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Best way to A / B test amps? Use a switch?

I have two systems I want to do some a / b testing.  Instead of believe what you tell me I should hear, I want to see for myself.

I believe that the mind forgets what it heard 5 mins ago and internal biases kick in strong.  Therefore, I'd like to be able to immediately switch between two amps or two preamps immediately.

Any thoughts on how to do this without damaging one of the systems?
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Showing 3 responses by kijanki

kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,394 posts
 
Constant switching will drive you crazy.  It is far better, IMHO, to listen to each piece of gear for couple of days to get feel what you like more.
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,394 posts
 
@david_ten Yes, but comparing particular element, like bass or treble extension can result in choosing wrong gear.  In early seventies, before Transient Intermodulation Distortion surfaced, you could get a lot of amps with wonderful bass, treble etc, but sound of these amps was tiring over longer period of time.  When comparing such amp by switching, it would always win, but it was unpleasant to listen to on long run.
kijanki's avatar
kijanki
4,394 posts
 
What about differences between recordings? Do you now require duplicate identical turntables just to decide which LP is better?
Absolutely.  Switching is just a distraction and works against obtaining whole picture.  In order to get whole picture you need to listen to many recordings over period of time.  Perhaps because of that many companies, like Benchmark, give free 30 instead of few days evaluation.
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