$1,000,000 cable challenge

[musicoverall]

I'm seeking scientifically significant proof based on human trials. It's a purely academic endeavor, I'm not looking to convince anyone of anything. I already have a hypothesis and a pretty good idea of the result, but if I'm wrong I'd accept it. It shouldn't be meaningless to anyone, but the reality is it's pretty easy for people to be stubborn, lose their objectivity, and ignore the results of a perfectly valid test.

Would you agree that if even one person in the world can reliably determine sonic differences between two cables, that the hypothesis that all cables sound alike fails (assuming proper guage, length, etc)? If you do, you can find "scientifically significant" evidence on the tests you've outlined but never proof. So these tests might convince you, but the results would likely not cause others to do much of anything but ignore your results. Everyone believes that if they were tested (and the tests were valid in their minds) they would blow the null hypothesis to shreds. No one ever doubts the outcome of null results in tests, just the relationship of those results to themselves. At least that's my experience with audiophiles.... a group of which I'm still a member, at least marginally.

[emorphien]

Would you agree that if even one person in the world can reliably determine sonic differences between two cables, that the hypothesis that all cables sound alike fails (assuming proper guage, length, etc)?

Generally speaking, yes. The purpose of the test is not to confirm that they sound the same or that they do not, but to determine what the actual truth of the matter is.

If there's an exception for one person, as you'd say, and it were to be evidence for either hypothesis, we'd have to rule out any other conditions that might affect the test results.