I'm lucky to be on a budget--after a few thousand dollars, my hands begin to shake, I feel very unhappy, and all music sounds crappy to me. Therefore, I cannot test whether a $10,000 amp sounds 'better' than my $500 ones. But (at least back when stereo stores existed), I could compare various components in admittedly flawed tests (as close to 'single-blind' as I could get), either in the store or at home. Thus I was able to reject things where I could hear no difference (cables, etc.). Of course psychology plays a large part (as does, alas, progressive hearing loss)--but since I'm doing the listening, it doesn't matter what is objectively better. If the tube-glow makes the sound 'more warm' to me, fine. Also, the room environment (high wooden ceilings vs. 8' apartment stucco, speaker placement) makes far more difference than any equipment I can afford.
That said, I am a firm believer in single/ or double blind studies, which should be used for audio whenever possible. I don't think you can really test 'good sound' vs. 'bad sound' that way, but you can certainly test (1) whether there are objective sonic differences, and (2) whether those sonic differences are detectable by human ears.
That said, I am a firm believer in single/ or double blind studies, which should be used for audio whenever possible. I don't think you can really test 'good sound' vs. 'bad sound' that way, but you can certainly test (1) whether there are objective sonic differences, and (2) whether those sonic differences are detectable by human ears.
