How are you hearing no difference?

Listening with just your ears does not eliminate the effects of psychoacoustics.

inna said:

"Like garbage probably not, like not much to keep talking about probably yes."

Which could probably be said of most of the systems represented here, right?

I really like the way my system sounds. I often wonder if it would sound like garbage to other listeners.

As a new audiophile I find that any number of tweaks and improvements suggested make no appreciable difference to me.....while others make big differences. Speaker position for me is one of those things I notice right away. Small changes. Even head position can make a difference for me.

And then there are differences that I can perceive but have a hard time saying which is better. To me that is the real hard thing. And it also makes me wonder if different but equal SQ doesn't suck some people into constant changes and 'upgrades' which might only actually be lateral moves???

cleeds, I do not think it would be that difficult at all to design a randomized, double blinded study for audiophiles. I'm not saying it wouldn't be a little complex but it wouldn't be hard.

The issue is who would need such a test and why. I do not think it is useful for an individual audiophile for whom the only determinant is "what do I like better".

However, for critics (whose descriptions of equipment SQ all seem to sound the same) or for magazines/web sites that compare equipment I think such tests would be very valuable and legitimizing if results corroborate critical assessments. I deeply suspect that they wouldn't.....and that's why it isn't done.

Many areas in medicine that were once dominated by the diagnostic proficiency of experience physicians have gone by the wayside because studies show that many aspects of the physical exam are not nearly as sensitive or specific as physicians claimed and swore that they were.

4hannons, if I think two pieces of equipment sound the same then I'm done. Why spend time trying to hear a difference that is so minute as to be irrelevant? As you say, the key word is "relevant" I suppose.

Funny that this was mentioned. The hearing in my left ear is worse than my right. As I was learning about speaker position and listening position etc I cupped my hand behind my left ear and it made a big difference in the size and shape of the sound stage. But it did have a hollow 'sea-shell' quality to it so I tried different hand shapes and was able to eliminate that.

I'm glad no one saw me doing this...my wife already has plenty of reasons to have me committed. 

Anyway, this worked but is very impractical. Also, with a little more time and effort I was able to balance things out with minor adjustments to speaker and listening chair placement. So now I appear semi-sane while listening.

So you're saying that 'good' hearing is quantifiable among those who have it? 

I think the questions are the same for a reason.............