Fuses that matter.

Bryon, Imagine that you listen to your system at 5:50PM to establish a baseline and again with new fuse at 6:00PM. At 6:00PM radio stations cut power in half according to FCC regulations - you detected improvement. Now you test other fuses. You already know that original stock fuse was not as good as expensive fuses, therefore you believe in differences between them. Once you believe there are likely differences (or perhaps wife keeps adjusted dimmer switch) you will hear it . It is difficult to eliminate all influences including movement/position of cables during fuse replacement, not to mention placebo effect. You move your amp to change fuse direction and cables got better contact - improvement in sound. Now when you change direction again placebo effect is much stronger since you already heard improvement one way.

Yes, good point Kijanki!

I tend to shy away from a/b tests likely involving subtle and unpredictable differences because it is so hard to control all variables that can affect sound in subtle ways.

Now when I hear a consensus that clear major differences can be heard in a predictable manner, I tend to take more notice.

BE careful Bryon. Those streets could be slippery!

It's humorous to read this sort of thing, people getting all stressed out about a simple test. Why it's almost like superstition. I guess if you hear about placebo and expectation bias and unknown variables enough it'll psych anyone out.

Faint heart ne'r won fair maiden.

;-)

"It's humorous to read this sort of thing, people getting all stressed out about a simple test. Why it's almost like superstition. I guess if you hear about placebo and expectation bias and unknown variables enough it'll psych anyone out. "

Not everyone.....

"Now when I hear a consensus that clear major differences can be heard in a predictable manner, I tend to take more notice"

I'm also wary of small tweaks, since my hearing is perhaps less than perfect, but I have to admit that some small tweaks worked for me in the past, including more consistent sound without clapper.