[mojo]

I really hope they go ahead with the test.

In fact, I wish there was some body or magazine that did DBT testing on audio products as standard. That way they could eliminate all the rubbish for us and let us concentrate on things that really do improve sound.

 

[fwojciec]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mojo /img/forum/go_quote.gif In fact, I wish there was some body or magazine that did DBT testing on audio products as standard. That way they could eliminate all the rubbish for us and let us concentrate on things that really do improve sound.

Hear, hear!

 

[meat01]

Quote:

In fact, I wish there was some body or magazine that did DBT testing on audio products as standard. That way they could eliminate all the rubbish for us and let us concentrate on things that really do improve sound.

I agree that it would be interesting, but the magazine unfortunately, would not survive, because no one would advertise with them and the manufacturers would not send them samples to review.

So instead we have the same magazines saying the same things about why they don't do DBT testing and we have the same components getting rave reviews.

 

[nalth]

Quote:

Originally Posted by meat01 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I agree that it would be interesting, but the magazine unfortunately, would not survive, because no one would advertise with them and the manufacturers would not send them samples to review. So instead we have the same magazines saying the same things about why they don't do DBT testing and we have the same components getting rave reviews.

Haha, these last few posts hit it spot on!
As I have a scientific background I also think this is the only way these products should be reviewed. Provided that you want to call it a real review without the BS.

Sorry to see that the high end hi-fi scene can't allow this kind of behavior. But at least the absence of these DBT's proves that there are no real differencies, so thank you for that

Think of it this way. What better selling argument could a firm have if it knew that their product would win the vast mayority of the DBTs? But instead the firms have found another way to cash in. Using the blacebo effect is much more cost efficient (=just let the exterior, description and the pricetag, show how good it is). Next time you review a cable: don't underestimate your brain, it plays tricks on all of us, we are not machines.

Btw, I'm not saying cables don't make a difference, BUT the I'm sure that the law of diminishing returns kicks in very fast.

 

[Febs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nalth /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sorry to see that the high end hi-fi scene can't allow this kind of behavior. But at least the absence of these DBT's proves that there are no real differencies, so thank you for that

The absence of double-blind tests does not prove that there are no real differences. It just proves that no such differences have been established.

Don't get me wrong. I am an advocate of double-blind testing. But I think that we need to be careful to understand what such tests do and do not "prove" and not to overstate the conclusions that can be drawn from them.

 

[LawnGnome]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rsaavedra /img/forum/go_quote.gif Some new developments related to this challenge: "Pear Cable CEO Calls James Randi's $1 Million Offer a Hoax" http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=95361 One part I find rather disappointing: Putting the silly, media-attracting $1 million prize aside, I think the question of whether people can differentiate between cables (speaker cables, headphone cables, and/or interconnects) should be answered with solid DBT backing it up. If Randi's foundation is not interested in that test, well too bad. At some point it should be done properly and seriously. Edit: further down in that thread someone named RemieV states that apparently they are working on the cable challenge:

The application process is openly posted on their website, and you can see all of the different applications and their outcomes.

 

[melomaniac]

fell asleep last night with the (somewhat whiny but interesting) account of this in stereophile (feb 08 issue). - meh.

 

[Acoustic Chef]

Boy did I ever miss out...

 

[rsaavedra]

Btw, in case you haven't heard of it, the million dollar challenge is coming to an end in two years:

The challenge is coming to an end. - JREF Forum

 

[brainsalad]

I apologize for being a little long winded but it finally looks like I have a forum setting for my cable conversion.

I’m a noobie here but not a noobie to audio. I have been working, listening, building, collecting now for going on 35 years.

I remember when I purchased my first set of Soundlab Electrostatics, you know the big ones that swallow your room. I had a friend of mine over to listen. He owned a very exclusive, high end audio store in Phoenix and he immediately rejected what he was hearing, left my home, and came back an hour later with about $5,000 worth of cables. Solid silver, cryo treated, the works. We hooked up everything and we settled back with sound that was now worthy of listening to. He left with a smile on his face and a fat check in his wallet.

Fast forward 7 years and now 5.1 is the rage. I measured, counted, and realized I was going to need a second mortgage to purchase those cables that I so DESPERATELY needed to have in order to hear correctly. A friend of mine had a pair of Signal cables – Neutrik connectors, Canare GS6 cables, Canare speaker cables and to my reluctance, we rewired the system. I sat down to listen I’m sure was going to be a very inferior sound and I was stunned. There was NO difference.

The snake oil advocates say you can’t do double blind tests because you have to live with the setup and then swap the testing item out, listen to it, absorb it and then you will notice the change. I had lived with this system for 7 years, I think I would have noticed a change. For 2 months I swapped, cussed, tossed some more, cussed some more and ended up selling my pure silver cables on Audigon

Fast forward another 7 years. I now sit in a home theater with my beloved Soundlab Electrostatics listening to a spectacular sounding system with Neutrik, Switchcraft, Canare, and Mogami components. I was able to purchase much better SPEAKERS for surrounds, and centers, more powerful amps, not to mention, more music.

Read the Audio Critics’s 10 Biggest Lies in Audio. It’s my audio bible.