Hi,
mosfet said:
I've tried to be clear Thorsten. But once more.
To properly disprove the hypothesis was always well outside of what could feasibly be achieved - however this was the point to aim for.
My point exactly. If to provide any form of proof that the null hypothesis was false (or a [statisticaly] SIGNIFICANT indication of lack of reason to reject the null hypothesis) was not possible due to the arrangement of the test, why bother doing it?
mosfet said:
Does this mean the results are both ââ'¬Å"meaninglessââ'¬Â and ââ'¬Å"amusingââ'¬Â given the other objective of the test?
If I carry out a laborius task only to find myself at the end of it exactly where I started it is normally considered amusing. It certainly features in many cartoons (Roadrunner & Coyote anyone?), slapstic movies of the silent film era and in modern situation comedies as reason to break out into uncontrolled laughter. So yes, in that definition it fits "amusing".
The results are meaningless and completely so because no attempt was made to establish if the testsetup was able to resolve known audible differences prior to attempting to judge highly disputed ones, because the testsubjects where highly likely to hold strong convitions and views on the subject (which disregardless of the actual nature of their views adds a highly randomising factor) and because statistically speaker there was never enough data in case of a lack of audibility to support any conclusion.
To me that is meaningless.
:band:
mosfet said:
and to do something the hi-fi magazines are failing to do.
I am certain there many other things HiFi Magazines do not do, largely because of realising the futility of doing so in suchlike manner.
Just because HiFi Magazines do not conduct small scale, semi-casual double blind tests does not mean that those who do (including the US ABX Mafia und Don Krueger) are to be commended for doing so and for producing reams of meaningless data in the process (they are DEFINITLY TO BE CENSURED for presenting said data as proof for the absence of audible differences).
In my experience the "debunkers" are as guilty in causing the current situation as the rest of the high end industry.
As a result most people still do not understand the actual underlying mechanisms that CAN lead to what is often called "cable sound" (largely inaccuratly so as well) and that most cables tend to be constructed on ludicrous principles usually contrary to what is actually required. In fact, we are still arguing if cables (or amplifiers, capacitors et al) can or can not lead to audible differences, instead on focusing on understanding what makes "good sound".
Okay. I'm ranting. I'm good now.
mosfet said:
Same question. More or less ââ'¬Å"meaninglessââ'¬Â than a sighted review one might read from one reviewer?
I am rather in agreement that "cable reviews" have little use. This is down mainly to the lack of understanding what is going on. They are useful insofar that they illtustrate what specifically works in a specific system, according to the reviewers taste (and imagination, hearing acuity etc.).
I wrote one myself on interconnects, where I included blind listening tests (fast switching), however while working a lot on the DIY Side of that cabeling lark I had to get to understand what is actually happening inside systems and why cables make a difference which ended up with me realising the futility of such reviews.
(BTW, my first experience of hearing a cable make an audible difference happened with a microphone cable in a pro audio application and was most annoying, because it threw off my mix I was used to and had me looking for weeks as to what had changed the sound [which was BAD - because before it was exactly what I had wanted] before hitting on around 10m worth of balanced mike cable as culprit).
So, with that intro, I feel that the test was exactly as useless and as meaningless as one in a mag, but with a greater degree of amusement potential, which may be why I felt amused.
Ciao T