The testing you are talking about is simply another way of discerning any differences in stimuli. Because the end result of that test is one where the listener will either find an audible difference or not.
It does not, and it cannot actually find a difference in 'enjoyment'. You need to look at the results for what they are.
See, that's where you're wrong. In an audio blind test, the listener is slave only to his own ears. If you compare two different speakers in a blind test and ask the listener which one he likes more (or just describe each), speaker A or speaker B, and qualify his statement, the listener can do that if there is indeed a difference audible to him. The listener isn't limited only to differentiation (although that is certainly the easiest result statistically to analyze) - the listener could be questioned on any number of measurable (or not easily measurable things, if you're just comparing them) things concerning speaker A and speaker B - frequency response, distortion, dispersion, etc, etc...
I'm trying to tell you that enjoyment has nothing to do with the physical aspects of sound, but for some reason, because you guys are all sciency (=P), you feel that differences in enjoyment can only come from changes in sound, physically.
Differences in enjoyment can certainly had by such frivolous upgrades - but they do not affect your sound perception alone - only your sound perception combined with your other senses.
Think of it this way: When you're informed and assess all the evidence and understand that no boutique cable (except a deliberately flawed one) is going to have an audible effect on your headphones, etc., you gain a level of satisfaction of not having spent any more money and having the same measured "amazing" sound that a cable believer has. You've avoided a scam and have the same level of audio quality.
Again, you need to look at the testimonials of various cables for what they are, "This cable made so and so more awesome than the stock cable", what that actually reads is "I enjoy this more than the stock one".
You can't expect that person to actually MEAN that the soundstage increased, or the bass had more control. Yes, they really do mean it, because that is exactly what they experience. This person felt a higher level of enjoyment, and his perception of sound changed along with it, which is why that person said those things. Because obviously, in our current understanding of the physical world, the cable made absolutely no flippin' difference to the sound! (physically of course) Regardless, that doesn't make it right or make it ethical. If you were a druggie, wouldn't you be mad if a dealer sold you LSD or whatever and you got high off of it - only to be told it a placebo later when you took it to your druggie chemist friend and found out it was 99% sugar? That's what this is. Harmless, but still not ethical.
If it's sold as a sugar placebo pill, that's all fine and dandy - and if it's a real sugar placebo pill during a clinical trial (which is A. free, and B. part of a blind test to do just we want to do - separate the real from the imagined), that's fine. You pay nothing, know that you may be getting a placebo (or perhaps not, I don't know exactly how drug trials work), and perhaps benefit from it.
But once you start swindling people and start charging them large sums of money for what is known to science to be a placebo yet you hawk as more than such, that's unethical. If you only make claims as to build quality or whatever, fine, but to not explain the science behind why such cables will not make a difference and idly sit by and profit from others' stupidity is going along the same lines although not to the same extremes. If you won't tell people that your cables won't make a difference beyond build quality on your website, you're not likely to tell them in person.
And yes, that does mean many, many companies do unethical things. I do too - we all do. But the repeated nonsense is the real infraction. It never stops; there are no limits, and it's done shamelessly.
Look, to be fair here, I apologize in not looking very far indeed at all the cable companies and whatnot, I just took a quick glance at whiplash and ALO, which seem to be some of the more popular choices around here, and they just seem to advertise about cable construction and materials.
I will concede to your point for the companies out there that use fancy marketing pizazz to intentionally deceive customers, it's still the customer's fault of course, but even I will see that as being very low.
In audio, very rarely does this deception become harmful (physically, in terms of health and such), which is why I held my previous stance about it not being unethical and whatnot.
I was only trying to understand why you thought it was unethical, since at the end of the day, it depends on an individuals perspective. I'm sorry if it looked like I was trying to change your views or anything silly like that.
@Nightslayer
If the cable companies say that the cables are up to placebo, and we assume that no human being want's to be treated like a fool, then nobody will actually buy the cable of course! So perhaps in this case, no enjoyment will be 'given' to anybody, and there will be no "winning" in this situation.
But if you look at it from a more...."positive" point of view, it's because the companies don't say that, there are some who may find greater enjoyment from their cables, and there's nothing wrong with that now is there? ahaahahah
I'm sure all the cable guys know about DBT already, they just don't give a damn eh? So there's no need to invade their home hehe.
I think we're forgetting the bigger picture here, everything we do here is nothing but an attempt at trying to increase our enjoyment from music. The science does not actually matter. Let people go at it in different ways, the destination is still the same, all is well in the world. Ahhhhhh...... if only =P.