Neil McCauley
09-10-2017, 14:37
Paul McGowan writes:
Vacuums suck (sorry, just couldn’t resist the joke)…but it’s not too far from wrong.
It’s really the problem behind the classic AB test method: replace one piece of gear with another to form a value judgment. We all do it, but is it as definitive as we might hope?
The answer has a whole lot of conditional assumptions that must first be answered: system familiarity, willingness to change other parameters, skills as a trained listener, acoustic memory.
Imagine how difficult it must be for a reviewer testing a new pair of speakers. To be effective that reviewer has to have an exceptionally clear memory of how music is reproduced with the first set of speakers. Perhaps even more important, an absolute .....
Continues at http://www.hifianswers.com/2017/10/what-happens-in-a-vacuum/
Vacuums suck (sorry, just couldn’t resist the joke)…but it’s not too far from wrong.
It’s really the problem behind the classic AB test method: replace one piece of gear with another to form a value judgment. We all do it, but is it as definitive as we might hope?
The answer has a whole lot of conditional assumptions that must first be answered: system familiarity, willingness to change other parameters, skills as a trained listener, acoustic memory.
Imagine how difficult it must be for a reviewer testing a new pair of speakers. To be effective that reviewer has to have an exceptionally clear memory of how music is reproduced with the first set of speakers. Perhaps even more important, an absolute .....
Continues at http://www.hifianswers.com/2017/10/what-happens-in-a-vacuum/