scientific double blinded cable test

Funny you should ask!  Kidding, my buddy recently compared a few digital cables.  We heard differences for sure.  Hugh difference, well nope.  Slight differences in overall dimension, clarity, smoothness, etc.  The higher priced digital cable won out but not at two and a half the price difference.  It also did not have the clarity of the cheaper cable.  My other friend couId hear the differences in our other friends system but not that much in his system so system dependent?   have stated many times in the past, swap out a few resistors and you will probably hear bigger differences.  I have a selector switch in my preamp so I can change resistors to go with the recording on the fly!

Happy Listening.

Well, I certainly hope you’re not trying to convince us that everybody will get the same subtle results that you and your buds got. It all comes down to the sticky question, what exactly do tests prove, if anything - even when they’re positive? We already know what they prove when they’re negative, right?

@geoffkait
I do wish you would read and comprehend before blasting

I doubt anyone could hear a significant difference between those two particular cables.

Approximately HALF the participants COULD tell the difference better than guessing. How else would we have come up with an even split?

I assume you were trying to portray Monster as a sort of high end cable.

We were not trying to portray anything. We were conducting an open test where anyone could participate and indicate whether they could repeatedly identify the cable as A or B. Any detected difference between the two cables was not captured as it was not relevant.

I had some Monster Cable circa 1983 and frankly, it sucked.

As I’ve mentioned several times, cable interacts with the amplifier and speakers. There are 3 possibilities relative to the existing cable: Better - No Change - Worse. While the cable maybe demonstrably worse electrically, it may be preferred by listeners in that system at that time.

In any case, as I’ve opined on more than a few occasions, a single test

As I said, "Some who took repeated tests could tell better than 80%." We structured the test so some would take it many times and each test series was different. Statistically, getting it right better than 80% that is way beyond what could be achieved by guessing.

means nothing when the results are inconclusive or negative.

There are multiple possible conclusions: Cables make no audible difference - Cables make an audible difference - The test was so poorly run with such bad equipment that it is impossible to tell.

There are many factors that biased against detecting differences: poor seating, distractions, poor room.

In other words you cannot draw any generalizations or conclusions.

Given that half the participants could reliably tell in adverse conditions, my takeaway was that people could distinguish differences... which I’ve maintained and reliably detected for more than 40 years.

And things have changed a little bit since the 80s, you betcha.

Yeah... lots of internet experts without one iota of technical expertise

Wire directionality can easily explain the results of your test. Wire directionality was not even a gleam in an audiophile’s eye in the ‘80s. For all you guys knew, you were comparing directions, not cables. Would it be fair to say one person in the group had reasonably good hearing but the rest were of, uh, unknown or questionable ability? 🙄

gdhal,

I don’t know that one can “prove” that wire sounds different (better) in one direction over the other to anyone but themselves. Especially if the person(s) you are trying to prove it to is not open to the idea, or even hostile towards it. Either they hear it for themselves, or they don’t. The great thing is that if you hear a positive difference, you don’t have to prove it to anyone in order to enjoy the benefits of it.

For me, this hobby is not about proving anything. It is about enjoying, engaging with, and being moved by, music in my home.