"The Audio Critic" B.S. or what?

I'm glad that Joe is the sole possessor of the knowledge, of how to function in this hobby. That way, he can tell everyone else how to "do it right". You got banned for more than that, Joe...and that is what you really know how to do: get BANNED from discussion websites. I'd rather not learn how to do that...and I can already hear better than you anyway...the proof's in the pudding...................You even contradict yourself about DBX testing. First you state that "since blind testing in most cases shows that differences between equipment are a lot subtler than most manufacturers want to you to know", and then retract it by: "However, double blind testing in my opinion is objectionable because it's effect is to 'dazzle' the mind of the reviewer, making it difficult to detect differences". IF YOU THINKI IT'S "OBJECTIONABLE", WHY DO INSIST THAT THOSE REVIEWERS WHO ALSO OBJECT TO IT "MIGHT BE" CHARLATANS? Unless of course, you're a charlatan yourself...

I've heard the difference between ALL the different cables I've tried over the past few years, and I don't care if there are those out there who don't hear a difference. Please do not profess to pooh pooh on me, and I won't do the same on you. MY OWN BROTHER AND SISTER IN LAW BOTH, ARE ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS. She has had a problem hearing in one ear since childhood, so she doesn't care much about my system in any of its incarnations (yet). And when listening to my system, he (my brother) has had ZERO trouble ever hearing the difference between cables, CD's and CD-R copies...and the one that troubled him most: The fact that an old copy of a rock album ON VINYL...killed the CD so badly. He knows I'm not nuts anymore...And I don't just spend thousands of dollars "on wire". I've gotten most of it used (like the rest of my system). I don't call getting a $3100 cable, for $795, "being bad with money". And it has beaten all the others I've thrown at it, so there!

What does it matter, what you suggest, Joe? It amounts to nothing at all. I suggest you double up on visits to YOUR shrink. It is you who is angry, not me.

To ICYR Anus: Blind testing introduces tension variables, such that even obvious differences become less obvious. Also, I firmly believe that you need visual stimuli and room orientation, for the "aural memory" to function properly. When you are in a blackened room, or wear a blindfold, all sorts of things can happen as your brain perceives the sound. YOU AREN'T USED TO DOING THIS SORT OF THING, UNLESS YOU ARE WITHOUT SIGHT TO BEGIN WITH. For instance, nobody denies that it enhances the enjoyment listening to do so in a darkened room. It's easier to "see" with your ears that way, and forget that you aren't at the concert hall. BUT WHAT IF YOUR HEAD SLOWLY SCEWS OFF IN ONE DIRECTION, AND YOU DON'T KNOW IT? SUDDENLY THE IMAGE CAN BE SLIGHTLY LOPSIDED, AND YOU DON'T KNOW WHY (or even consciously realize that it actually is lopsided)...since you cannot orient to the room/speakers. And there in lies the problem. Personally, I have not been able to listen with the lights off, without getting lulled into such a trance-like state, that it forces/compels me to CEASE ANALYTICAL THOUGHT COMPLETELY...and I just enjoy the music in a very "pure" way. My mind starts involuntarily imagining myself as floating, or even swimming around in the air, amongst the musicians/performers. The point is, I could still be hearing things like cable differences, but my aural memory forgets them, or else forgets to pay attention, and I don't even realize it. With the lights on, and myself changing the cables, I pay attention to every detail. Then I switch cables back and forth several times (I'm not a firm believer in settling times of cables, so long as they've all been up and running in the very recent past). I confess that if I (as many do here) forced myself to listen to a cable for months at a time, without changing it, I would get used to it's sound, and definitely could not remember how it's character affected music in a different way, from the previous one months before. I don't understand how anyone could make cable choices that way. In any case, if I can change cables back and forth, play the same piece of music, then move to a different piece of music...and I STILL hear the different signature as cables are changed, WHY SHOULD I QUESTION MY OWN HEARING, WHEN I JUST REPEATED THE TEST WITH DIFFERENT MUSIC, BUT HEARD THE SIGNATURE OF THE CABLE EXHIBIT EXACTLY THE SAME SORT OF EFFECT ON THE MUSIC? This has always been the case for me, when I compare any type of cable, and frankly, I have no reason to doubt what I am hearing...It isn't my fault that others might not trust their hearing, and want to take a "court of law" mentality, where everything MUST be controlled (so that the person who is listening is somehow out of control). WHY IS THAT MORE VALID THAN MY WAY? I guess it's like Parliamentary procedure, or something. Some people just can't make decisions for themselves, unless they get permission to do so from a group of people. I'm kind of a maverick individualist, I guess, and I like to do things my way...epsecially when I've never had a valid reason to doubt my own hearing. And yet, I DO have plenty of reason to doubt the hearing acuity of those a generation older than me...

I couldn't disagree with Jostler more. Since when do psychologists know anything about high end audio? Modern psychology is mostly religion anyway. If there is a "collective unconscious", then what am I thinking right now? The fact is, we are all individual beings with individual thoughts and desires. And if I have an opinion on the "sound" of an audio component, it is not for you to say it is "completely meaningless". It might be to you, but it may have lots of meaning to others.......I bet you are one of these people that lays your clothes out for the whole week, ahead of time. MY "METHODOLOGY", IS THAT I TRUST WHAT I HEAR THE FIRST TIME, AND DON'T DOUBT IT. THAT WAY, I HAVE MORE TIME TO MAKE MORE COMPARISONS, RATHER THAN WASTING TIME SECOND AND THIRD GUESSING MYSELF, FOR NO REASON OTHER THAN A BAD CASE OF ANAL RETENTIVENESS. The "psychoacoustics of human hearing", written in some dusty book 100 years ago are what "has no meaning", for me. What counts is what I hear right now, and no one will tell me that what I do "has no meaning whatsoever for others", and get away with it....You are NOT the sole arbiter of what is "objective observation", nor does anything in this hobby require "perfect" objectivity. EVERYTHING IS SUBJECTIVE, EVERYTHING. Heisenberg's Principle is all the "science" we need, here.

Right on, Bob!! This numbskull hasn't even read what I've said. For instance, the networks are in PARALLEL, and therefore not in the signal's path...not that you could hear the difference between a jackhammer on your eardrum, and music, Leafs, because I doubt you can hear any better than you can spell. Sleep it off, and I hope somebody yells at ya when you're hung over in the mornin!

Actually Leafs, it is YOU who is self righteous, and you are commenting about things that you do not know about, nor have direct experience with....and THAT'S the real "joke" here, and a stupid low brow one at that. Please do not presume to comment on, what you have no experience with. Also, it's a fact that expensive cables NEVER hold their value on the used market as well as less costly ones do, much less than do electronics of the more popular or widely known varieties. HOWEVER, that has ABSOLUTELY ZERO TO DO WITH THEIR SOUND QUALITY, AND EVERYTHING TO DO WITH RETAIL DEALER MARKUP ON STATE OF THE ART CABLES, WHEN THEY ARE NEW. Next time, keep it on what you have experience with, and you'll not lose what little credibility that you started with.