[NelsonVandal]

Double blind placebo controled tests are absolutely essential in medicine, and should be in HiFi as well, especially now when so many products are sold via the internet, unheard. HiFi reviews are often just pages up and down of mumbojumbo supporting expensive equipment. I think a lot of what's going on here also is overly supportive while critical voices are tamed.

A medical company can't sell us a pill these days without proof of a statistically significant effect. It should be the same for HiFi. Some products like cables, connectors, fuses, power cords etc could be tested in DBPCT's very easily. They want us to buy the stuff, and they should proove it's worth it.

Fast switching A-B tests are in my oppinion sometimes useful, and can often reveal colorations, but long time listening is more important since this is what we're using the stuff for.

 

[skamp]

I wouldn't have such a problem with high-end DACs, cables and whatnot if they weren't overpriced. The heart of the $500 Pico (DAC + resampling chip), which I'm sure is top-notch both subjectively and objectively, costs about $20, wholesale. Of course you need to add the cost of the amp, the casing, the battery, as well as the R&D… But it's still ways off from $499 (and don't get me started on cables).

Don't even take my word for it: the same people who praise the Pico also praise the iBasso D2 Boa, which costs $165. That's one *third* of the Pico's price. Then there's the $1,000+ and even the $3,000+ DACs, with the same $15 chips as the sub-$200 DACs…

 

[NelsonVandal]

I think we can parallel a lot of HiFi stuff to alternative medicine. It's in their interest not to do these kind of tests, because they know it would prove their pills absolutely worthless at best, and harmful at worst.