is there a difference?

[akis]

Thank you! I will copy the last sentences from that article:

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How can it be possible that a basic system with such a price difference against the "reference" one, poorly placed, using the cheapest signal cables found, couldn't be distinguished from the more expensive one?

And, most of it all, how come the cheap system was chosen by so many people as the best sounding of the two?

Shouldn't the differences be so evident that it'd be a child's game to pick the best?

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And this is the truth. When I drove the Volvo V70 I thought "what a well made, sturdy car, it reeks of quality". But then I drove the Mercedes E-class and I thought "no, this is a well made car, the Volvo is flimsy in comparison".

There is a price difference but there is also a distinctive quality difference to the car (either that or my Volvo is busted).

For stereo systems it amazes me that people are prepared to pay how much for nothing objectively shown to be true. In that photo, the power cable, why does it need to be "special" if then to only connect to the same extension cord as the "cheap" cable.

[Pano]

Originally posted by SY
... using his (pronoun choice deliberate) own system, ...

Hmmm... I wonder why you would say that?

[scott wurcer]

Wow, this has settled in on the directionality issue. There's probably an easier to use key to Pandora's Box.

[SY]

It's a chaotic system with strange attractors.

[Steve Eddy]

Originally posted by Key


You just blew my mind

Man, what happened to my silent film smiley? Looks like someone edited it and screwed up the frame delays.

se

[ChrisA]

Originally posted by diy_audio_fo


I think that the overall result 8 TRUE of 10 is a good starting point to consider this test worth of attention

Absolutely NOT. The test is seriously flawed. There is an easy psychological explanation.

The only way for the test to be valid is that each time the listener asks that the fuse be swapped the person doing the swap flips a coin and lets the coin decide which direction the fuse should go. This will mean the listener will never know if the fuse was flipped or not.

[Face]

Originally posted by diy_audio_fo

I think that the overall result 8 TRUE of 10 is a good starting point to consider this test worth of attention

No matter what the results are, someone will always have a problem with them.

[ChrisA]

Originally posted by Key
I don't think the analogy holds up but I do get the underline point about learning to hear things.

off topic rant about tuning
I really don't think there was absolute values for any given note before recent history. It had to be pretty recent - the last 100 years or so and the development of computers (just a guess)..

We are so used to computers that we can't think of any other way of doing things. Many years ago, before there were computers there were "tuning forks". I think they came into common use well before the "classical" period. They are made using the same technology as church bells, cast bronze. Also you can make a kind "standard" organ pipe or flute and cut it to an exact length and it can serve as a reference. They call them a "pitch pipe" and they can be accurate if well made

I agree you will never get a stringed instrument in "perfect" tune. Hitting the string with a pick or fretting it changes the length and tension. All notes start out slightly sharp then flatten as they sustain.

Point is that you can learn to hear this. Most musicians can hear it but at some point they were beginners and couldn't.

[SY]

I agree you will never get a stringed instrument in "perfect" tune. Hitting the string with a pick or fretting it changes the length and tension. All notes start out slightly sharp then flatten as they sustain.

True. Moreover, even with a perfect string, you can't have perfect tuning- the sample period for the beat note is the inverse of the difference between string and reference, a very nice illustration of the classical origins of Uncertainty.

[paulb]

Originally posted by moray james
... if you cannnot hear the difference between say a cable on one direction Vs the other get a new hobby....

Hey Moray, how's life on the Bow these days?
What happened to your website?