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In Reply to: RE: Funny thing posted by josh358 on May 05, 2012 at 14:05:14
The whole problem ABX or really with any kind of test is that if the results are negative it doesn't prove anything. The sometimes suspect the real reason for the existence of ABX testing is so objectivists can use it as a virtual weapon in the jihad against cables, expensive speakers, and weird tweaks - "that thing couldn't possibly pass an ABX test." I also happen think that long term listening has a big problem --most audiophiles, and perhaps especially reviewers, are continually changing cables, electronics, adding and/or removing tweaks, And waiting for things to break in, and so forth. Obviously, the sound is subject to change over time in these cases, not necessarily for the better. And It's very easy to lose track of what the heck is going on. I'm more in favor of A/B/A testing, at least then you can eliminate all the unknowns involved with long term listening.
Edits: 05/05/12Follow Ups:
I think both short-term and long-term listening have a place, because there are some phenomena that are best identified in short-term comparisons, but others don't manifest themselves until you've become very familiar with a system.
I've also come to believe in ultra-short-term listening, since I think that the ear can accommodate to and tune out certain kinds of distortion and certain acoustical artifacts. There's some scientific evidence that this is a real problem in audio and I suspect it accounts for some reports of burn in or even component selection. How many times have you read "The Grundage 9000 sounded shrill and harsh at first, but after pairing it with six preamps, on the third day, it finally clicked?" I have a feeling that it's not always preamp that's clicking, but the reviewer's auditory pathways.
This I think is another problem with ABX tests, which have to be conducted with multiple trials to be statistically significant.
So we have had the atomization of audio for how long now, a decade or two?
Sales must be good...
If I can be so bold, your response is, well, non responsive.
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