Richard Clark $10,000 Amplifier Challenge - Why Couldn't Anyone Pass this Test??


Any guesses? 
seanheis1

Showing 9 responses by geoffkait

There are of course many legitimate reasons why someone might not be able to hear the difference between two amplifiers or between anything else, like say cables. Unfortunately most of those reasons are not very complimentary.


nordicnorm
@geoffkait

Hmmm. Interesting. Perhaps there isn’t as much difference between violins? What do I know? I’m only a trumpet player. ;^)

>>>>>>I actually think it doesn’t necessarily mean that at all. I think there may very well be significant differences between/among good violins that trained musicians cannot distinguish, or cannot distinguish in a test, in particular a controlled blind test. Some people don’t test well. 😀 My evidence: exhibit no. 1 is that some of the worst sounding audio systems I ever heard were those of musicians. Now, all you musicians out there, please don't send me a bunch of angry emails, I'm sure some of you can hear OK. 😀

nordicnorm
That doesn’t mean that musicians are unable to tell the difference between other instruments (as in my Oscar Peterson example).

>>>>>Actually, I suspect it might mean that musicians may not be able to tell differences between other instruments. It’s the process or perhaps the test subjects themselves that’s flawed somehow. Can trained musicians tell the difference between cables? Power cords? Fuses? Can you?

@Nordicnorm Not sure what you're referring to when you say they were not live instruments. Here's a link to a discussion of the two Stradavarius tests.

http://www.thestrad.com/blind-tested-soloists-unable-to-tell-stradivarius-violins-from-modern-instru...



You obviously didn't read the article. They WERE trained musicians. That's the whole point. He-loo!


yage
@geoffkait - Ah... didn’t see any links, so wasn’t sure that’s what you were posting about.

I think the conclusions were pretty clear, though: new violins sound quite good.

>>>>>Yes, either that or trained musicians are relatively tone deaf or whatever, which I actually prefer.

yage
With respect to the talk on old and new violins, I’m surprised no one has mentioned these two studies:

Is A Stradivarius Violin Easier To Hear? Science Says Nope

Double-Blind Violin Test: Can You Pick The Strad?

>>>>Actually, your humble scribe mentioned those inconclusive "scientific" tests by trained professionals with Stradivarius vs X brand 4 days ago on this very thread. Hel-loo!

The Quads have issues. First of all they need to be on stands, I had the Arcici stands. Secondly, they need to have their metal grills removed. The grills suffocate the speakers. The Mylar dust covers should also be removed. If you’re nervous about dust in the room get an air purifier or two. Finally, the Quads benefit from better power cords. All of these actions result in tremendous dynamics and bass performance.

Why couldn’t they pass the test? The same reason why a panel of experts cannot tell the difference between a Stradavarius and any other well made reasonably good sounding violin. Did anyone ever pass one of The Amazing Randi's $1 Million challenges? I don't think so.