Power Cord Challenge


I've got a couple of weeks off before starting a new job. As I clearly fall into the camp of those who suspect no purely audible differences exist (except in pathologic cases of too-small cords or RFI interference), here's a challenge:

If you live in the San Jose, CA area, let's get together and put this to the test. Your system, your choice of music, I supply a stock power cord to test against your exotic. We play both cords blind (identified as A and B) for a reasonable amout of time; I then play one of the two (randomly chosen through a coin flip) for a reasonable amount of time and you identify it as either A or B. We'll do 10 trials for some statistical significance.

Given that some claim drastic and easily heard differences ("blacker background", "music is more alive", etc., etc., etc.), it should be trivial to get right and shouldn't take more than 5-10 minutes per trial. The kicker: you get 9 or 10 right and I'll give you $500! The downside: 8 or less correct and you donate $250 to the Red Cross. Hey, I'm even giving you 2 for 1 odds!

Regardless of the outcome, we post the results to this site. Any takers?

Cheers,
JHunter
jhunter
Sounds like fun to me! Let me know the date, if its at a convenient time I'll fly or drive there from Ohio!
The test should be all stock power cords at the same time versus all custom cords at the same time, as I've found the positive effects to be cumulative. I'm not in the vicinity, but I hope someone can take you up on this offer. Cheers. Craig
Brulee -

As it turns out, my new company is HQ'd in El Segundo so I'll be down in SoCal on occasion. I'm a bit geographically challenged (some would argue hearing challenged as well . . .) - how close is Ventura county to LAX? Maybe we could set something up on one of my trips down. I agree - it'd be fun and an education regardless of how things turn out.

Cheers -
JHunter
Estrnad -

I'm pretty familiar with stats and probability, although didn't spend any time formulating a null hypothesis, etc. for this case. I did a quick back of the napkin calculation and figured out that there's roughly a 1% probability of getting 9 or 10 right if just guessing. The napkin was pretty messy, though, and I might be off. I did figure that whomsoever took me up on the deal would be somebody who felt that they could hear the differences, though, so qualified (ITHO) as a "super-hearer".
BTW - I am a he/dude/male/whatever. Just ask my wife . . .

And the deal is serious for anyone in the area who wants to try it.

Cheers,
JHunter