"George M. Middius" cmndr [underscore] george [at] comcast [dot] net wrote in
message ...
:
:
: dave weil said:
:
: I don't deny that [aBxism is] one way to compare gear, just not the only
: "true" way and not even necessarily the best way to compare gear,
: although it might not be the worst either. It's certainly better than
: buying stuff on the basis of reading a tech sheet.
:
: I can't agree with that. To do such a "test", you have to have both items
: in your possession, as well as the requisite switchbox. That's time and
: money you have to invest. Since the purported objective of the "test" is to
: undermine the rationale for spending extra money, it's circular at best.
:
: It's also doubtful whether Joe Audiophile can simply sit down and do a
: "test" and reach a meaningful decision for the intended purpose of his
: purchase, which is listening to music for pleasure. If you take the
: pleasure part out of the equation and try to treat the exercise as
: "research", how do you translate the results into a meaningful conclusion
: for the real context?
:
: It's a fantasy to pretend that human beings can turn themselves into robots
: just to choose one box over another. We have emotions and feelings and
: moods. Our response to music varies according to our emotional state. On a
: given day, you might be more receptive to one aspect of a recording because
: of some connotation of a particular sound. Such subtleties are completely
: masked by the roboticism of the "tests".
:
: In the end, if you use aBxism rituals to choose your gear, you have no
: assurance you've made the best choice because the "test" is artificial. The
: 'borgs themselves tacitly admit this point -- none of Them has EVER used a
: "test" to guide a single purchase for personal use. Never. Not one.
:
:

clearly formulated , well argumented nice post George :-)

most of the audio testing protocols i've seen, use a system of rating various
DUT's on some scale, that is, implied is that "the participant is in a position
to
judge various aspects of the DUT".
ABX has an all together other implication: "we doubt you are even able to
hear any differences between two DUT's."
being judge or being suspect err, your votes, please ;-)

Rudy