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What do we hear when we change the direction of a wire?

Douglas Self wrote a devastating article about audio anomalies back in 1988. With all the necessary knowledge and measuring tools, he did not detect any supposedly audible changes in the electrical signal. Self and his colleagues were sure that they had proved the absence of anomalies in audio, but over the past 30 years, audio anomalies have not disappeared anywhere, at the same time the authority of science in the field of audio has increasingly become questioned. It's hard to believe, but science still cannot clearly answer the question of what electricity is and what sound is! (see article by A.J.Essien).

For your information: to make sure that no potentially audible changes in the electrical signal occur when we apply any "audio magic" to our gear, no super equipment is needed. The smallest step-change in amplitude that can be detected by ear is about 0.3dB for a pure tone. In more realistic situations it is 0.5 to 1.0dB'". This is about a 10% change. (Harris J.D.). At medium volume, the voltage amplitude at the output of the amplifier is approximately 10 volts, which means that the smallest audible difference in sound will be noticeable when the output voltage changes to 1 volt. Such an error is impossible not to notice even using a conventional voltmeter, but Self and his colleagues performed much more accurate measurements, including ones made directly on the music signal using Baxandall subtraction technique - they found no error even at this highest level.

As a result, we are faced with an apparently unsolvable problem: those of us who do not hear the sound of wires, relying on the authority of scientists, claim that audio anomalies are BS. However, people who confidently perceive this component of sound are forced to make another, the only possible conclusion in this situation: the electrical and acoustic signals contain some additional signal(s) that are still unknown to science, and which we perceive with a certain sixth sense.

If there are no electrical changes in the signal, then there are no acoustic changes, respectively, hearing does not participate in the perception of anomalies. What other options can there be?

Regards.
anton_stepichev
djones51
4,947 posts
 
I didn't make a claim I simply gave an alternate  conclusion to the claim there wasn't one. It isn't incumbent on me to prove or disprove anything that's up to the claimant.  I didn't claim 
 
at the same time the authority of science in the field of audio has increasingly become questioned
which is nonsense, if anything there's a resurgence. 

I didn't claim there's an unknown signal in the audio signal that humans perceive with a sixth sense. 

electrical and acoustic signals contain some additional signal(s) that are still unknown to science, and which we perceive with a certain sixth sense.

If this signal is unknown to science how does he know it's there? 


dletch2
455 posts
 
at the same time the authority of science in the field of audio has increasingly become questioned


Audioholics on Youtube has 150,000 followers


There are probably 10x the posts on ASR as there are here, and way way more useful information for actual audiophiles.  People actually refer to ASR. 


Many of the consumer audio companies sell as much stuff as the whole high end market.
moendrums
2 posts
 
I love this as a conversation starter. It’s my belief that on a different day a certain cable or speaker may sound better than another. I think when it trickles down to these minuscule bits of perception and “quality” it can depend on your mood and wether or not you had a good breakfast. I’ve had this experience with certain recordings, wine or whiskey tasting, even the smell of my dish detergent. My point is there is no right and wrong. Like all art, it’s in the eye or “ear” in this case of the beholder. That being said I do love my new Martin Logan’s over my old crappy Polk Audio speaks. It’s the big changes in your signal that matter. 
anton_stepichev OP
150 posts
 
dletch2
And no, wires do not have "micro diodes" or any other semiconducting properties at a bulk level.

Finally, you recognized that, from the point of view of conventional physics, there can be no direction for a wire. This is an important admission, because as an opponent you put all your strength into refuting it. So we agree, there is no secret door or loophole here because the laws of electrical engineering are simple and unambiguous.

Now we are in the following situation. You, as a representative of conventional physics, claim that NO ONE can hear the difference in sound when the wire is reversed. In the same way, the difference can not be heard when changing the power cable, you recognized this even earlier.

If you are right, then it turns out that a huge number of people can not understand their feelings and are simply biased.

However, if you are wrong and there is a subjective difference, then obviously you should look for it not in conventional electrical engineering and acoustics (we found out that there can be no difference within their framework), but somewhere else. Nevertheless, you persist in suggesting the use of blind tests developed by conventional physics to determine changes in the same conventional framework.

How can such tests give the correct answer in our situation?

anton_stepichev OP
150 posts
 
mahgister
My point is some ideas of Kozirev are behind the inspiration source for the idea of the research group linked to Anton .... Am i right?

I've heard about Kozyrev and his bold theory, but I don't know if his ideas can be used in audio. In any case, people like him do inspire the research practitioners that I am, so his influence is obvious.


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