Michael Scarpitti wrote:
"W. Oland" wrote in message ...


The ability of knowledge and/or belief to influence how a person perceives
something is well established. For example, that is the reason that
placebos are used in the trials of new pharmaceuticals. Depending on what
is being tested, up to 40% of the people taking the placebo report
improvement in their medical condition (and also side effects.) This is
completely based on the =expectation= that the drug will make them better.
As such, the "real" drug under test must do significantly statistically
better than the fake one.

It cannot make a Harmon-Kardon amp sound consistently(!) different
from a Hafler amp, especially when I have no idea how each is supposed
to sound. It cannot make five different amps sound different from each
other, and consistently so.


The same thing applies to auditioning audio equipment, whether amps,
speakers, cables or whatever. If you know which piece of equipment you are
listening to at any given moment, your knowledge and beliefs about that
item are going to influence your perception no matter how many times you
tell yourself otherwise.

I have said this before, and I am going to say it again, for the LAST
time:

I had NO beliefs about how these amps were supposed to sound. It was a
'blind' trial, in the sense that I had not listened to any of the amps
before bringing them home for listening tests.

Hafler
PS Audio
Harmon-Kardon
Bryston
Sony

They all sounded different.

How can my 'beliefs' affect my judgement, when I had no 'beliefs' to
start with?!

I listened with Stax electrostatic earspeakers connected directly to
the power amps. Perhaps your system is not as critical.

But DON'T tell me I cannot hear differences between amps this way.
Hellen Keller could hear them!


Several questions:

1. Did you level-match during your listening tests?
2. Do you think you can tell them apart in a DBT?
3. Can you tell differences between cables?

BTW, whether Hellen Keller could hear them is irrelevant. Blind means
not knowing what's being played. In fact, I would expect Keller to have
had a better hearing acuity than most of us.