MrTennis,
I'm surprised by your question and your assertions.
You should know that forced choice tests are the only scientifically valid kind of tests, even though it may be impractical for evaluating audio equipment. If you can't reliably distinguish among two or more conditions (amps, power cords, or whatever), I have no interest in hearing your subjective chat about how superior one is over another. But high-end audio is so full of mysticism the last thing that is wanted is objective evaluation. The emperor may in fact have no clothes.
So, yes, blind tests can be useful, but difficult to implement. I suspect most manufacturers do such testing to evaluate proposed improvements in their own products and to compare their products with a competitor's. I've certainly spent my time in labs doing blind listening tests -- worst of all is testing in a deep LF anechoic chamber, very uncomfortable feeling.
db
I'm surprised by your question and your assertions.
You should know that forced choice tests are the only scientifically valid kind of tests, even though it may be impractical for evaluating audio equipment. If you can't reliably distinguish among two or more conditions (amps, power cords, or whatever), I have no interest in hearing your subjective chat about how superior one is over another. But high-end audio is so full of mysticism the last thing that is wanted is objective evaluation. The emperor may in fact have no clothes.
So, yes, blind tests can be useful, but difficult to implement. I suspect most manufacturers do such testing to evaluate proposed improvements in their own products and to compare their products with a competitor's. I've certainly spent my time in labs doing blind listening tests -- worst of all is testing in a deep LF anechoic chamber, very uncomfortable feeling.
db