Quote Originally Posted by Swerd
Thanks to the two replies above, I have little to add other than provide these weblinks:

http://www.tagmclaren.com/members/news/news77.asp

http://www.bostonaudiosociety.org/ba...l_thinking.htm

Both describe listening tests where listeners blindly choose whether they hear a difference between two conditions. Are conditions A and B the same or different? Sometimes A and B were genuinely different and sometimes they were identical. The first link explains the statistics needed to analyze the results.

Both make the point that when the group of listeners get it right about 50% of the time, it is no different than if they had been guessing randomly. Both conclude that the listeners could not hear any difference between the conditions being tested.

There are those who claim that they do hear a difference with sighted listening tests, or when they listen over extended periods of time (days, weeks or longer) in their homes. The only reasonable explanation available, is that they THINK they hear a difference. This is the placebo effect at work.

Listening tests performed using valid scientific controls that eliminate, minimize, or account for conscious or unconscious listener bias cannot reproduce those positive results.
Just a note...your first link states that the listeners dd not have control of how long they listened which invalidates that entire link...scratch one. Didn'tbother to read link two after you provided link one.

Then you state that people claim to hear differences in their homes over long periods. Yes it is true that they may only THINK they hear that difference...until such time as their is a test to meet that claim of long term in the house differences then no one can assume that there isn't. The test itself introduces its own bias, but it takes awful smart folks to know what these are, and since I don't see them discussed here...then people need a refresher in Psychology 101. And BTW I don't support buying expensive cables because the money should have went to speakers room and better recordings.