wrote in message
oups.com...

Eeyore wrote:
Keith G wrote:

After an hour I can say it's fine/OK and
if it was all I had I wouldn't be too unhappy, but usually when I swap
back
to the valves (haven't got time atm) I find the *improvement* is
instantaneous and reaffirming.

It's called listening fatigue. The break that you give yourself so doing
allows
the ear to recover. Now try it the other way round !


Gawd, this idiot's still replying to my posts when he's been told he's
binned....???



Hmmm I read somewhere that the opposite is usually in play. There seems
to be a common bias to prefer the second smaple in an A/B comparison.
That is the reason I always do A/B B/A comparisons and repeat them ove
several listening sessions to try to remove other human variables such
as mood and physical well being.


One-off A/B comparisons are really quite useless except in the case of
*profound* differences, as in the case where summat's busted. My preferences
were evolved by long months (even years) of comparisons of varying durations
with any number of different bits of kit. The first valve amp I got was
something of a Paulian revelation and was what I had been seeking (without
even knowing it) for a good long time - I have not looked back since the
first time I fired it up!

When I am free to choose and can play the field I'm not likely to fall foul
of a *snap decision* - tell yer mate (above) that I now have equal numbers
of SS and valve amps here and can say *with conviction* that the valves beat
the SS stuff fifteen different ways up, on every front except
*convenience*!! (I don't use valves for HT and don't like to leave them on
when I'm in and out of the house all day - global warming and a waste of
valves....)

(I love it when noobies try to tell me about **** like 'listener
fatigue'....!!)