UPDATE: When we asked Adam Blake who contacted who first, he told us, "Fremer contacted Randi first and we have been in contact with Mr. Fremer. Pear Cable has had no direct contact with James Randi." Blake said it was Fremer's idea to accept the challenge, and it will be he who receives the million dollars if he's able to prove there's a difference between the cables. Okay, James Randi, the ball is now in your court. Here's the full text of the challenge response:

$1 Million Speaker Cable Challenge Accepted

Audiophile Reviewer Michael Fremer Agrees to Double-Blind Loudspeaker Cable Test

Newton, Mass. - October 15, 2007 - Responding to accusations that the high-fidelity Pear Cable Anjou loudspeaker cables could not be differentiated from typical equivalent Monster Cable, Michael Fremer, writer for Stereophile Magazine and musicangle.com, has agreed to double-blind listening tests to prove that cables can be differentiated sonically. Accuser James Randi has claimed to offer a $1 million dollar prize if the high-fidelity cables can be detected.

While Pear Cable remains highly skeptical that the challenge is genuine, full support for Michael Fremer's effort has been offered. Although the cables to be used in the test have not yet been selected, Pear Cable has offered to loan Mr. Fremer any Pear cables necessary to conduct the test if he desires to use them.

To date, James Randi has provided no scientific evidence of any kind to support his accusations. No test protocol for the challenge was stipulated in the original accusation, however James Randi reserves the right to change test protocol in any way he personally desires.

Official rules for the James Randi Educational Foundation challenge state that $1 Million will be paid to "any person who can demonstrate any psychic, supernatural or paranormal ability." Michael Fremer has expressly stated as a condition of his challenge acceptance that he does not possess any psychic, supernatural, or paranormal abilities, and that he does not believe he has above average hearing. Fremer has also asked that interconnects be tested in addition to loudspeaker cables unless James Randi will concede that they affect sound quality.

About Pear Cable, Inc.
Pear Cable is a manufacturer of high fidelity audio cables for both home and car audio. Using custom designed manufacturing equipment and cutting edge scientific principles; Pear Cable brings quality products to the audio marketplace. For more information visit: Pear Cable Audio Cables

Here's Pear Cable CEO Adam Blake's response received by Don, a member of the forum at DIY Mobile Audio:

Hello Don,

Nice to hear from you. Yes, by now we have heard about this challenge (although we were never contacted directly). Unfortunately, like most offers of $1 million this one is a hoax. While James Randi is claiming to offer a $1 million dollar prize to differentiate between these speaker cables, by reading the official rules of the challenge, it becomes immediately clear that the offer is not valid. One must be able to "demonstrate any psychic, supernatural or paranormal ability" in order to qualify. Since there is a wealth of scientific information explaining the differences between speaker cables, the offer is not a valid one (and James Randi knows it).

While we publish a frequency response plot demonstrating the differences between cables on our own website here: http://www.pearcable.com/sub_product...cyresponse.htm, there are also independant measurements and data that can be found for example here: http://www.audiodesignline.com/howto...leID=201807390 In addition, the High School eductated James Randi who claims to have consulted unnamed experts on the matter makes unsubstantiated claims that our science is junk. Unfortunately true experts do not agree. For example, despite his claims that RFI is not a problem in speaker cables, according to publications by the Amateur Radio Relay League, RFI has been documented as a known problem that can exist in speaker cables.

In addition, according to the editor of Stereophile magazine John Atkinson, James Randi has completely fabricated the statements about Atkinson made in this "challenge". Furthermore, another audiophile who goes by the moniker "Wellfed" on the AudioAsylum forums, says he tried to take the challenge twice for what I consider a more dubious audio tweak (the GSIC chip), but was denied the opportunity and was lied to by the Randi Foundation. Finally, according to these forum posts: http://www.talkaboutaudio.com/group/...es/719041.html at least one person has tried to take the "challenge" previously to show that they could differentiate between loudspeaker cables and they were denied by Randi who said "Wire is not wire. I accept that".

