funny!
"By the end of the hour, if you had been a recent arrival from another planet and had oriented yourself to life in the USA by watching action flicks and video games, you would have been certain that Arnold B. Krueger was God and John Atkinson was a pathetic girly man.
Time for a reality check..."
And then come a few anecdotes. Not one factual argument.
"By the end of the hour, if you had been a recent arrival from another planet and had oriented yourself to life in the USA by watching action flicks and video games, you would have been certain that Arnold B. Krueger was God and John Atkinson was a pathetic girly man.
Time for a reality check..."
And then come a few anecdotes. Not one factual argument.
Intersting. A couple of points I would like to pick out:
I don't think any objectivists would claim that. There are other double-blind test methods that are equally valid, if not moreso. The only important factor is that the tests must be double-blind. You could take a piece of equipment home with you and listen to it for as long as you want, just as long as you don't know what you are listening to.
Alternatively, you could conclude that most of the differences that people believe are audible, are in fact psychological. In order to determine whether that is true, or if ABX is really flawed, it would be necessary to compare results from ABX tests with those from other types of double-blind test. If they yielded different results then the tests are probably affecting the results. If not, then the results are probably correct.
keyser said:
Would you expect anything less from Stereophile?
BTW, I was reading the Hi Fi trade rag, British Audio Journal the other month, and it seeems that tweaks, like cable, stands, connectors etc, now make up 65% of the profit margin of High St dealers. With that sort of money involved, it's a loosing battle...
Yes - stereophile.. I had subscribed to it since 1989, but stopped last year. The bull was getting too thick to wade through. Although, I liked cheapskate sam tellig. Too bad they let skull go - he was so nuts it was fun to read and see what hyperbole he would come up with next.
I stopped worrying about cables ever since I tried to pin down - sighted - the difference between a regular radioshack 9.50 cable, an audioquest for 150$ and goertz flatcable (copper)
There were maybe some differences - but I was unable to pin it down.
So - no highend tweaks for this guy. Canare L4E6s with neutrik xlr for balanced, Belden coax with canare rcap termination for rca, Canare 4S11 for speakers.
I stopped worrying about cables ever since I tried to pin down - sighted - the difference between a regular radioshack 9.50 cable, an audioquest for 150$ and goertz flatcable (copper)
There were maybe some differences - but I was unable to pin it down.
So - no highend tweaks for this guy. Canare L4E6s with neutrik xlr for balanced, Belden coax with canare rcap termination for rca, Canare 4S11 for speakers.
... more OT: It is very normal, to be expected, that the results, preferences if you prefer, between blind and sighted testing are different. To expect that double blind tests give the same results as sighted tests points to a basic misunderstanding.
Double blind tests are designed to try to limit you perception to the sound of a componens only. This gives a certain result or preference or whatever.
Now, in sighted tests, one cannot avoid that the perception is also influenced by the look of the component, peer opinion, reputation, design, size, color, price, what have you.
As I have given numourous examples in this forum just a single one: Floyd Toole, Director of Engineering at Harman International, has clearly shown that listener preferences for speakers change between blind and sighted tests. Google "Science in the service of Art" for his article. This is normal, to be expected, and is not limited to audio.
I never tried, but I am confident that most peoples preferences for women based either on just the voice or based on full view and sight of the person, would also be different.
So, this has nothing to do with "overheated imagination", and using that term is unfair and incorrect. It is just a matter of how we humans are put together.
Jan Didden
Double blind tests are designed to try to limit you perception to the sound of a componens only. This gives a certain result or preference or whatever.
Now, in sighted tests, one cannot avoid that the perception is also influenced by the look of the component, peer opinion, reputation, design, size, color, price, what have you.
As I have given numourous examples in this forum just a single one: Floyd Toole, Director of Engineering at Harman International, has clearly shown that listener preferences for speakers change between blind and sighted tests. Google "Science in the service of Art" for his article. This is normal, to be expected, and is not limited to audio.
I never tried, but I am confident that most peoples preferences for women based either on just the voice or based on full view and sight of the person, would also be different.
So, this has nothing to do with "overheated imagination", and using that term is unfair and incorrect. It is just a matter of how we humans are put together.
Jan Didden
I think the most fascinating part of the article was that the writer is a (3rd Place) Grand Champion at the International Whistlers Convention. (Yes I had to look it up to see if it meant what I thought it meant). He is certainly qualified to review equipment at Stereophile with those sort of credentials. $2500 for a power cord, err cable 
If people want to delude themselves this way to make them happy, so be it. It's their money. Remember the saying......A fool and his money are easily parted...
. If these imaginary differences please the listener, more power to them, after all it's THEIR listening experience. Allow me a laugh when you state it as reality though.
Cheers,
AJ
If people want to delude themselves this way to make them happy, so be it. It's their money. Remember the saying......A fool and his money are easily parted... . If these imaginary differences please the listener, more power to them, after all it's THEIR listening experience. Allow me a laugh when you state it as reality though.Cheers,
AJ
janneman said:
I realize you weren't trying to be all-inclusive here, but it is interesting to note that specifications and measurements are never included in lists of things that can influence perception. It's always stuff like reputation, design, etc.
It's an important thing to take notice of, because if you don't believe that an audible difference is possibile you probably wont hear it.
You see threads like this one all the time (I keep liking them, though!). Maybe it would be a good idea to add some kind of "how I think about hifi"-part to our user cp. Anyone could read about one others views on hifi easily. You wouldn't have to run numerous searches on the forum to find out if someone is an "Objectivist" or a "Subjectivist". You would immediately know if this guy advising you to use this speaker-unit might be the same guy that may some other day advise you to buy some kind of other speakercable instead
). Maybe it would be a good idea to add some kind of "how I think about hifi"-part to our user cp. Anyone could read about one others views on hifi easily. You wouldn't have to run numerous searches on the forum to find out if someone is an "Objectivist" or a "Subjectivist". You would immediately know if this guy advising you to use this speaker-unit might be the same guy that may some other day advise you to buy some kind of other speakercable instead
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