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RE: How many audiophile experiences can be verified by empirical (not anecdotal) observation?

I'd say most. If you observe it and tell me, that's anecdotal, if I observe it, it's empirical. Question is, then what do you do? Perhaps:

1. Enjoy the results and pass the information along to friends, possibly on AA, who may find the method or device useful in their systems.

2. Enjoy it in secret. Better sound with less criticism.

3. Try to learn more about it out of curiosity or desire for further optimization.

The real rub seems to be comingling observation, theory, testing and proof. An observation is empirical data. A theory is a guess at what produced the observed result. That gets tested to try and prove that it explains the phenomenon to an acceptable level. Acceptable to whom, for what purpose is another rarely asked question.

It seems like many folks make the leap from observation to proof (conclusion) without passing through the theory/test loop. That, IMHO, is what drives some of the odd debates on PHP. And I think folks are almost forced into it because if something is posted without an "explanation", it is met with ridicule while unsupported explanations are well accepted.

In the broadest terms then I agree with E-Stat: On PHP, theory (guessing) trumps experience (observation). But I think your point is that those guesses perhaps should not be called "theories" because they are not likely to suffer being tested and thus simply remain 'guesses'.

Rick



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