Nearly all manufacturers do not advertise/exhibit their product measurements? Why?

1) It is a good thing that measurements can inspire companies to bring the performance up to a higher level. Consumers should be taken seriously.

2) We listen to sound that is generated by components who work on rectified, filtered, stabilized, modulated, transformed electricity. Everything between the grid matters. That includes all cables and connectors, just as capacitors or diodes for example.

3) Cable companies should not make false claims and deliver proof. I can agree on that part. It can be hard to listen for those tiny changes. Recently I discovered that a cheap Van Damme tourgrade starquad bested my Siltech. I am a pragmatic audiophile so I sold it on eBay. 

4) On the other hand, people should not make claims about the hearing capabilities of other people. If multiple people subjectively can describe parameters of a component that can’t be supported by measurements (yet) it should be taken as a starting point for further investigation. We don’t all have 1000+ people at hand to conduct (DBX) tests for any statistic significance. Or have expensive test equipment. Interpret measurements correct and be humble about your personal bias as a tester or audiophile. I can live with that.

@tantejuut 

4) On the other hand, people should not make claims about the hearing capabilities of other people. If multiple people subjectively can describe parameters of a component that can’t be supported by measurements (yet) it should be taken as a starting point for further investigation. 

Yes, further investigation would be for said people to conduct a blind test to make sure that only their ears told them that.  If other senses were involved, naturally measurements would not show it because we are only measuring sound.

With respect to many audio tweaks like cables, the above test is dead simple as levels don't change.  So all you have to do is hide the identity of what is being changed and see if the listener can detect the change at least 8 out of 10 times.  You can take seconds or days to listen for such a change.  And do so in your own relaxing home environment, system and music.

If you don't want to do that, then the road ends there really.  No sense in then insisting that you are "hearing" a difference.  Enjoy your system and music but don't engage in trying to convince others that you are right.  You will lose that argument in any evidence based discussion.

@tantejuut

We don’t all have 1000+ people at hand to conduct (DBX) tests for any statistic significance. Or have expensive test equipment. Interpret measurements correct and be humble about your personal bias as a tester or audiophile. I can live with that.

Yes, you only need one person, you, to conduct the quick test I described above. As long as your listening tests have statistical strength -- hence the 10 trials -- you will have my attention for sure. We will take on the task of measuring and recreating the listening test to see what is going on.

And yes, being humble goes a long way. I have lost track of how many times I have been wrong in sighted/uncontrolled listening. After a while, you learn to not put forth such testing to have any strong value.

On tester bias, I am not following you. When I measure a piece of audio gear, it is the instrument which generates results and it doesn’t have bias. Yes, you can come up with tests that are not credible such as talking about this and that characteristic of a cable. As I explained, we don’t listen to cables directly so such information while sometimes useful, is not proof of efficacy. The proof is what sound comes out of an audio device/speaker/headphone.

For the above reason, my tests focus on output of audio device. If it never changes across testing a large number of such tweaks, it does put such products on their back, making it doubly important that listening tests be conducted such that they only reflect sound and are beyond mere guessing.

Enjoy your system and music but don’t engage in trying to convince others that you are right. You will lose that argument in any evidence based discussion.

Thank you. Keep up the good work at ASR. When I am describing my observations about components or cables, it is not about being right, but being supportive to other people. Like others are doing by measuring. Being ’right’ is not the only motivation.