It's Simple

My co-worker always buys Sutter Home wine @$4 a bottle.  He says he cannot tell the difference between wines.  He doesn't say there is no difference.

My face is red. I had no idea AES gave a crap about high end cables or wire or fuse directionality. By the way there’s a perfectly good reason why fuses are directional in DC circuits and AC circuits. See if anyone can guess what it is. Without blowing a head gasket. 😡

Jim (Jea48) and Shadorne, thank you kindly!

And thanks very much to Ian as well. Your lengthy second post makes many excellent points IMO, some of which indeed point out variables whose potential influence on cable and component comparisons is commonly under-recognized.

Your reference to Rod, btw, I assume is to Rodney Herman, co-designer of the original SOTA turntable. The one I purchased in 1983 still functions as well as ever, by the way!

Another thing your post does, when juxtaposed with the responses by some others earlier in the thread, is to reinforce a perception I’ve had for some time that some here are much too quick to hurl accusations of trolling. Which can often turn what might have been a constructive and informative thread into a series of pointless exchanges of insults and ugliness. The "believers" and the "non-believers" are often equally culpable in such exchanges, IMO.

Thanks again. Best regards,
-- Al

Shadorne...you are incorrect, IMHO!  I’ve had $20k preamps etc.. the more high fidelity a component, the more twitchy it can be to even the subtlest changes in the audio chain.  Then again, not everyone can hear that well nor care as much as the next guy or gal.

Ian, your summation is fairly spot on...all I can offer is extensive experience with tons of gear and cables...the preferred remedy is of course in the ear of the beholder.