"I. Care" wrote in message
.net

There is an interesting discussion which might relate to
one of the threads that was/has been going on here. It
is on rec.audio.high-end and titled "The long term
listening myth"

It's only interesting to people who don't already know the punch line.

Long term listening is a great way to find musical passages and
circumstances where there is audible distortion. In some sense, its the only
way.

But long term listening is a very poor methodolgy if you goal is the most
sensitive possible results.

The orgional ABX Comparator had a standard battery backup feature that
supported long term listening tests. 4 AA cells on the back panel would
maintain the storage of unknowns and test results for days, even when there
was an interruption of power. Frankly, it was one of the least important
features of the product and was almost never used.