Suppose 20 audiophiles have 50 identical records. Now what?
I love the passion and idealism behind the initial question posed at the start of this thread but ultimately, it is a futile exercise.
I'll offer myself as a free personal slave for the rest of my life! if someone can find just two absolutely identical systems out there , of which we will need so we can lay even the most basic foundation to make discussion meaningful. I'll offer the same even if two systems are only 80 percent identical!
Instead what i would suggest is for a small group with 20-50 identical records travel to each others systems to hear those same records in different systems then have some dialog. This can be a sonic reference point to bring back to our own systems to gauge the sound of our own systems. But all you would know is if you prefer the sound of those records more so in your own system then in theirs.
Words are feeble tools to convey degrees of fine musical nuances and subtexts, then add to that unfamiliar systems and you multiply the challenge. Even in my own system i am still progressively trying to know what one component sounds like apart from the others ! , nevermind what is going in on in someone elses system.
The goal of the initial thread posting was to provide a controlled environment to make discussion meaningful and to aid in our progress which is fine but there are many more contingencies to take into account and ultimately having a identical record set is insufficient to achieve the desired goal. No?