Why do intelligent people deny audio differences?

Lugnut nailed it. Academia Nervosa.

My brother maintains an information network at a large university, yet:

My brother believes the US government has deceased alien corpses locked away in a meat locker. He also believes everything Oliver Stone sends his way.

Sucker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Heh, yer brother is messin with you, there are definatly differences in CDP's

Example,
I have 2 sources hooked up, a Denon 2900 and a Pioneer CDR. I keep the CDR mainly for recording and do pretty much all of my listening with the Denon 2900.

He gets off work a couple hours before i do and usually has music playing when i get home.

Before i even open my door i can tell if he is listening to the radio, comcast digital music, the CDR, or the Denon 2900.

The problem with those tests is how many of those audiophools owned the players being tested?

I can tell which source is being played before i even walk into the room because i have had enough time with my system to be able to tell the sonic characteristics of each well enough to make a guess as to which it is with about 90-95% accuracy.

Put me in a room on a system i dont know, with several players of various price points and i wont be able to tell them apart for a while either. And even when i do start hearing and recognizing the sound to A B and C which would probably take days of extended listening, i would need even more days to be able to even ATTEMPT to guess the price tags of the players.

There are differences but they are subtle, and i dont believe anyone will be able to just walk into a strange system and be able to tell which player is which just from listening to them for a few minuits, it took me a few weeks to really pin down the sonic characteristics of the Denon 2900. The radio usually sounds compressed and crappy, the Digital Music is pretty clear but still compressed with a higher noise level, the CDR is pretty good but just lacks the detail of the Denon 2900

Sometimes it takes a little while to get to know the characteristics of a new piece of gear and how much you like it, but you can take a song and play it on my Denon 2900, Pioneer CDR, and 4-5 other players, i wont be able to tell what the other players or thier price points or anything, but then the Denon or Pioneer are playing on my system you bet yer ass that i will know it. Those 2 players on my system are plain as day to me.

I would be willing to say the same thing about any component i have in my system.

I dont know how it is for others, but when i get a new piece of gear and it sounds better, well, it sounds better right off the bat, it just takes me a while of listening to figure out exactly what it is that i was missing before.

that is the problem with the super-triple-threat double-dog-dare Uber-stupid bogus blind tests.

How the hell are you supposed to pin down the sonic characteristics of CDP's on gear you dont know?

as for your brother saying if it cant be measured it doesent exist, that means that we currently have the ability to measure and quantify everything in existance.

So that means that since we havent measured god that must he doesent exist, which basically means there is no afterlife, so he better have fun with the time given to him cause once it is over it is totally over.

better go ahead and tell all the scientists to go ahead and take a break cause we know everything.

LAUGH

They can't hear the difference and aren't interested in trying to hear a difference.

It's funny, this thread conjured up memories of my old store in Louisville.
The way I would evaluate anything was first, unkown, as to which was which, then, do an A/B/A. I would make notes sometimes, but usually, and this is a curse rather than a blessing usually, I would immediately hear the differences, for good or bad. Now, to be clear, I NEVER cared which was better, I only wanted to know.
This was an instructive time in my audio development, in that it taught me patience, and let me be self assured. One of the posters on here who shall remain nameless, hates me because I hear in seconds, what it takes him hours to ferret out. And trust me on this ALL of his tests are blindfold tests, and he's really good.
I only wish, God love him, that my brother and I could have a discussion about possibilities for a change, rather than onlt dwelling on that which is known. The only way we discover new things is to go out on that limb. When, (yes I am a commercial poster) I voiced my speakers, I used the Sound Labs as well as my inner reference of music as a musician for decades, as the control. I never questioned the outcome with caps etc, or wiring, regardless of where it led, I only accepted the findings, as sounding either better or not as good, regardless of what was SUPPOSED to be according to the hype or accepted wisdom.
Most of you out there when listening to power cords no doubt have had the same experience. One is better than another, WHY? Maybe a better plug, and so on, but who cares ultimately. If it sounds better it IS better, for you. This is why speaker designers pull their hair out. They are all convinced that theirs are better, no doubt, but since this IS SUBJECTIVE, we'll always agree to disagree, I guess.
Thanks, keep em coming, you guys are interesting.

BTW thanks to Lugnut, condescending is a correct description of his attitude, and God is it ever annoying.