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Same ol' house of cards


We know our measurements are sufficient, because listening tests don't show a difference.

We know our listening tests work because there is no measurable difference.

Unfortunately, if it turns out that the listening tests are insufficient or unrepresentative, then the whole house falls down.

As far as I know, there is zero evidence to support the idea that THD and 20Hz-20kHz response measurements ever correctly described "goodness" in an audio component, yet they seem to have become "accepted" as scientifically valid.

30 years ago, Hiraga's asymmetrical tone tests showed wild differences in amplifiers that had similar FR and THD. He also showed that these test tones were much more representative of real music, and much more predictive of the subjective result.

Why did mainstream (not hi-end) audio ENGINEERS not adopt these clearly more stringent tests? The main reason is the dirty little secret of consumer product engineering:

Design goals are NOT driven by considerations of engineering excellence, they are driven by marketing requirements for specifications that can be printed on the box. THD and RMS power numbers became important SOLELY because they supported product differentiation in the marketplace (and because govt. regulation insisted on a uniform presentation of these claims, to avoid "music power" fraud).

Peter


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