I would question though, Cookiemonster, what happens if someone were to say "cable/cd player X just blows cable/cd player Y away. So much more bass, detail etc. etc." but then fails to tell which was which if they couldn't see which one was connected. The cables haven't changed sound. Only the conditions of the listener have changed and this has impacted on what they heard.

I suppose we could conclude that the differences heard were not merely down to the cable/cd player in isolation but a combination of the cable/cd player and the life experience, expectations, bias etc. of the listener. Or we could conclude that blind testing was in someway faulty and served to confuse/desensitise the listener.

I notice you say "if it sounds better, it is better" but what would you say we could conclude in a case like this? As it did sound better but then it did not. So is it better? Or is it only better/not better under certain listener conditions?