Regrettably @waytoomuchstuff has misdirected himself.  He suggests that because confirmation bias is not present in wine tasting, it cannot be present in listening to music.  His statement is an inductive proof - that is, the proof of a proposition relying upon a different proposition that has not been proved.

The result of course is rubbish.  Confirmation bias exists in all fields - why shouldn't it.

In fact the record shows that confirmation bias is present in wine tasting to a far greater extent than in listening to music.

There have been legions of published accounts of confirmation bias in wine tasting. Almost certainly the most famous case is that of Rudy Kurniawan a young conman from Indonesia who operated as a wine forger of the greatest wines in the world, mainly in the USA between 2002 and 2012.  For 10 years and with probably tens of thousands of bottles he conned all the wine experts, auction houses, collectors and even wine makers with forged first growths imitating the greatest wines of the world.  Some collector experts lost up to $5,000,000 each.  They were all convinced the wines were genuine just because of the labels stuck to the bottles and so believed what they tasted was the real thing - pure confirmation bias.

It is not known how much Kurniawan collected in all from these frauds, carried out in great number over 10 years, but it was certainly in excess of $20,000,000.  He was tried in 2013 and sentenced to 8 years.  The very interesting story can be read in 'In Vino Duplicitas' by Peter Hellman and is being made as a feature film.

So the OP is not making any point, save to confirm confirmation bias is alive and well in all fields.

@wsrrsw 

Its I’m coming Elizabeth.  Fred G Sanford. The G is for gorilla. 😂😂

We have a good friend that is a sommelier and the wine buyer at the place we shop. From the first time we went and said, we are looking for a wine that had a label sorta like this and tasted like that" She walks over to the shelf and says "we don't have that one, but this is almost the same" Spot on along with every other recommendation she gave.

Now, have you ever noticed how some dogs hear every minute sound and react while other dogs don't? It's because every dog hears different than the next, just like humans do. Otherwise Hearing Aids would not be a thing.

I have heard some changes and sometimes not. Some things are just different but hard to say better or worse. One has to adjust to the difference sometimes also as I learned when I bought my Fynes and had never owned concentric driver speakers. They had to break in but so did my ears and brain.

I will never spend $100 on a bottle of wine, or an interconnect, so I will never know.

I have and will spend $150 on a bottle of tequila, so go figure...

@clearthinker : (what a "relevant" username!):

He suggests that because confirmation bias is not present in wine tasting,

The result of course is rubbish. Confirmation bias exists in all fields

In fact the record shows that confirmation bias is present in wine tasting

legions of published accounts of confirmation bias

they tasted was the real thing - pure confirmation bias.

save to confirm confirmation bias is alive and well

This must have been the single post with most "confirmation bias" mentions. Which is real. But, it is real and true in your camp too, not just for people who report hearing some positive difference, have you ever thought about it? In other words, if you folks think everything sounds the same, they WILL sound the same. Even if you base your "listening tests" by reading stuff in the internet.

In the years I have been reading audio forums, I have come to believe that "confirmation bias" is simply a phrase naysayers throw in your face if you post something making a difference, anything making a difference. I.e. "this cannot possibly work, you are imagining things ---- confirmation bias!". Subjectively, the phrase / phenomenon has lost its true meaning to me. Unfortunately.