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<blockquote data-quote="perfecxionX" data-source="post: 7559154" data-attributes="member: 572854">Your equivocating on my use of the word ear.&nbsp; The reason I call a double blind the golden standard is to emphasize the importance of eliminating any type of placebo effect, subconscious bias, or observer effect.&nbsp; Its not just the physiology of the ears that is a problem but the hardware/software those ears are plugged into, the brain/mind. This is the larger reason why ears cannot be trusted as precise measuring devices.&nbsp; So you use a double blind study to eliminate subconscious bias and see if people can detect the difference between amplifiers.&nbsp; If people cannot tell a difference then you may conclude that indeed the physiology of the ear (and other features of anatomy necessary in the sense of sound) are imperfect enough to justify McIntosh over Yamaha (issues of durability/reliability ignored).You&#039;ll notice in that sentence i chose my words carefully enough to use the word&quot;I&#039;ll say that there may be a noticeable difference between a tube amplifier vs solid state but I only say that because Ive heard of double blind studies demonstrating this.&quot;I was not saying this as a matter of fact, I was only acknowledging that I have heard mention of such things from people whom I regard as much more knowledgeable than myself.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="perfecxionX, post: 7559154, member: 572854"] Your equivocating on my use of the word ear. The reason I call a double blind the golden standard is to emphasize the importance of eliminating any type of placebo effect, subconscious bias, or observer effect. Its not just the physiology of the ears that is a problem but the hardware/software those ears are plugged into, the brain/mind. This is the larger reason why ears cannot be trusted as precise measuring devices. So you use a double blind study to eliminate subconscious bias and see if people can detect the difference between amplifiers. If people cannot tell a difference then you may conclude that indeed the physiology of the ear (and other features of anatomy necessary in the sense of sound) are imperfect enough to justify McIntosh over Yamaha (issues of durability/reliability ignored). You'll notice in that sentence i chose my words carefully enough to use the word "I'll say that there [B]may[/B] be a noticeable difference between a tube amplifier vs solid state but I only say that because Ive heard of double blind studies demonstrating this." I was not saying this as a matter of fact, I was only acknowledging that I have heard mention of such things from people whom I regard as much more knowledgeable than myself. [/QUOTE]

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