In defense of ABX testing


We Audiophiles need to get ourselves out of the stoneage, reject mythology, and say goodbye to superstition. Especially the reviewers, who do us a disservice by endlessly writing articles claiming the latest tweak or gadget revolutionized the sound of their system. Likewise, any reviewer who claims that ABX testing is not applicable to high end audio needs to find a new career path. Like anything, there is a right way and many wrong ways. Hail Science!

Here's an interesting thread on the hydrogenaudio website:

http://www.hydrogenaud.io/forums/index.php?showtopic=108062

This caught my eye in particular:

"The problem with sighted evaluations is very visible in consumer high end audio, where all sorts of very poorly trained listeners claim that they have heard differences that, in technical terms are impossibly small or non existent.

The corresponding problem is that blind tests deal with this problem of false positives very effectively, but can easily produce false negatives."
psag
Since the flatter and more accurate frequency response was the most desirable I can see why speaker manufacturers should heed the results and simply strive to make speakers that behave as such. It just makes sense.

I also like your note that this is all subjective.
One can't have a universal truth (if I understand that correctly).

All the best,
Nonoise
Nonoise
One can't have a universal truth

If you are correct, Nonoise, apparently that would mean that you are also incorrect;-), which means that there can be a universal truth????? Perhaps one of our resident philosophers can chime in. Nandric, are you out there?
I'm not sure I agree about your frequency response predictability since a given speaker can sound dramatically different from one room to the next. This is the objection to anechoic chamber frequency response measurements, I.e., they have no relation to real world performance. The variability of frequency response room to room was what created an instant demand for equalizers, not to mention room treatments in general, you know, tube traps, Mpingo discs, Shakti Halographs, Corner Tunes, Skyline diffusers, crystals, tiny bowl resonators, SteinMusic Harmonizers, things of that nature.
Nonoise- I hope you took my post in the (playful) spirit that was intended. Not sure I'm ready to go the vegetarian route, but you are correct; this horse surely has been sufficiently beaten.