John

 Re: Full of questions - Mike K 07:37:35 4/01/99 (0)
 Re: Full of questions - Jim Willis 07:19:01 4/01/99 (0)
 Re: Full of questions - Jack G 04:42:03 4/01/99 (0)

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 Re: Full of questions - Mike K 07:37:35 4/01/99 (0)
 Re: Full of questions - Jim Willis 07:19:01 4/01/99 (0)
 Re: Full of questions - Jack G 04:42:03 4/01/99 (0)
 Re: Full of questions - Rodney Gold 21:12:18 3/31/99 (0)
 Re: Full of questions - nataraj 18:56:56 3/31/99 (0)

Yes ... and welcome to the rat-shack cable fans club.

>>>Every change of cables after that, the difference was less and less, until I couldn't tell
which was which. Why does that happen?<<<
Its easy to overdo critical listening. It is tedious and tiresome-no doubt about it. One must do it in short periods of time, or you will get fatigued and frustrated. When that happens to me, i have learned to force myself to stop for a few hours or (more often) till the next day.

>>>After two hours of
this, all I have to show for it is, a pounding migraine, a sore back, and my dog cowering in the corner<<<
Yup, that happens You dont realize how much concentration you were exerting. 2 hours of that is a LONG times, especially if you aren't used to it. keep the times shorter in the future, and dont take it out on the dog.
Jack

Well. Maybe not life expectancy, but certainly finances.

I have a really tough time doing critical listening of swapped equipment myself as well. Stress. I don't enjoy AB tests, and I don't enjoy being forced to make choices if I don't think there is enough information. So I flatly refuse to make decisions for at least a week (usually a month).

It is easy enough to hear a gross difference, but not a subtle one.

A big difference, or even the appearance of a big improvement, does not necessarily mean that the widgit is "better." (My standard for better is live unamplified music, and sometimes it takes a while to jog my memory of a particular performer.) And I cannot even count the times I've heard something and thought "Wow! Isn't that better." only to realize a few days or weeks later that it wasn't really better, just different and maybe even worse.

So now I plug in a new whatever, and listen to it for a while. Then I form an opinion as to whether I like it (or even prefer it). I actively resist early decisionmaking (unless there is a problem with the particular piece of equipment that makes it unacceptable). Sometimes a new component will necessitate other system/room changes to give it a fair chance. After my set evaluation period, I may or may not swap in the old component to do a comparison.

BTW, cheap patch cords are not exactly hateful. A pair of $2.99 RCAs are probably the most cost effective component available. However, since cables have different values I think it is worth experimentation to find preferences.