Reading through this I was agreeing with the original question, in that if we are testing gear then we are listening with our brain not heart, so of course everything would sound good. However, @whipsaw then made a great point about a component we went in expecting to like and it not delivering. I wanted and expected to like the Michi X3, I had a great deal available on it, and I couldn’t connect with it. So now I’m back thinking that going in paying attention to how you feel listening to the component rather than listening is likely a better way to test gear.
Amir and Blind Testing
Let me start by saying I like watching Amir from ASR, so please let’s not get harsh or the thread will be deleted. Many times, Amir has noted that when we’re inserting a new component in our system, our brains go into (to paraphrase) “analytical mode” and we start hearing imaginary improvements. He has reiterated this many times, saying that when he switched to an expensive cable he heard improvements, but when he switched back to the cheap one, he also heard improvements because the brain switches from “music enjoyment mode” to “analytical mode.” Following this logic, which I agree with, wouldn’t blind testing, or any A/B testing be compromised because our brains are always in analytical mode and therefore feeding us inaccurate data? Seems to me you need to relax for a few hours at least and listen to a variety of music before your brain can accurately assess whether something is an actual improvement. Perhaps A/B testing is a strawman argument, because the human brain is not a spectrum analyzer. We are too affected by our biases to come up with any valid data. Maybe.