Don Pearce wrote:
On Mon, 16 Jan 2006 11:53:06 +0200, Forwarder wrote:

Don Pearce wrote:



Fine as an experiment

Dismissed! Ne-ext!


- but nothing whatever to do with the situation
I have sought to address,

What is the situation you are seeking to adress? An audiophool is
claiming to hear this or that sound from a cable.. - "it" is deluded -
the proof of which is this test .. ??

Visual sense and knowledge aid us in putting together sound information.
In fact, all of our senses help each other out in all forms of
combinations, schemes imaginable.

No they don't. Visual senses help us in assessing an overall
situation, but don't be fooled into thinking they aid in putting
together sound information. Visual/optical illusions are very common.

There is a dilemma here, a puzzle. And the answer does not lie with the
DBT/ABX ritual.

which has nothing whatever to do with groups
of people and their possible perceptions.

If 850 people out of 1000 all agree that a given amplifier has very
powerful bass, stronger as compared to this other one.. Would that not
tell you anything?

If you took 1000 random people, you would probably find perhaps ten of
them who claimed to hear a difference between cables. *THEY* are the
ones who are of interest - I couldn't care less about the other 990.
It would be a waste of time testing them.

More of interest are those who come on groups like this and make
unsolicited claims of night and day differences between these items,
because they simply should not be there. That is why they are the ones
who should be tested. It is simply interesting.

Note that in an ABX the both amps would sound EXACTLY the same to all
subjects tested. Would that *still* not tell you anything?


And of course my scheme has no hint of coercion about it.

You ARE converting and act of pleasure seeking and relaxation, ie,
LISTENING TO MUSIC, into a stressfull act of problem/puzzle solving,
where one's own sense of being and consciousness is under question : are
you sure you hear what (you think) you hear? And at the end the
consequences could be that one is virtually mutilated and ridiculed by
some over-arrogant, over-egoed, audi-audi-uber-alles kind of an
ill-willed, foul-mouthed, bad breath creature such as you know who. And
you still see "no hint of coercion" in all this?


Actually, the foulest of language (and I nearly killfiled you for it)
has come from you, directed at Stewart.

As for the stress, all I'm asking people to do is listen to music,
then say whether they think it sounds nice or not. If they care to let
it stress them, that is of course their choice. Would you find such a
thing stressful?


I have gone
out of my way to make it as comfortable and familiar as possible for
the subject, and (with Stewart's permission) a thousand pound prize at
the end of it.

Yes, sure, I am still game, in any event. Send a mail to
for the practical arrangements. Note that the
stew of warts creature took an objection to arranging the "practical
arrangements" privately via email the last time around...


Please moderate the language, I don't care to talk in such terms.

As for the practical arrangements, I know you want to remain
anonymous, and I have no objection, but as far as is possible, all the
arrangements for this should be kept public. The whole thing started
in public forum, and I think it should be completed there.

I have no trips planned for the near future, but I will let you know
when I have.

d

Pearce Consulting
http://www.pearce.uk.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mr Pearce says to Forwarder:

"Actually, the foulest of language (and I nearly killfiled you for it)
has come from you, directed at Stewart"

I understand that Pinkerton called Forwarder a "dickhead" before he got
a response in kind. This is par for the course for this self-announced
scion of Scottish aristocracy who used to sign himself Lord Pinkerton
of something or other..
An example of Pinkerton's debating style:
Sept1 2005 "Stereophile and cable theory"
I said:
"No, he simply *did not do it* when comparing level-matched or similar
gauge, especially with your preferred music signal.
Pinkerton:
"Thank you for confirming that you are a lying sack of ****."
2) I continued: " All the panelists did well comparing
uneven diameter cables when pink noise was played to them. The scores
were much worse when music was used as a signal and became awful when
similar diameters were used. Oddly I'm interested in music not pink
noise.
Pinkerton answers:
"Thank you for confirming that you are a lying sack of ****. "
3) " I understand that 16 Gauge vs. 24
gauge over 50" means 1,70db volume difference. Six out of eleven
panelists failed to hear this difference in 5 (out of fifteen) tries
or more. I have, with my elderly ears, no difficulty hearing 1db volume
difference between the two speakers when my stepped volume control is
moved without my knowledge- but of course I'm not ABXing".
Ludovic Mirabel
Pinkerton answers:
Thank you for confirming that you are a lying sack of ****."

I did not respond. I didn't know how.
I think Forwarder should be congratulated for answering in kind and in
spades. It worked . Pinkerton shut up and the RAO air cleared just a
little bit.
Moderate IQ level and aggressive sociopathic behaviour are not mutually
exclusive. Plenty of examples in recent history.
Ludovic Mirabel

..