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On 2 Oct 2005 20:42:29 GMT, wrote:

Steven Sullivan wrote:
wrote:
Stewart Pinkerton wrote:

I don't know, or care to know, what those differences are, or whether
you can measure them...all I know is that I can HEAR them...

You *know* no such thing. This has been explained to you on numerous
occasions, but you refuse to accept it. You have the classic religious
reply of "I heard it, so it *must* really exist". Well, the reality is
that you only *imagined* that you heard it, and it does *not* really
exist. Furthermore, this is easily proved, so what's your problem?

Do I need point out to you that this is a metaphysical impossibilty?
You cannot know what I see or hear.

And how can you know that the *reason* for what you 'see and hear', is
what you believe it to be?

Not important at this point in the argument. Pinkerton denies that I
heard the difference. He cannot do that.

False on its face - I already did that.

I do it again - I *know* that there was no audible difference between
the cables, therefore I *know* that you only *imagined* that you heard
a difference.

I heard a difference between the $100 and $50 Monster cables.

There is no contradicting this. The question is not IF, but rather WHY.

You 'heard' a difference. You don't *know* that it was really a difference
between the cables, you only *know* that you think you heard a differece.

Metaphysically equivalent. There are some things that we cannot
reliably distinguish above the 'noise' of our neuro systems and the
blood coursing through our veins. And there is always some ambient
noise (except in specially-treated, sound-deadened rooms). The answer,
then, lies in repeated listening over several days or even weeks, to
allow for the evening-out of our moods and neurological conditions. If
after enough trials I am satisfied that there is a difference and a
sufficient one), I buy the product.

Fine, but that doesn't mean that there is any *actual* difference in
the sound. Shame that you seem unable to accept this logical argument,
even after all the mechanisms have been spelled out to you by several
posters.

snip irrelevance about CD cleaner

The question is *IF* the difference was really between
the cables, or whether it was imaginary. It can also be posed as "WHY
did you perceive a difference"?

Correct. So, as in any scientific question, we use the process of
elimination. The fact that the difference was repeatable, over several
days, and that the alteranative explanation ('it's all in my head')
strains credulity, points to the cables themselves possessing a
different sound character.

It's Occam's razor time!

Exactly, and it suggests that you expect a difference, *therefore* you
hear a difference. Seems to work for everyone else in the world, and
*you* are the only one around here who doesn't seem to understand that
it does not 'strain credulity' at all, it's a perfectly normal
combination of expectation bias and reinforcement.
--

Stewart Pinkerton | Music is Art - Audio is Engineering