Interesting debate
I think the bulk of the problem is too many people feeling the need to justify their products with science, in order to add weight and subtance.
Let's face it, it's human nature to ask 'why', we start doing it at a very young age, but I do wish more views were put forward as theories, rather than absolutes.
As for the specifics here, I've heard the effects of the non-linearities introduced by magnetic components in the signal path, and these are to me audible. I've also seen evidence of the measurability of the effect too. As to whether components can become magnetised, I would have thought this was feasible, whether it makes things sound worse, I don't know.
Maybe those that heard little difference have systems with few magnetic components in the signal path?
I've also used the 'Auric Illuminator' a pen + bottle of blue liquid (+ cleaning cloths) for treating some CD's. I was sceptical but a comparison between two identical disc showed a very clear improvement.
Even more interesting was the visible effect on DVD's, which I found most surprising - there was a noticeable improvement in subtle tones within pictures (e.g. a brick walls became more complex in colour and texture).
Andy.
P.S. I did make my own 'De-magic' disc a while back, just generated some wideband noise in an audio package and slowly decayed the volume to emulate the effect of a conventional demagnetisation process.
I don't remember being stunned by the effect, which could mean more than one thing
