WARNING Re Tweeter Grill

[Phs]

I agree audio impressions remains always very subjective, you always tend to hear what you see, and blind test with a panel of trained ears followed by statistic analysis is the only way. This is how it is done at EBU to evaluate audio algorithms. (see here )

My own experience doing A/B tests is that you get a better analysis doing longer listening sessions of test tracks, than quick A/B switching. This is in par with the article you quote.

The fact that you can never compare audio side by side - as you can do with a print - is probably part of its mysterious intangible beauty.

I've been playing that game many times in the studio, and everyone being truly honest about it has to admit that you get fooled more than once. For example that day when you add a tiny bit of EQ to that guitar and are so pleased with the result ... until you realize that you turned the button on the wrong channel of the mixing desk

Another interesting thing I tried with a couple of sound engineers was to compare how you'd set up an EQ on one track with or without looking at the actual EQ curve on the screen. Well guess what, when we could look at the curve, we all did it different. Obviously influenced by how the curve looked to our eyes

I'll keep you posted if I ever try a serious blind test, but I tend to get lazy these days since I happily  ditched my high efficiency horn active DIY setup in favor of Phantom.
Removing that grid was probably the only tweak left ... I couldn't help trying

I was the one trying to remove the tweeter grill.
Didn't have any issue with the magnet since it was pretty obvious to me that if you put a piece of metal close to a speaker you better hold it tight. Sorry for not having mentioned that.
I hear a difference when you don't. That can happen.
I remember reading a post where you found A/V sync perfect when for me the lag is obvious.
Never thought that made you a daft.

Sorry PHS I didn't mean to offend - ''twas a very tongue in cheek comment 

Just makes me laugh that I even try these things in my desperate attempts to find the perfect sound, even when I have gone for the non tweakable one box solution to get away from all that....IMHO....nonsense

Could you honestly do the blind test with them off or on and tell the difference?

I was reading some interesting stuff about short term memory recently and saw an experiment where someone was shown a simple thing to remember like 3 letters. Then given a maths quiz to prevent them pushing it to long term memory. 1 minute later they couldn't remember the letters

So can "we" really remember something as complex as the signature of a sound from 1 minute to the other when comparing, or is it all in the mind?

If we can then great - if it sounds better in our heads, then it is better. I just wonder how much is pyscological with side by side tests that have a gap in between?

And yes - I am very daft for not realising the grill could launch out of my hands like that..... So just trying to warn fellow daftees