Hi Dlittle; A well written thread, but you don't tell us what experience you have had with sighted testing, or what your stereo system consists of? Respectfully, I would ask you to consider this question from the perspective of the sighted test, eg rather than looking up books, articles, or inet material, why not just try "sighted" comparisons for yourself? Have you ever actually done that? If not, I would suggest auditioning several different power cords, ICs, or speaker cables. Power cords and ICs are easy and inexpensive to audition; it usually just costs shipping. If you have decent quality components, you should definitely hear differences among some of them, but maybe not all. This would give you something with which to compare your written research. I have nothing against blind testing, but after learning critical listening skills, and this is essential, I have found that I don't need it. Good Hunting. Craig