So, at the end of the day we have claims made by a high school educated retired magician, which are refuted by independent studies and publications conducted by experts. Most importantly, James Randi's "challenge" is backed by nothing. Many audiophiles have already expressed interest in taking the challenge, but they are barred by the contest rules unless they are part of the media. And, in the past, Randi denied audiophiles the chance to take the "challenge" with regard to differentiating between speaker cables.

At Pear Cable we publish objective measurements to demonstrate the improved fidelity of our cables. In addition, we publish reviews and opinions that are based on both blind and non-blind testing. In fact, the comments made by Richard from the Bay Area Audiophile Society on the Comice Silver Interconnects were the result of a blind test he conducted.

We have not yet put together an official response to this joke of a "challenge", so we are not currently participating in the many conversations going on in audio forums as we speak. In any case, I hope you find the above to be informative.

Sincerely,

Adam Blake

We see that the Pear Cable company is advertising a pair of 12-foot "Anjou" audio cables for $7,250; that's $302 a foot! And, as expected, "experts" were approached for their opinions on the performance of these wonders ... Well, we at the JREF are willing to be shown that these "no-compromise" cables perform better than, say, the equivalent Monster cables. While Pear rattles on about "capacitance," "inductance," "skin effect," "mechanical integrity" and "radio frequency interface," - all real qualities and concerns, and adored by the hi-fi nut-cases - we naively believe that a product should be judged by its actual performance, not by qualities that can only be perceived by attentive dogs or by hi-tech instrumentation. That said, we offer the JREF million-dollar prize to - for example - Dave Clark, Editor of the audio review publication Positive Feedback Online.

One of the most astonishing accomplishments of the Transparent Cable Company is how it gets "reviewers" to play along with its con game.

This is from the Transparent Cable website:

"We are also pleased that so many members of the audio press have chosen to write about Transparent Cable. While our upper-end products seem to garner the most attention in the sheer number of reviews written, audio experts write about our more affordable cables, too. Reviewers everywhere agree that Transparent products at all levels deliver superb performance and great value for the asking price."

"... way better than anything I have heard...Simply put these are very danceable cables. Music playing through them results in the proverbial foot-tapping scene with the need or desire to get up and move. Great swing and pace—these cables smack that right on the nose big time."

If you're the trusting type, you might not want to read this press release from Pear Cable:

"... simply way better than anything I have heard prior to their audition."

Editor of Positive Feedback Online, Dave Clark, Reviews the ANJOU Speaker Cables by Pear Cable

Newton, Mass. - September 21, 2007 - Pear Cable Corporation, a manufacturer of high fidelity audio cables for both home and car environments, continues to redefine the limits of what is possible in high-end audio cable design. The glowing review of Pear Cable's new ANJOU Speaker Cable, bolsters the argument for describing the cable as one of the world's best.

Dave Clark, Editor of audio review publication Positive Feedback Online describes the ANJOU performance as being "... way better than anything I have heard..." He goes on to say, "Simply put these are very danceable cables. Music playing through them results in the proverbial foot-tapping scene with the need or desire to get up and move. Great swing and pace—these cables smack that right on the nose big time."

The ANJOU Speaker Cable represents the introduction of a completely new hybrid cable geometry developed by Pear Cable. Drawing upon the best characteristics of several more common cable geometries, the resulting hybrid design minimizes the sonic impact of the cable.

Annica Kjellberg, President of Pear Cable said, "We are extremely pleased that the unique geometry we developed for this cable is getting the attention we think it deserves. The numbers say that it is better, but it is critical to validate numbers with the human ear. This review further solidifies the ANJOU Speaker Cable as a class leading design."

Dave Clark concluded his review by declaring the ANJOU's "Highly Recommended." To read the review in its entirety please visit: Positive Feedback Online.

An 8-foot pair of ANJOU Speaker Cables retails for $5,250
For more detailed information on the ANJOU speaker cable, please visit:
ANJOU Speaker Cables

About Pear Cable, Inc.
Pear Cable is a manufacturer of high fidelity audio cables for both home and car audio. Using custom designed manufacturing equipment and cutting edge scientific principles; Pear Cable brings quality products to the audio marketplace. For more information visit: Pear Cable Audio Cables