It is nice to know your gear measures reasonably well. For example, over the years I have come to realize I seem to like the sound of amplifiers that double (or almost) power from 8 ohms to 4 ohms. Also, having a DAC with a high’ish S/N ratio is typically a good thing. However in the context of a home audio system, what really matters is how things sound to you when you have it all put together. I agree with those who leave new stuff in their system for a relatively long time and then take the new stuff out, put things back the way they were, and then listen some more, rather than doing quicker A/B listening comparisons. I also believe level matching is important and actually critical when doing shorter A/B comparisons. In cases of subtle differences resulting from tweaks, doodads, and cables, I mostly try not to sweat it and ultimately decide whether the item is even worth the money. The cognitive bias involved in all of this is directly proportional to the amount of audio forums and equipment reviews the listener reads.
Amir and Blind Testing
Let me start by saying I like watching Amir from ASR, so please let’s not get harsh or the thread will be deleted. Many times, Amir has noted that when we’re inserting a new component in our system, our brains go into (to paraphrase) “analytical mode” and we start hearing imaginary improvements. He has reiterated this many times, saying that when he switched to an expensive cable he heard improvements, but when he switched back to the cheap one, he also heard improvements because the brain switches from “music enjoyment mode” to “analytical mode.” Following this logic, which I agree with, wouldn’t blind testing, or any A/B testing be compromised because our brains are always in analytical mode and therefore feeding us inaccurate data? Seems to me you need to relax for a few hours at least and listen to a variety of music before your brain can accurately assess whether something is an actual improvement. Perhaps A/B testing is a strawman argument, because the human brain is not a spectrum analyzer. We are too affected by our biases to come up with any valid data. Maybe.
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- 355 posts total
- 355 posts total