I see the issue with ABX blind testing


I’ve followed many of the cable discussions over the years with interest. I’ve never tested cables & compared the sound other than when I bought an LFD amp & the vendor said that it was best paired with the LFD power cord. That was $450 US and he offered to ship it to me to try & if I didn’t notice a difference I could send it back. I got it, tried it & sent it back. To me there was no difference at all.

Fast forward to today & I have a new system & the issue of cables arises again. I have Mogami cables made by Take Five Audio in Canada. The speaker wire are Mogami 3104, XLRs are Mogami 2549 & the power cords are Powerline 10 with Furutech connectors. All cables are quite well made and I’ve been using them for about 5 years. The vendor that sold me the new equipment insisted that I needed "better" cables and sent along some Transparent Super speaker & XLR cables to try. If I like them I can pay for them.

In every discussion about cables the question is always asked, why don’t you do an ABX blind test? So I was figuring out how I’d do that. I know the reason few do it. It’s not easy to accomplish. I have no problem having a friend come over & swap cables without telling me what he’s done, whether he swapped any at all etc. But from what I can see the benefit, if there is one, will be most noticeable system wide. In other words, just switching one power cable the way I did before won’t be sufficient for you to tell a difference... again, assuming there is one. So I need my friend to swap power cables for my amp/preamp & streamer, XLR cables from my streamer to my preamp, preamp to amp & speakers cables. That takes a good 5-10 minutes. There is no way my brain is retaining what I previously heard and then comparing it to what I currently hear.

The alternative is to connect all of the new cables, listen for a week or so & then switch back & see if you feel you’re missing anything. But then your brain takes over & your biases will have as much impact as any potential change in sound quality.

So I’m stumped as to how to proceed.

A photo of my new setup. McIntosh MC462, C2700, Pure Fidelity Harmony TT, Lumin T3 & Sonus Faber Amati G5 & Gravis V speakers.

dwcda

@dwcda so what are you hearing with the transparent cables in your system? Any conclusions?

I designed and built my own A/B/X box with volume matching for testing speakers, but there is no reason that it couldn't be used for testing cables if both sets were connected to the same pair of speakers.

 

Hey, someone’s got to put the cable manufacturer’s kids through college.  Might as well enjoy doing that.

What works for you works for you. But professing what you perceive should apply to others’ perceptions and/or use cases? Better off having some evidence.

@benanders Yeah, and if a frog had wings he wouldn’t bump his ass a hoppin’. Back in the real world and in most cases there is limited or no “evidence,” especially with something like cables. I mean, that’s why we’re here — to give others an indication of something they might or might not want to audition or try, not to profess as you say that our perceptions will necessarily be the same as theirs, but indications can still be very useful and helpful despite the inherent variability. (BTW, when I said I can hear differences that are clear, consistent, and repeatable I was saying for me — not necessarily others — in response to your assertion based on some study somewhere that people’s aural memory is crap and you need a flip switch to reliably discern differences — I again say hogwash to that.) People here understand that “your mileage may vary” when it comes to other’s opinions/perceptions, especially when it comes to cables, so once again we get back to you ultimately need to trust your ears because they’re the only variables that matter in the end. And measurements are not comprehensive or foolproof either and so as with perceptions are also just an indication so best to use both if possible IMO.

 Back in 1980 I was ready to buy some new speakers.  My wife and I visited a few audio stores and I even took a couple of my own records to audition some speakers.  I got down to two pairs that I liked and I wanted my wife's opinion.  The salesman set up his switch box to go between each pair.  I could hear the differences easily.  My wife stood there waiting for the salesman to switch the speakers but he had already switched them back a forth a couple of times  She could not tell.  I was incredulous that she heard no difference.  It's been my stereo system ever since.  When I play a song she likes she might come sit by me for a bit.