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Re: It does not work that way...

>>In your opinion. I assure you that my dissatisfaction was real. I
>>find it amazing that you now claim to be a mind reader in order to
>>be able to wriggle out from the implications of my experience.
>
>Those are the facts with respect to biases, you might not like them
>and try and claim that they do not apply to your particular
>situation...

Again, you seem to be addressing a different point. My dissatisfaction
with the sound of the solid-state amplifier was indeed real. Why would
I lie about it, either to you now or to myself back then? All I was
concerned about at the time -- and remember that, as described in the
essay, I was not a reviewer at the end of the 1970s but a hard-line
"objectivist -- was buying an amplifier for use in my own system for
as little cash as I needed pay for the amount of power available. I
did what "objectivists" to this day recommend to audiophiles, which
is to choose a well-designed amplifier on the basis of cost, features,
and power, because in a formal blind test, the amplifier I wanted to
purchase had been shown not to sound any different from more exotic,
more expensive designs. As I said, for you now to claim that you know
more about my state of mind at that time than I did then is both
ridiculous and arrogant.

I have been forthright about the biases and belief I had at that time.
All you are doing is postulating that there must have been other,
hitherto unsuspected biases at work. As I said: mindreading.

>but then you will not be different many other audiophiles who believe
>that some basic laws of human behaviour do not apply to them.

I see you like to patronize those whose points you can't argue with
otherwise?

>>Only a fool or someone in the throes of religious zeal would regard
>>that as rational behavior, I respectfully suggest.
>
>You are defending a position that is totally at odds with generally
>accepted behavioural science on this well-trodden subject with
>absolutely nothing except a piece of anecdotal evidence.

No, I am honestly reporting my _experience_, experience obtained
without pressure from anyone else, and experience that ran counter
to my biases and expectations. Such was the cognitive dissonance
engendered by this situation that I didn't recognize the problem
until I realized that listening to recorded music, my passion, had
increasingly become less and less of my life. The change in amplifier
had been the only significant factor. Occam's Razor suggested that
the amplifier was the root cause of my dissatisfaction.

And if that was the case, then either the blind test had misled me
or my biases and expectations had not outweighed the evidence of
my ears.

And to take your argument to its logical conclusion, you appear to be
suggesting that all human experience, if anecdotal and not supported
by scientific experiments, must be discarded as meaningless. I
hardly think that is the case.

Take my recording activities: I must make literally 100s of judgment
calls during the production of a project, some under extreme time
constraints, and I need to be correct on every one of those decisions.
Should I move this mike back 6"? Should I apply +0.5dB of boost at
100Hz to compensate for a cardioid's early rolloff or +1dB? Should
I record at 96kHz or save hard-drive space and file-handling time by
using 48kHz. The list is endless, yet according to you, without
formal blind testing of each of those situations, none of those
decisions can be justified because each will be affected by my
baggage of biases and preconceived notions.

In that case, why do any of us bother doing anything?

I take it, BTW, that all your own decisions regarding what products
you chose to buy and how you choose to use them have been made on
the basis of formal blind tests? Otherwise, you would add hypocrisy
to your religious belief in the efficacy of the blind test!

>>Now that is irrational behaviour, on the otherhand a fool or
>>someone in the throes of religious zeal may also regard it as
>>rational behavior, I respectfully suggest.
>
>Given the tone of last post, I take it you have nothing else
>worthwhile to say on the matter.

I see. So while you appear to feel that it is okay for you to
patronize others, you wish to pick up your ball and leave when
some of that attitude reflects back on you. If you dish it out, you
can hardly complain when others respond to you in kind.

John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile



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