Bad news for audiophiles?

That phenomenon has been tested and documented before. I'd bet good money that the same phenomenon applies to audio. Not - as Akg suggest - to mean that low-fi gear actually sounds as good as serious audiophile gear. But within "high-end" I'm sure this bias exists. The problem is that it's much easier to set up double blind tests with wine than audio gear.

"The problem is that it's much easier to set up double blind tests with wine than audio gear."

True - I can lift a glass of wine in each hand but I don't think I can even lift one of my front speakers anymore. Heck, if I'm doin' two-fisted tests with glasses of wine (and I'll need to do extensive testing and re-tests to make sure I get it right) I can guarantee it's much easier to get blind...

We hoomans occasionally do fall for all types of tricks or scams as we can be gullible and often easily distracted by peripheral or emotional influences (like purported price, as though price == value). But when we take the time to research (and synapse) we can still do OK (and the real bargain hunters will still find that wine or speaker deal). BTW - does that "research" result really surprise anyone?

There's always the possibility that someone may like a more expensive component for reasons that are real, and not imagined.

Uh....what do wine and cables have in common?
Some are red, and some are white, and they all turn green.