Bruce Abrams wrote in message news:wUz0c.91281$4o.116016@attbi_s52...
"Michael Scarpitti" wrote in message
news:Vzy0c.444501$na.1075235@attbi_s04...
*snip*
How can my 'beliefs' affect my judgement, when I had no 'beliefs' to
start with?!

Why do you continue to profess no beliefs when it is clear that you have an
extremely strong belief that amps sound different? It's not about which you
think you'll prefer, simply that you believe you will have a preference.

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!

No one would presuppose to tell you what you did and didn't hear if you
simply allowed for the possibility that what you thought you heard might
have been influenced by what you thought, namely that you expected the amps
to sound different. In fact, if you were able to tell the difference
between any two of the amps in question without knowing which was playing,
you'd be quite a hero.

I did not 'expect' the amps to sound different. I did not 'expect'
that any given amp would have any particular sound. That amps sound
different was the conclusion I drew from this experience.

The fact that only two of the amps were even remotely similar-sounding
was telling against your protestations.

How could my 'expectation' have given wildly different, CONSISTENT
sound to each amp? Why did the Bryston sound rolled-off at the top? I
had no 'expectation' that it would! Why did the Harmon-Kardon sound
lacking in dynamics? I had no expectation that it would. Why did the
Hafler sound flabby? I had no expectation that it would. Why did the
Sony TA-N88B sound unbelievably clear? I had no expectation that it
would! Why did the PS Audio sound irritatingly bright? I had no
expectation that it would!

I had NO preconceived opinion, or knowledge, of the sound of any of
these amps: that is why I auditioned them. If I already had known how
they sounded, I would not have bothered with empirical testing!

By the way, I asked a friend to listen along with me. His opinions
were exactly the same.