Quote Originally Posted by walpurgis View Post
I don't suffer from 'expectation bias' (a term that is often thrown in as a subtle slur by the way, just to deride other points of view). I rely on my ears and judgement, which is very good when it comes to sound quality.
Expectation bias is real but I think there are ways around it. if we live with the same system day after day you can get to a point where you can't hear the wood for the trees, to coin a phrase. if I am trying to get a handle on it I like to imagine that it is someone else's system:

Say you went with a friend to the house of a friend of his where you have never been before, he has what looks like a pretty decent system. They go off out to get food and booze and leave you alone to play whatever music you want on the system. It isn't your system and you don't even know the owner so there is no bias, you play stuff and make a judgement on it, if you don't have a dog in the race it is much easier to be objective in your assessment.

One thing I have found doing this exercise is that your system immediately does not sound as good as you thought it did. That is quite unsettling.