What do we hear when we change the direction of a wire?


Douglas Self wrote a devastating article about audio anomalies back in 1988. With all the necessary knowledge and measuring tools, he did not detect any supposedly audible changes in the electrical signal. Self and his colleagues were sure that they had proved the absence of anomalies in audio, but over the past 30 years, audio anomalies have not disappeared anywhere, at the same time the authority of science in the field of audio has increasingly become questioned. It's hard to believe, but science still cannot clearly answer the question of what electricity is and what sound is! (see article by A.J.Essien).

For your information: to make sure that no potentially audible changes in the electrical signal occur when we apply any "audio magic" to our gear, no super equipment is needed. The smallest step-change in amplitude that can be detected by ear is about 0.3dB for a pure tone. In more realistic situations it is 0.5 to 1.0dB'". This is about a 10% change. (Harris J.D.). At medium volume, the voltage amplitude at the output of the amplifier is approximately 10 volts, which means that the smallest audible difference in sound will be noticeable when the output voltage changes to 1 volt. Such an error is impossible not to notice even using a conventional voltmeter, but Self and his colleagues performed much more accurate measurements, including ones made directly on the music signal using Baxandall subtraction technique - they found no error even at this highest level.

As a result, we are faced with an apparently unsolvable problem: those of us who do not hear the sound of wires, relying on the authority of scientists, claim that audio anomalies are BS. However, people who confidently perceive this component of sound are forced to make another, the only possible conclusion in this situation: the electrical and acoustic signals contain some additional signal(s) that are still unknown to science, and which we perceive with a certain sixth sense.

If there are no electrical changes in the signal, then there are no acoustic changes, respectively, hearing does not participate in the perception of anomalies. What other options can there be?

Regards.
anton_stepichev
That's fine believe whatever you want. But the fact of the matter is unless you heard a difference under controlled testing better than chance no one will accept your findings except audiophiles that already believe all sorts of nonsense. Go post this same question on ASR see what response you get from experts on electronics. 
You need to go into politics, they appreciate people who, instead of answering a question,
I did answer the question, nothing I can do if you don't like the answer. 
Repeating thirty times a common sense evidence like " you dont take into account your own bias" instead of reading the facts is borderline bad faith...

What about your own bias when repeating this bias mantra to others for how many posts here?

This thread and the site of Anton are the most interesting thread in audio here i have ever read...

All the other thread are sparse useful trivial technical details about gear at best and at worst almost all socializing with no completely new ideas at all... Filled with DETAILS easy to found answers for in any other forums than audiogon or in a book...

It is so true, that save for sparse clues from others, i learned to install my system by myself almost completely...Because no one here adress it really...Save to sell costly "tweaks" and the costly products that will give the illusion of the BEST Hi-fi experience...

People most of the times partake opinions about their "taste " and best branded names products here...Or their obsession for or against cables sellers...And blindtest....And they called that science because they own voltmeter and James Randi Operational book....Or they vouch for the end of S.Q. because of one cable purchase...

It is one of the rare thread with new original ideas instead of few advices in electricity or electronic connexions of the gear easy to found anywhere...

I am astounded by the lack of interest, thinking, judgement, and good faith....I am ashamed by the bashing of something interesting by lack of brain and conditioned stupidity by EGO motives and short sights....And knowledge of the old and the trivial, parading like the only eternal truths...

I will repeat something simple you must think about that: we use water in many complex technology and study it and we know almost nothing about water....We use prime numbers distributions tools in cryptography sophisticated technology and we understand NOTHING about primes distribution... Maxwell equations described what Faraday observed by experiments but we understand nothing about electricity...The list goes on.... Only first of the class pupil by heart recitation of their lesson think they understand their child play....

Technology is tool for science not science....





«The universe is in front of their eyes and in themselves and idiots think they understand it»-Anonymus Smith


There's nothing new in this thread. A guy built a tube amp with a gap in the circuit to place a wire and reverse the wire. He measured no difference but claims to hear a difference without accounting for confirmation bias. You want to have a deep philosophical conversation on new original ideas then do so and quit complaining about my response to his questions.