Blind Power Cord Test & results

Albertporter...I don't want to get mixed up with the power cord thing, but perhaps you could explain why you think (pronounce actually) that, in general, a long term listening comparison is better than a quick A/B. In my experience long term comparisons become very subjective, so that it is easy to "hear" differences that don't really exist.

I agree that long term listening is the best way to determine if you really like the sound, but, to detect changes, I think that the quick A/B is best.

I think we are confusing CHANGE with QUALITY. Change is quickly detected although it may take a while to decide if the change is an improvement or a degradation. I agree that it takes years to properly evaluate a woman, but I can usually tell in a few seconds which one I want to approach.

Although I subscribe to the A vs B method, I do note that there are some very special situations where inadudible problems might become anoying over time. The one that comes to mind is an ultrasonic oscillation that you cannot hear but which adversely affects your hearing, or perhaps gives you a headache.

Very special situations. 99 percent of the time I think that A vs B will reveal any difference. And I don't see ,line cords in the category of things that would be a very special situation.

Albertporter...As I am sure you know, there is another explanation for why audiophiles dislike A vs B, and why it is banned at AA.

Is everyone familiar with the old Stereophile Test CD where Gordon Holt reads his essay "Why Hi-Fi experts disagree"? As he reads through his piece he uses 14 different microphones. The differences in the sonic characteristics are huge. If the sound characteristics are so greatly affected by which microphone was used, I wonder why we get so worked up about differences with power cords, and the like, which, if they really exist, are so small that most people can't hear them.

And about Albertporter's postings...of course I always read them with care. He obviously has the time and money to experiment with equipment that I could not justify buying, and, most important, he (usually) does not resort to name-calling. However, on some issues I feel free to disagree. No problem.

Drubin...You are brave! Hold fast to your beliefs, even as they tie you to the stake, and light off the straw.

Twl...No doubt that "something is going on", but the question is: should the investigator be a scientist or a psychologist. Probably both, IMHO.

Some people believe in psychic phenomena, and many tests have been devised to try and prove, by statistical means that psychic phenomena exist. No one is convinced, except those who believed before the tests. However, IF someone were to discover, not that it exists, but HOW it works, some kind of electromagnetic radiation between brains, then it's existence would not be in question, even by people who lack the ability.

So, people who want to convince me that exotic power cords affect audio equipment, need to come up with some rational explanation as to how this might happen. So far the various "scientific" explanations that I have heard fall short of credibility.

Lmack...You missed the point about the psychic. No doubt you would believe her, although the trick is probably done by a mirror or something like that. The point is that if the mechanism for psychic power were discovered, then it's existance would be accepted by sceptics. Don't argue that it exists...tell me how it works. You may not care how it works, but that's your ticket to credibility.

This is an exercise in understanding human nature, not audio.

Bye.

Dragon1952...You also, and others still miss the point about the ROLE of a scientific explanation of physical effects. I will say it another way.

Not everything requires an exact explanation. (Don't misquote me!). I believe in Gravity, even though its explanation is imperfect.

If I believe, based on listening and science, that some audio tweek doesn't, and cannot possibly, work, a hundred people saying it does won't have much luck convincing me. But if one guy can show me HOW it functions then I cannot deny that it works.