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Blind Testing is Dead - Long live My Wallet testing.

Hi Everyone,

I was seeing some discussions around cables, and reading other discussions about A'gon members asking for opinions on different alternatives for hooking up a DAC, or TV sound, or whatever, and it made me think of this.


I want to tie a few things together:

  • Most technical measurements consumers read were defined by the 1970s. It is fair to describe them as stagnant.
  • The cost to benefit ratio of a lot of products can vary a great deal.
  • I hear things I can't yet measure in cables and crossover components.
  • I like measurements. 
  • Someday measurements commonly discussed among consumers will improve and better tie our values to technology.

A lot has been made about double blind testing, and a lot of readers rely on taste masters (web sites, magazines and social media) and whether in fact these taste masters can hear anything at all. Reminds me a lot of blind testing of wines, or an article I read recently about how much super rare whiskey is fake.


When deciding on a bit of kit, I could not care less about double blind testing. I care about :

  • What audible value can I perceive?
  • Is the price proportional to that value?
  • Is my money better spent on a vacation or liquor?

We should also note that I'm a bit of an iconoclast. Most consumers also care about:

  • Brand recognition
  • Style
  • Perception of modernity (is it cutting edge no one else has)
  • Perception of construction (how much does it weigh, how is it packaged)
  • Ability to create envy.
  • Price ( if it's too inexpensive, it can't be good! )


What is my message then? My message is that this is all cute, like reading about movies or books or music shows, but in the end, it's my wallet, no one else's. John Atkinson is not buying my speakers for me. I am. My hard work creates value which I use some of (sometimes too much) to buy audio related products. The more you detach yourself from brands, costs and worries about measurements the more frugal, and happier  you will be.


Best,

Erik


erik_squires
clearthink
1,421 posts
 
cd318"It is the elephant in the room as far as audio reviewing is concerning. They could and should do it, but know only too well the consequences."

Of what practical use, utility, or function would a blind test undertaken by a critic, reviewer, or other audiophile possibly have to you as a reader, user, or consumer? I think smart users of Music Reproduction Systems make they're own decisions, determinations, and acquisitions using they're own methods, techniques, and processes.

geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Like results of any kind of testing, blind test results should always be taken with a grain of salt. Sometimes people have ulterior motives, you know, like Boeing, for example. Or, say, Harmon Kardon.
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Components should have stickers like wine: 92 points- rich, fully developed acoustic space, strong wood notes but not too brassy, etc. 

Until the high-end manufacturers wake up and start using stickers the only thing we can do is trust buyers to carry only the best brands. That is why I do all my high-end shopping at Costco.

Even so I like to let most purchases age one to three years before listening.
cd318
2,636 posts
 

@clearthink, if these esteemed reviewers with all of their years and years of listening and critically evaluating equipment cannot reach a clear evaluation through blind testing then we are forced to conclude that either the differences are so subliminal as to hardly be worth the bother or there aren't any. 

Let's face it, subliminal differences are of little use to most of us audiophiles, but blind evaluation must always reveal major ones, ones that we can hear 365 days a year, ones we are all interested in. I can't speak for others but I have no interest in pursuing subtle subliminal improvements when I am looking to upgrade. Many years ago I started with a Rega 3 and later upgraded to an LP12. Was it an upgrade? Yes. Was it worth the expense and trouble? No, but that's another story.

I agree that their opinion of reviewers is far from being the final word but its beginning to look as if that opinion is almost entirely worthless. Little more than subjective rambling in most cases. Unfortunately many still rely upon reviews even in 2019 instead of regarding them as no more than light, but frivolous entertainment.

HiVyNyws channel is one of the very few left that doesn't pull his punches. But then he's reviewing vinyl where real (as distinct from imagined) differences are easy to demonstrate.
https://youtu.be/E4G7hSUQoO

In cases where home auditioning is impossible perhaps we need to go back to evaluating and buying gear on specifications once more? If you know how to read them they can tell you at a glance a lot more than some lilly livered critic ever will.
clearthink
1,421 posts
 

millercarbon"Components should have stickers like wine: 92 points- rich, fully developed acoustic space, strong wood notes but not too brassy"

Those who are knowledgeable, educated, and experienced do not need others to tell them how equipment sounds whether it be through labels, pronouncements on the Internet, or the claims, beliefs, and convictions of other "audiophiles." 
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