@oberoniaomnia "So the burden or proof is with those who think there is a difference"
There should be no "burden of proof" in these matters. The burden of proof is for the individual to decide. Not for us to prove to the rest of the community what we can clearly hear.
Luckily for us that can hear the differences, we have gone beyond standard testing and used our own ears to decide what we can hear. Shocking really! And when these differences can be repeated numerous times and we hear the same difference when gear is changed. And when even non "audiophile" friends and family can admit they hear a marked difference when it comes to cabling, power conditioning and amplification, then clearly we don't need empirical data to tell us there is a difference.
The "burden of proof" is on the engineer to use their technical knowledge to create a product that creates a value added proposition to the end user. The only burden of proof we need is with our own ears.
But the reason why we call out establishments like ASR is because some people take their opinion and measurements as reality and as the sole place to make decisions regarding their gear. When in fact, it is far from the entire understanding of what is happening in an audio system. Valuable information? Yes. Contains every variable to help you decide the right gear for you? No
To be fair I still can't tell much of a difference in interconnects...