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SBT's are useful too

Here's a true story that I feel is typical of audiophiles:

You play a song your friends bring over on your stereo with the new equalizer bypassed, and ask for an evaluation of the sound.

Then you add the equalizer to the circuit, and ask if they think the sound quality has improved.

Your two friends say they don't like the new equalizer (and didn't like equalizers in general before they walked in the door, because no "real" audiophile uses them)

You don't understand why they dislike your new equalizer because you can barely hear a difference with it in the circuit (only a few controls were used to reduce 500-1000Hz. output by a few dB's)

Later you realize you pushed the wrong button and BOTH comparisons were with the equalizer BYPASSED. That implies your friends just hate equalizers in general, so felt they had to poo poo your new 30-band EQ which only cost $150 mail order, so MUST be bad news (it's not).

This experience is right up there with me leading an SBT of a friends Bedini Clarifier, when I did not clarify (whatever that means) any CDs, but listeners thought I did clarify some, and the sound had improved as a result!

Sighted evaluations have such unreliable results -- people almost always "hearing" differences, even when nothing has changed, that single and double blind evaluations are mandatory for learning about listening skills.

"I know what I hear" is only wishful thinking -- reality appears much different when brand names are hidden.
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Richard BassNut Greene
"The Floyd R. Turbo of Bingham Farms Michigan"

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