A world where everything sounds different

Thinking recently about the state of the audio industry, the press, forums etc and the way they test and review equipment.

The question of how to test is always a contentious one. Should it be loosely controlled, tightly controlled, individual, panel, blind, double blind, sighted etc etc.
This got me thinking about one magazine which has used a form of blind test in every issue since 1979 - H-Fi Choice. This magazine has carried a comparative group blind test in just about every issue. That's 3000+ bits of kit tested and compared over a 35 year period.

Never once in 35 years, and I'm sad enough to have read most editions, has Choice ever printed words to the effect 'item A sounded just like item B'.

So everything always sounds different to everything else, no matter how close in technical performance the items compared might be.

Given the huge range of kit over such a long timeframe, this would seem impossible to believe. So what do we think might be happening......?

 

Comparing A and B without asking the panel to actually identify them... and X is which one A or B? The listeners can let their minds run wild with suppositions and chit-chat about what they think without ever needing to show they can identify what they claim to hear. I expect most decisions are a consensus arrived at by talking with each other during listening.

Just guessing, is it A/B or ABX and can they talk to each other?

 

Yup

A/B and yes they can talk IIRC.

The product identity being hidden is however a positive, so it's better than the norm.

 

hello rob, on the subject of reviews on equipment i can tell you stories that will make you sick, but only if you want to know the facts that i know, how ever the test of equipment is not only left in the hands of the manufacturer but then to have to rely on the reviours , but salesteam has a lot to do to make or brake the product, sales reps don't help either, the one and most important thing is the buyer, to be abled to achive what sound he or she are looking for to enjoy their listening pleasure of their taste of their music, to reach their fulcrom point with out bias, as a salesman you can only seek and figure out the kind of sound they are after and take time to show them what every item reproduces, then they will make their choice with the spertice of the salesman and confidence they trust,advice and friendship contact after sales is very important, not money in the till..

 

Hi Joseph,

There are some murky areas for sure.

I think most people are good intentioned, but in the case I've given as example I see the problem as the methodology rather than any attempt to deceive.

 

i know you do, you and simon are a very graet and sublime example to the hi-fi world, with all respect i do wish you all the best, glad to know you all and i hope that you don't give up,
regards,
nando.

 

Nando - that's how it should be, a rare and sensitive comment all too often missing from the 'industry'. Bravo.

I would be interested in your stories, but only for prurient reasons and suggest that publishing them doesn't help anyone

 

Agree entirely.
Good dealers build up a rapport and mutual trust with their customers, and the customers tend to remain loyal as a result.