Why is Double Blind Testing Controversial?

Well said Bomarc. I'll go a little further along that road. Most people who argue in favor of DBT's in these threads imply that audiophiles don't want to discover that they can't tell one thing from another. I think audiophiles believe that DBT's are not good because that's what they've been told by the buff mag writers (aka "reviewers," but really just story tellers), who don't want to be exposed. You see, Sean, in a DBT, Mikey can't tell those preamps apart either.

There are reviewers with real scientific credentials and experience who advocate and use DBT's, but not many.

They don't have to be short. You can listen to whole pieces of music. And you can start by familiarizing yourself with the components under test until you are sure of what it is that makes them sound different, then try to tell them apart blind, not trying to prove there is no difference, but to confirm your hypothesis that they are different. In home, one obvious difficulty is exact matching of spls.

Oh, Sean, I didnt mean anything by it. I was referring to another thread in which I had said that salespeople couldnt tell things apart. This was, at the time of my post above, a relatively friendly thread, and I was just trying to be friendly despite our differences.

Back on topic, obviously, a lot of people feel threatened by the very mention of a DBT, apparently afraid of something. I am not an advocate of DBT's for the average audiophile. Too inconvenient for one thing, and for another, I've never participated in one. I just listen to stuff, get up, change the cables and listen to the other component. If I am acting on my imagination rather than perfectly accurate hearing, I don't really care, because I'm not designing, reviewing or selling anything, and my imagination so far is fairly consistent. Oh, yeah, there's that expectation thing - what the hell, whatever works.

I think those who hate the concept of a DBT should just go about their business secure that no one will ever force them into undergoing such an unpleasant procedure. Nothing to be afraid of. But I am pleased that the designers of the audio components and speakers I buy use them in their work and that a few legitimate audio reviewers also use them.

Paul

Huh? Redkiwi and Seandt were obviously joking. None of the recent posters seem upset. And, this topic is only off limits in the cable asylum. No rule against mentioning or discussing DBT's in the general or other specialized asylums.

Simple courtesy should be sufficient here. If someone asks, as in the initiation of this thread, "what's so bad about DBT's?," it should be obvious that he doesnt think anything is wrong with the subject, and if someone does, he might either ignore the thread or give his point of view without picking a fight.