Fuses that matter.

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.

Kijanki and Mapman - For my little experiment, I will take care to control as many potentially confounding variables as possible. For example, I will...

...conduct the experiment late at night.
...turn everything electronic outside the system off.
...turn off all the house lights.
...disable the computer modem.
...move the audio equipment only once to access the fuses.
...take care not to touch anything else when swapping fuses.
...clean all the fuses with the same contact cleaner.
...minimize the amount of time the amp is powered down for swaps.
...give the same amount of time for the amp to warm up after a swap.
...keep track of which direction the fuses are pointed.
...use the same 2 pieces of music to evaluate.
...never never never touch the volume control.
...ask the wife to leave the room (nicely).
...ask the dog to leave the room.
...strap on my tin foil hat.
...put on my listening ears.

While that hardly ensures a foolproof procedure, it may assuage some of your concerns about the validity of my methodology. But perhaps the greater concern is not my methodology but my psychology. Wait a sec, have you been talking to my wife? Like I tell her, my psychology is what it is, so it's better to adjust your expectations downward. Having said that, I'll try not to let my psychology destroy the validity of the test. I have at least one thing going for me...

A common criticism of audiophiles who buy expensive toys of questionable value is "You paid WHAT for it? Of course you're going to hear improvements from it!"

No doubt that is true for some folks, but I think this is one form of self delusion that I am fairly resistant to. In other words, I doubt my judgments about sound quality will be influenced by the price of the fancy fuses. When I go to a restaurant, I eat what's on the plate and I say, "That was good" or "I'm never coming back here." I don't adjust my feelings about the food when I see the bill. The meal could be $15 at Fat Matt's Ribs Shack in Georgia or $1500 at Louis XV in Monte Carlo. The food at Fat Matt's was awesome. The food at Louis XV sucked. I didn't let the fact that Louis XV cost 100 times more than Fat Matt's change my opinion.

Perhaps that won't be much reassurance, but it's all I've got.

Bryon