Nice description of a parlor trick. It's a sad commentary that people take it upon themselves to deceive others and at the same time, conduct ABX tests under their conditions and not the way Harmon, Toole, Barton and the other real experts did it back in the day. They just use their terms and phrases and twist things.
Barton spoke of how frustrating it was to do the tests as what they supposed was incorrect from the beginning. Test subjects valuations were all over the map with the first half hour of testing. Turns out they were listening to the room and not the devices under test (being an unfamiliar room). Having them acclimatize their hearing to the room took another 1/2 hour of rest before proceeding. Nothing was done on the fly, in short bursts of time. It was 1/2 hour listening, 1/2 hour rest, and so on.
Then and only then did the results start to gel, to get a consensus. The test subjects were gaining much more accuracy and could pick out which speaker and which sound corresponded to it and whether they preferred it or not. After it was over, they had a pretty good understanding of what the general public preferred.
Did you conduct your tests in such a manner? From what you described, I think not. You just set them up for a fall that any hack street magician can do and has done since the beginning of time. Yes, the power of suggestion is strong but when used as a weapon, can easily deceive and/or disorient someone. It doesn't mean they can't hear things they prefer as that takes time (the thing you deprived them of).
All the best,
Nonoise