hobbies, the cat barely costs anything.
Now we need someone to buy those $7000 dollar pear cables and see what is really inside.
Just goes to show that $300 power cords are for pussies.
is that what the cat did?
thats so wrong....! seriously someone needs to start a class action suit against this company for selling crappy wires for 300 bucks.. That does not live up to this advertisement... all they doing is ripping people's trust and money!!!
If you guys some how read this in some way
YOU GUYS ARE BASTARDS!
@Navin R Johnson:
Power3 is at 99$ now.
I own Master 3.0 and Nite Platinum. They very good.
I tested 6 differents PC and they all have their sonority. Just doing the right match with your system.
For me, Master 3 on source and amp was a great upgrade. Worth the price IMO.
If you never heard any difference, probably you never tried a good PC. 8-)
Caveat emptor.
I am a proponent of quality cables. Once you put "audiophile" in a description, the whole thing goes to hell.
Give me Canare cable with Neutrik connectors and I'll pay a fair price...
@IPT12AC3: This is mere par for the course in the audiophile market. High-end cables are snake oil for the home theater set.
God, I like quality sound, and good headphones, and I read head-fi, but I really hate Audiophiles.
*reformatted because it won't seem to post with the linking*
As the inventors of this unique technology we were quite pleased to see the interest here at Gizmodo and thought we should shed a little light. This "Cat tore up my Power 3" was started at head-fi.org. Reading through the entire thread you'll see that the author, in the end understood the value of this invention.
The invention in this cable is a unique process called dynamic filtering. You can learn about how this unique process works to lower distortion in electronics. We are currently undergoing a large test with the University of Toronto that we'll be posting publicly later this spring, shedding light on the technologies, and how and why they work.
There are also reviews of some of our more expensive cables on head-fi that you may find of interest.
Either way, we hope you take the time to learn about how these electronics work, particularly the problem of microphonics in audio cables and components.
Thanks,
the Virtual Dynamics Team
Does it ever occur to these guys that they're plugging a $300 (or more) power cord into a 47 cent home depot receptacle fed by $10 worth of romex from the breaker box?
"Nice threads your Imperial Highness."
"Doesn't the Emperor look smashing today."
Freakin' audiophiles hallucinating fly rags on naked assed emperors.
That jackass is not only naked, he's not a real emperor either.
The cable cost him 30$ not 300$. I got one just like it for 30$. Someone has an ax to grind.
@FlashTurbo: You've got it all wrong. You need to drop $3000 for a power conditioner for this to plug into. And a second $300 cable to go from the conditioner to the wall. And $100 feet to isolate the conditioner from vibrations. And cable stands so the power cables don't touch the floor. The stupidity can go on indefinitely.
@hoofdpijn:
Indeed. Or do $300 power cables also compensate for voltage drop and AC line noise induced by say, your oven being on, or your neighbor's hair dryer?
I feel ripped off to, my new puppy ate my only power cord for my cell phone. I figured it would be about $20 but when I walked into the sprint store it was $40 freaking dollars, and the car charger was $34. Dam, I can't wait to get out of my contract with those theives.