Yup, notice in this link:

http://users.htdconnect.com/~djcarlst/abx_data.htm

Look at the level difference test. A level difference of only 0.3dB was identified 76% of the time. 0.3dB!!! Make the very small increase to 0.4dB, and it was identified correctly 93% of the time!! This implies that the 1dB steps for level matching on most processors is inadequate.

So, very small changes quickly become VERY identifiable. That's the sensitivity where these tests are very good at validating true sonic differences.

In the movie, It's A Gift, WC Fields had this exchange with another man:
Man (to WC): "You're drunk!"
WC: "Yeah, and you're crazy. But I'll be sober tomorrow and you'll be crazy for the rest of your life."

I get the feeling that if WC ever posted on this forum, he'd be substituting malicious for crazy, in his retort to some of you folks. Sometimes, the level of cruelty exhibited by some supposedly sober people simply shocks me...

Wow... most of the latest posts by most folks sure are thought provoking. It also was nice to travel back 20 years to Stat 351 for a long forgotten lesson by dybbuk. Valid follow ups by NA, BM, Mo, and Ch only add to the complexity and effort needed to really do a DBT comparative trial whose results would have validity.

Still, for most of us John Doe HT type upgraders, aren't we still back to careful comparative listening as our only realistic attempt to determine which component, cable, etc that we prefer in our systems?

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Take Care,
merc

[This message has been edited by merc (edited July 03, 2002).]

I know they are busy . .
Here's one for the original Outlaws anyway, Scott ?
What kind of cables / speaker and interconnects / were you guy's using in the "lab" before you stared using the new outlaw cables ? What do ya think, was it an upgrade / down grade / lateral move
Personally I do think cables can have subtle impact on sound / not night and day.
I assume you use the same AV sources and Atlantic Technology speakers in testing in order to maintain some type consistency when testing.
BTW, What AV sources do you guys use in the lab for testing ? Do you perform any comparisons of the performance of Outlaw equipment when mated with mid-fi vs Hi-Fi components. Do you also compare yourself against the competition with the same test equipment ?
Humm, Trying to conclude this train of thought. Given a reasonable speaker system, What upgrade path do you think would have a greater impact on final system performance, If upgrading say a 1050 ? MidFi AV sources + add a 950 or a 1050 + add HiFi AV sources ( + a 950 later ) and/or CABLES

[This message has been edited by Steve_C (edited July 03, 2002).]

Hello All!
Are we still talking about this one? I must confess, It's much like a car wreck. Nobody wants to admit that they are looking, but there's that morbid curiousity thing. I for one agree to disagree! I'm enjoying the hell out of my HT, and get to turn a friend on to it tomorrow. Heaven forbid I let him loose in this forum! He's one of the few people that I know (besides y'all) that is more opinionated than me!
Maybe we can turn our collective energies to a much less talked about, and non-controversial, topic such as passive vs. active equalization. Or religion, or politics!
For my money the Outlaw interconnects, look good, sound good, (or transparent), and are a good value.
Merc, it's been a hoot bantering this around with you, and aside form the day that you gave up and tried to erase your threads, you've weathered it well. You should be proud. I look forward to the next debate. Maybe we'll even be on the same side!
Until next time, I wish you all a Happy and Safe 4th, Canada Day, et.all.
Mix

Sounds like great advice to me.

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Matthew J. Hill
matt@idsi.net