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I'm as guilty of "false positives" as the next audiophile -- I claim no exceptional hearing ability to differentiate among components:For one personal example:
The wife told me she "did something" with my speakers and listening chair which are "in the middle of our living room" in a near field set-up. The vacuum cleaner was in the living room so I jumped to the conclusion she moved my speakers and chair to vacuum the carpet and moved them back to different positions. So I sat down to listen and almost immediately complained that the sound quality was compromised, and "I would have marked the floor with black tape if I knew you were goong to move everything" from precise spots that took me years to find blah blah blah. Then the wife calmly explained that she dusted off my speakers and chair because they were "covered with dust" and didn't move anything. I felt about four feet tall at that moment (I'm actually almost 4' 10" and 395 lbs). That was my ultimate "false positive" and something I have never revealed to anyone else until today (the wife, however, has been stopping strangers on the street, and telling them the story for many years.)So here are my thoughts on audiophile "false positives":
In a typical ABX blind test, the participants know what component is in use about two-thirds of the time.
In addition, the participants spend about half their time comparing a component with itself, and in a typical test they "hear differences" (false positives) roughly 50% of the time.
In a typical Same-Different blind test, the participants spend about half their time comparing a component with itself, and in a typical test they "hear differences" (false positives) roughly 50% to 75% of the time.
62% of the time in the infamous Stereophile same-different blind amplifier test!
That test was run by Atkinson, who claims to have participated in over 100 blind tests.
He also claims such great knowledge of blind test methodology that he also claims with authority that 30% of blind tests use improper methodology.
Well, I challenge that self-proclaimed authority:
- The Stereophile blind amp test used an improper methodology, completely negating Atkinson's claim of his blind test methodology knowledge!A Same-Different blind test like the Stereopile blind amp. test does not adjust for the fact that we audiophiles are strongly biased toward reporting we hear differences ... because that's what "real audiophiles" do in subjective comparisons ... and "real men" also don't like to say "I can't hear a difference" (which essentially means: "I must be a pathetic loser because I don't know").
That audiophile unconscious? bias toward reporting hearing A-B differences will tend to make us look foolish when comparing an amp with itself ... but can also make us look wiser than we really are when comparing one amp with another amp. in a same-different blind test.
There is no known bias among audiophiles when picking "A" or "B" in an ABX methodology blind test, but there is a known bias when picking "same" or "different" in a same-different methodology blind test.
That's why the Same-Different methodology is worthless for obtaining accurate blind test results, unless there is some accurate way of adjusting for the audiophile "I hear a difference" bias (there is no way to accurately adjust for this bias, even when you know it exists, which Atkinson, the self-proclaimed blind test methodology expert, apparently didn't know).
I thought the above discussion would be helpful information for self-proclaimed blind test methodology expert Atkinson and his Stereopile staff, in case there are future blind tests in his magazine (I'm not holding my breath!).
Now back to the main subject of this post:
So why do so many audiophiles have "False Positives"
(we think we hear an A-B difference even when comparing a component with itself, where no audible differences are possible)Note that I'm excluding small A-B SPL differences that exist in almost all subjective (sighted) A-B comparions -- I'm assuming there will be no audible average SPL differences in blind tests)
Here are my proposed explanations for audiophile false positives:
(1) Avoiding cognitive dissonance
(just about the only thing I sort of remember from Psychology 101 in Fall 1972)
We audiophiles, and men in general, are reluctant to admit we are wrong about anything, especially the "audiophile myth" (all components sound different), so we immediately reject conflicting data.(2) Over-optimism about one's skills and abilities
We audiophiles often believe we have superior hearing abilities and almost always will "hear differences" among components, especially after long-term comparisons(3) Respect for "authority"
We audiophiles often believe what we read by "professional audio reviewers" (the oxymoron of all times!) and audio component company CEO's (self-promoting company shills with financial interests) and component designers (self-promoting engineers whose "improvements" could be measurable but not audible)(4) A peculiar need to believe absurd non-scientific explanations
(National Enquirer readers, and non-scientists such as Al Bore, who took a mere two science courses in college, couldn't even manage to get a B in either of them, yet has made himself over $100 million with an absurd non-scientific slide show on the alleged coming global warming disaster!)(5) Conspiracy theory
Some audiophiles may believe "the establishment" (possibly called "the man" by black audiophiles), including Sound & Vision, Consumer Reports, scientists and engineers conducting blind tests, etc.) are covering up the truth about high-end audio(6) Complete lack of skepticism
The gullible person who always looks down when you say "your fly is open"Sorry I didn't have much detail behind (4), (5), and (6), but I usually don't do this much thinking about serious subjects in one weekend, or even in one month!
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Richard BassNut Greene
"I know what I hear" is often an audio fantasyland
Edits: 03/24/08 03/24/08 03/24/08Follow Ups:
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