Is there a point of diminished returns with amps and Harbeth 30.1s?

You have a great classic vintage british speaker that has been made in one form or another for decades any equipment upgrade will yield a great benefit with them there is no best gear with them and dollars does not mean better with them great components matter the most no matter what the type or vintage.

I agree that this is potentially problematic, but to be fair, such tests are not about preferences, but differences. In other words, can the listener simply and consistently distinguish between components, irrespective of which they may prefer.

@whipsaw is exactly correct

a-b tests, done correctly, first establishes that a difference can be reliably and consistently be heard, then comes an assessment of the nature of differences, and then, perhaps, a judgement about preference might be made ... one step at a time

a-b tests don’t replace longer term listening in fully assessing gear and their sonic attributes -- but is an important tool in the tool kit, so to speak

there are some who profess that all amps, all cables, all connections, sound the same... thus a proper a-b test is needed to dispel (or confirm) these notions

@whipsaw,

As far as I know there has not been a single example of a blind listening test where differences between cables, digital sources or even amplifiers were identified.

Even in the best case scenario, subjectivists et al might want to acknowledge this rather sobering fact.

Not even one case??

Perhaps there are some good reasons why Toole, Olive and co only bothered blind testing loudspeakers at the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario?

As far as I know there has not been a single example of a blind listening test where differences between cables, digital sources or even amplifiers were identified.

@cd318 can evidently type... but he can’t read... amazing how that can be... usually even rudimentary literacy works in both input and output modes

i just cited in a my earlier post that i did a rigorous a-b-c test of power amps on super 5’s, and for myself, dispelled this kool-aid/nonsense

seriously...🙈🙉🙊

@jjss49 ,

I was referring of course to published tests, ones that could be verified.

If you could successfully repeat your experiment I'm sure there would be an awful lot of interested parties willing to assist you in your groundbreaking demonstration.

No end of reviewers, magazines, websites would be very pleased to have just a morsel of evidence to back up their printed proclamations regarding sonic differences of amplifiers.

Heck, they might even start conducting their own.

Why not consider publicly sharing your groundbreaking research for others benefit?