Beneath the Peak

The Freakonomics blog runs a series of Q&A posts, where readers can pose questions to interesting people. Recently, they ran one with Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage of Mythbusters fame, which is worth a read particularly if you are a fan of the show.

One thing that came up in Jamie and Adam’s answers to readers’ questions is their interest in doing an episode on audiophile myths: whether high-end components perform any better than cheap ones. From reader comments, it’s an area that many viewers are interested in.

It’s also a story that’s attracted the interest of James Randi, a former magician who now focuses on demystifying paranormal and pseudoscientific claims.

Recently, Randi challenged Pears Cables (a manufacturers very expensive audiophile interconnects) and Michael Fremer of Stereophile magazine to blind listening test, where they would receive $1 million if they could consistently differentiate between top-end and less expensive cables.

From a PR perspective, neither Fremer nor Pears appear to be doing very well in the exchange. More here.