Anyone try Synergistic Research PHT...

"11-17-14: Philb7777
'Listener bias is huge, once one has paid good money for a tweak.'

Quote of the year Lewm!!"

The only problem with that quote of the year is you don't have any evidence to back it up. Now, if you are looking for examples of the opposite, you'll have no problem finding them right here on Audiogon. People are always complaining that they overpaid for something that doesn't make any difference at all.

"11-18-14: Lewm
Zd542, The idea of observer (in this case "listener") bias is much older than this discussion. It has long been taken as a given in the design of any study that involves opinion or human judgement of any kind and that purports to be "scientific". When you then add the fact that one has paid for the device under scrutiny, the bias factor is only compounded. We are all guilty of it; one cannot divorce one's judgement from subconscious bias. Thus you could say I disagree with your premise that listener bias is not a big factor in the formulation of opinions put forth in this and many other forums. That said, please note that it was not I who claimed that my quote was the quote of the year. Quote of the year was not my goal, but thanks for that, Phil."

Reading my post again, I think I could have done a better job explaining my point. I'm not saying that listening bias doesn't happen, I just don't think it can be applied in the manner that you suggest. Look at this once more.

'Listener bias is huge, once one has paid good money for a tweak.'

What type of bias? Lets say 2 people that are financially equal (they make about the same money), buy the same expensive tweak. One person can have an attitude like "For $xxx amount of money, this new tweak should really make my system sound great", while the next person may say "$xxx is an awful lot of money, I hope this damn tweak works.". Both are legitimate examples of how listening bias may be a factor in ones judgement of a particular tweak, but they're practically opposite views. Since we don't have any idea of an individual's personality traits, I don't see how any accurate and responsible judgement/recommendation can be made. We don't have any where near enough info, and even if we did, are we qualified to make assessments of this nature? So, my position in all this is to just not go there. To me, it seems like you can do just as much harm, as good, by bringing psychology into all this.

"That said, please note that it was not I who claimed that my quote was the quote of the year. Quote of the year was not my goal, but thanks for that, Phil."

OK. I do note that you didn't ask for quote of the year. Fair enough. But I also note that you thank Phil for calling it quote of the year. This is interesting. Phil's comment may bias your future posts. The question I have, is will this positive reinforcement effect your accuracy? Maybe you'll just guess more often because you subconsciously judge yourself more knowledgeable, or maybe you'll do more research before answering posts due to the new burden placed on you in winning quote of the year. Phil, I'm hoping you keep track of his progress and give us some updates on which direction he's headed. Its all up to you now.

"Zd542, I assume your long post is tongue in cheek. Good one. But my next post will contain the Quote of the Century. Ad astra per aspera! (Or something like that.)"

Yes, I was definitely kidding. But only the last part of my post. I really don't see how you can use psychology, like listening bias, in any useful way, unless its under special circumstances. We just don't get enough info in these posts, or have the ability, to effectively use it.

"Where did I say that I could measure it or know for sure the degree to which it has affected a review?"

In your first post. I never said you could measure it or know for sure, but you appear to be implying, in a strong manner, your prediction that there will be a positive bias.

"11-17-14: Lewm
I have read several glowing subjective "reviews" of this item, and I will predict that you will be swamped with similar."

Read down a bit further, and you get to your famous quote, that implies the positive reaction is due to listening bias. Just to be clear, I'm not saying that can't or doesn't happen, I'm saying that a positive reaction in the above example is not the only reaction. The reaction could just as easily be negative. We just don't know. Why get so worked up over the whole issue?

"Then again; those with the preconceived notion that it can't possibly make any difference, already have a built-in, set in concrete, bias against such tweaks."

Yes, but in a case like that, you are moving away from what we are discussing here with listening bias and moving into other areas. A view like that is more of a ego/personality issue. I think its likely that someone with such an extreme position, can hear a difference, but will not admit it. You don't see too many people like that here on Audiogon, which is why I like this site over the others. The other sites are overrun with that type of thinking. They call themselves objectives. I call them super subjective. If we had this same discussion on a site like Hydrogen Audio, they would have shut it down after the first couple of posts and kicked us all off. lol.

"I personally have had the experience of going in to a listening test with a decided negative bias and coming out with a different opinion entirely. It may well be that when one expects to hear no difference, then the tiniest difference may register with more sensitivity than would otherwise be the case. (This was the question of whether power cords make a difference to the sound of an ESL [electro-static loudspeaker]. I thought surely they would not, but I was very surprised to discover that they do indeed, at least in my system with my pair of Sound Lab ESLs."

I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit. You clearly have the knowledge and experience to work around whatever bias you have, in order to make a good decision.