AudioBanter.com - View Single Post - A model of the brain, & quick-switch

wrote:
Stewart Pinkerton wrote:
On 8 Sep 2005 05:30:38 GMT, wrote:

Steven Sullivan wrote:

In your comparison above. suppose when A and B were 'switched',
what in fact was done, was that A was replaced with A again.
There is a high likelihood that you would perceive the two
presentations as sounding 'different'. You might confidently
decide that you preferred 'B' to 'A' at the end of
your 4-week trial. When, in fact, there had been NO DIFFERENCE.

What would you conclude if that happened?

I would conclude what I already know: that under some conditions people
can perceive a difference when there is, to the best of our knowledge,
no difference (although it is important to note that we cannot
establish with certainty there was no difference).

Which part of "A was replaced with A again" was unclear to you?

I happen to think that not everything in the world can be perfectly
controlled.

'A replaced by A' can be extremely well controlled. It can be
demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt that nothing about 'A' changed
that would affect the audio output.

Of course, if one one to start expressing *unreasonable* doubts,
well, that's audiophiles for ya.

But how many "long-term, as relaxed as you like" comparisons have taken
place? Can you document, say, a dozen of them, along with the specific
conditions (length of time, directions to the test subjects)?

Isn't it fascinating how some audiophiles demand multiple rigorous
experiments when the indications are 'no difference', yet remain so endlessly
'open minded' about sighted results?

--

-S