Quote Originally Posted by musicoverall
But I'm still not getting how this ties into cable burn in. Are you saying there could be a change in sound but it's not the cable, it's our body position and the change in localization?

Might that not be true of a lot of component changes (swaps)? Your explanation reveals a lot but I'm quite certain I'm missing your point with respect to cable burn in.
Ah, sorry.

The cable is electrically locked. It's RLC parameters can be sufficient to alter the signals in such a way that the cues we use for localization are changed. When you put a new cable in, your brain is not adapted to the new cues. It takes time for you to acclimate to those new cues, but as you do, you are more aware of the images that are being presented.

So the cable is not changing as in burn in, but your ability to discern image placement does. Note that this does not mean that you are getting better or worse hearing wise, just that you are adapting to the current stimulus.

Unfortunately, slow adaptation by the human is not considered when doing ABX or DBT or SBT... The assumption is that memory is short, so test quick..

That is a significant test methodology error. The test method has to be sensitive to the entity being tested. Currently accepted scientific methods are not sensitive to subtle localization changes...that being imaging, soundstage, focus..because the localization cues are being altered from one completely un-natural relationship, to another un-natural one.

One of the typical arguments for localization not being an issue includes the term "head in a vice". If absolute positioning were the issue, yes I would agree. But absolute image positioning is not the issue, it is the relative image positioning...and further down the line, not only relative, but how the relative positioning sensitivity is affected by other entities..IOW, image stability in light of perturbations.

But image stability is a concept that is unknown in the world of audio. Differential localization isn't even known..they have a long way to go, don't they?

Cheers, John