Hi Joel

Good point, and as an actual manufacturer of expensive cables (  ), I do largely agree.

What I find worrying though, is the way that blind listening tests are espoused as the definitive way of testing things.  Yes, in theory double blind testing is pretty close (potentially) to the ideal where only the sound is the only influencing factor, but it is bestrewn with pitfalls as well, and in practice not ideal.

Also, I doubt I would need 16 goes to identify one of our cables,  but I have the advantage of familiarity with them.  As an average buyer, looking to upgrade and rifling through total unknowns for the "best" one, 16 goes wouldn't be good enough for me.  Firstly I'd be bored by then and want to do almost anything else instead, especially if I had 4 or 5 to choose from; and then even if I narrow it down to 2 or 3 I'd still want to take them home to see if I could live with them.  We do a lot of testing here, mostly sighted but some blind as well, and the more you do, the more you realise you're not doing it for fun!

Cheers