AB Testing Experiences


Anybody done much AB testing.  Hard to do at dealers with much variety, and in homes even tougher.   Anyone done much of this and able to share experience.
My kenwood tape deck from 1980 allowed this, tape play vs recorded sound.  
My curiously would be an AB test between avr vs stereo preamp,  tube vs ss, McIntosh vs audio research preamps, high end spkrs, amps, etc  I can do some AB testing at home between avr dac vs bluesound vs chord.  This shows lots of differences. Bluesound was quite bad. The 5014 Marantz avr dac for heos streaming wasn’t bad, very open and detailed. 


emergingsoul

Showing 2 responses by millercarbon

Our whole concept of tone balance is tied to volume. Change the volume, our perceived tone balance changes and no amount of listening experience will ever change that.

You seem to be trying to reference Fletcher-Munson equal loudness curves and not quite getting it right. So let me help you understand- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-loudness_contour
That's not tone. Tone is quality, not just volume. Two violins playing the same note at exactly the same volume can have completely different tone. You have confused and conflated these two different concepts. 

Increasing volume also brings out detail that can be lost at lower volumes again changing our perception and appreciation of the music.

No, volume alone can do nothing to "bring out details". Its true we can't hear anything at all if the volume is too low. But its also true high volume actually hampers hearing and obscures detail. You made a blanket statement that sounds superficially satisfying but has no support in reality. 

Nothing in listening experience will change that either.

Actually the more aware you are of these things the better position you are in to evaluate what you are hearing. In other words it makes you a better listener. Also if nothing in listening experience can change anything then what is the point? There's nothing to learn, and no reason to bother with experience. Another statement it probably felt good to write until its shown to be total malarkey. 

That post was ignorant level 1.

Pretty much. Only you realize too late we are talking about yours, not mine.
You guys are talking about methods of switching. But guess what? You can compare two things (A and B) even if it means disconnecting speakers, moving components around. 

Its a comparison, which includes volume and material. If the switching has to be instant, with levels matched and the same material, well then check out my recent post on listening skills. You're beginner Level One: volume. 

At this level I'm not surprised dealers don't want to waste their time. Just ask the guy to hook something up. Listen. Pay attention. You should be able to get through this level in 6 months to a year.