my take on blind tests

If I were to take a double blind test, the biggest problem would be that I am completely unfamiliar with the entire audio system being used in the test.

The place I notice differences the quickest and easiest is at home; for the simple reason that I have a long memory of how it sounds and feels. So anything new introduced is immediately apparent.

At a store, a friends, an audio show, I can get an pretty quick impression of the entire setup, but individual items are hard to differentiate. If I spent all day, maybe I would reach a point where small changes were easier to distinguish. In those tests, they won't give you all day for your ears to adjust. They won't even give you ten minutes.

"If I were to take a double blind test, the biggest problem would be that I am completely unfamiliar with the entire audio system being used in the test."

Do it at home with your own system. Have someone swap out cables, cords, etc. or use different cables in different inputs and have someone else switch back and forth via remote.

Plenty of ways to do it. Most of the reasons I've heard so far are just excuses rather than having to admit that there is really little difference.

Or if there is so much difference, then the presumption would be confirmed.

Snofun,

You said it very well. If you can't hear a difference in a blind test then the difference must be quite small. Given that most people can hear a change in tone control of around 1 db - it implies that these differences are very small indeed.

I would agree that as the differences get smaller it may take much longer to discern and much greater familiarity with the sound of the system (as per Sugarbrie). I think this is because eventually you find out what to look for....like a tiny knick in a wood floor - once you know where to look then you can find it even it it may take hours for someone else to find the damaged spot. Think Jig saw puzzle.

However, small is still small. If you want to spend $1000's of dollars on small and barely audible differences (like repairing a small scratch in your wooden floor) then go for it!

The differences between cables are as significant to my ears as what I hear when evaluating electronics and speakers, but of course I don't close my ears (or my eyes) when making such evaluations. Perhaps I'll give this blind testing thing a shot when selecting my next automobile.

LM