William Sommerwerck wrote:
Given that John Atkinson has a degree in Physics, it's
safe
to say that he has a fair idea of what science is, and
has
chosen to go some other way.

Not necessarily. Just because you've studied physics
doesn't mean
you've learned anything about the philosophy of science or
how to
conduct a proper experiment.

Given John's dabbling with postmodernist philosophy, point
well taken.

Remember, The Stereophile began as a magazine that stood
on the side
of accurate (rather than euphonic) sound reproduction, and
would help
readers make better buying decisions by telling them what
the major
magazines didn't -- that there were often large and
significant
differences in the sound of otherwise similar-seeming
components.

Agreed. JGH left Stereophile, didn't he?

In my opinion, * amps and preamps of 40+ years ago, both
tube and
transistor, were of lower absolute quality than those of
today, and
varied much more in subjective character.

I think that is a fact. Measure 'em, listen to 'em, they
were as a rule, not all that good. There were some good ones
but you got to pay for them.

These differences were
great enough to swamp the "perceptual noise" inherent in
subjective
testing. As a result, JGH's reviews were probably close to
the truth
(if such can be determined).

I agree. IMO, the current naive audiophile belief that
everything sounds different is a hangover from the days when
everything did sound different.

I would like to see anyone with faith in ABX testing to
round up some
classic amplifiers sold before, oh, 1975, make sure
they're in proper
working order, and run ABX tests against either modern
amps or a
bypass.


We did that, but with an amp that was somewhat older than
that.

http://www.pcavtech.com/abx/abx_pwr.htm

This page shows 4 amps that sounded the same, and 3 that
didn't.

I'm reasonably confident that there _will_ be audible
differences, and these will be similar to those reported
by reviewers
of that era. If so, it would greatly increase my trust in
the
validity of ABX testing in which no differences are heard.

Enjoy!