EddieM wrote:

The Objectivist assert that straight listening or more specifically,
sighted evaluation is not a scientifically valid process for determining
if the audio components (except speakers ?) would sound different.

Technically the claim is that sighted tests *can* introduce
unfavorable pre-bais to the equation. A sighted evaluation
can in theory work as well as a sighted one(say if the
person in question has never heard of or cares about the
two options in question) But being 100% or even 80% objective
is rare unles you have a Ben Stein type personality