04-Aug-2020, 13:41
@Jean-Marie,
I'd love to see a well conducted double blind study on this but I don't think we'll see one.
Regardless of whether you use ABX or simply an AB double blind study, the design is going to be critical because the comparison requires a connection change on each of 2 speakers so you can't just throw a switch to make the change unless you build some kind of switching box that can do it. That box is going to need to have single wire terminals for the input, biwire terminals for the output, and some way of swapping the positive connection from the input between the positive input for the bass speaker and the positive input for the tweeter, and that is going to have to be repeated for the second speaker as well. I don't know of any device that will do that so it would probably have to be built and then you'd want to test it to ensure that whatever the switching mechanism was did not add any noise or artefacts to the output which might mask any differences that may be caused by the different connection method. The requirement for a switching box probably makes reliable double blind testing of this impossible for most audiophiles and the delay caused if the connection is going to be changed manually is going to be an issue given that audio memory is short term rendering AB comparisons with manual changes unreliable.
As I said, I'd like to see the results of a well designed and conducted test and for something like this you really need listening tests because it's not clear what we should be measuring. I did say that well designed tests are often the outcome of an accumulation of anecdotal reports from single individuals and, since such reports can be the trigger for a more rigorous well designed test, then the best i think we can hope for here is some more anecdotal reports from other members besides BoyScout.
If you read my earlier posts you will see that I have never claimed that there is a difference. I don't know and I've never tried or heard this connection method in use. My problem all along has simply been with the way the connection method has been dismissed by people who have not tried it on the basis of suppositions about cable length. Reading my earlier comments you will also see that I have agreed that cable length will not cause an audible difference in this case. If there is an audible difference it has to be due to some other cause but no one has addressed any other possible cause.
As always in science, absence of proof is not proof of absence. We have no reliable proof that it does make a difference and that doesn't prove that there is no difference. We also have no reliable proof that it doesn't make a difference and that doesn't prove that there is a difference. No matter what side anyone wants to take, none of us have any proof one way or the other and, without knowing what to measure, listening is the only test we have. If we can't get a well designed double blind listening test, we have to make do with individual listening reports which at least would be somewhat indicative one way or the other if there were a reasonable number of such reports with a strong consensus on whether or not there is a difference. It's definitely not the best way to do things but it's the only way to do things until a better test is designed and conducted.
I'd love to see a well conducted double blind study on this but I don't think we'll see one.
Regardless of whether you use ABX or simply an AB double blind study, the design is going to be critical because the comparison requires a connection change on each of 2 speakers so you can't just throw a switch to make the change unless you build some kind of switching box that can do it. That box is going to need to have single wire terminals for the input, biwire terminals for the output, and some way of swapping the positive connection from the input between the positive input for the bass speaker and the positive input for the tweeter, and that is going to have to be repeated for the second speaker as well. I don't know of any device that will do that so it would probably have to be built and then you'd want to test it to ensure that whatever the switching mechanism was did not add any noise or artefacts to the output which might mask any differences that may be caused by the different connection method. The requirement for a switching box probably makes reliable double blind testing of this impossible for most audiophiles and the delay caused if the connection is going to be changed manually is going to be an issue given that audio memory is short term rendering AB comparisons with manual changes unreliable.
As I said, I'd like to see the results of a well designed and conducted test and for something like this you really need listening tests because it's not clear what we should be measuring. I did say that well designed tests are often the outcome of an accumulation of anecdotal reports from single individuals and, since such reports can be the trigger for a more rigorous well designed test, then the best i think we can hope for here is some more anecdotal reports from other members besides BoyScout.
If you read my earlier posts you will see that I have never claimed that there is a difference. I don't know and I've never tried or heard this connection method in use. My problem all along has simply been with the way the connection method has been dismissed by people who have not tried it on the basis of suppositions about cable length. Reading my earlier comments you will also see that I have agreed that cable length will not cause an audible difference in this case. If there is an audible difference it has to be due to some other cause but no one has addressed any other possible cause.
As always in science, absence of proof is not proof of absence. We have no reliable proof that it does make a difference and that doesn't prove that there is no difference. We also have no reliable proof that it doesn't make a difference and that doesn't prove that there is a difference. No matter what side anyone wants to take, none of us have any proof one way or the other and, without knowing what to measure, listening is the only test we have. If we can't get a well designed double blind listening test, we have to make do with individual listening reports which at least would be somewhat indicative one way or the other if there were a reasonable number of such reports with a strong consensus on whether or not there is a difference. It's definitely not the best way to do things but it's the only way to do things until a better test is designed and conducted.
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