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Upsamplers, DACs, jitter, shakes and analogue withdrawals, this is it.

RE: That clears up a lot!

"There's also a chance that the wooden bodied amp did in fact sound warmer, but the limitations of ABX testing failed to detect this, or rather the limitations of listeners to discern differences in ABX testing."

This is a common point of view around here. I've asked before for details but no one supplies them, so I have never been able to grasp whether the alleged effect stems from the fact that the testing is blind, or whether there is supposed to be something about the ABX box that mysteriously either screws up the sound or messes with the mind of the subject. Sometimes it seems like evil motives are ascribed to people who do this testing -- somehow we rush the subjects or otherwise conduct the test so as to diminish their acuity. I have been accused numerous times of wanting to prove that differences don't exist and pushing things in that direction, which is dismaying when you've been making a sincere and pretty strenuous effort to give the subject every chance to get a positive result.

As I've said before in this discussion, positive results are much more fun to report and we tried hard to get them. This is especially true when there's only one subject and that person is experienced. We turn the controller over to him or her and encourage various methods of zeroing in on tiny differences, which I have some experience with.

But really, it's OK if someone is not interested in controlled testing. The main point is to gravitate toward music and equipment that makes you happy. I happen to be interested in the boundary between internal and external effects, and feel that the enlightened consumer should be aware that both exist so he or she can make the most informed decision about where to spend money effectively. If one component costs ten times as much as another and the difference turns out to be all due to the placebo effect, well, you might still want the more expensive one for the joy of ownership, and for the subjective effects it has on you. But you should know what you're doing -- if you want to know. -- EBM


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