[sdiy] O/T Hi-Fi Snake Oil - UKP700 power lead

[Clarke Robinson]

Colin f wrote:
>  
>   
>> Hardest is the "double blind" part, where neither the tester 
>> *nor* test subject know which component is playing. How would 
>> you change a power cord in an audio system without anyone in 
>> the room knowing that you changed it (including yourself)?
>>     
>
> You need some automated switching under control of the software that makes
> the random selection of X from A and B, and tracks the subject's selections.
> For a power cord, you could build a box with some relays to switch over the
> earth, neutral and live connections at the wall and device ends of the test
> and control cables.
> No doubt some audiophile types would claim that the addition of the relays
> to the system would 'mask' the benefits of the cable...
>   
They would (and do) indeed say that...however the main complication for 
me is that no such device exists. I'm sure there are many on this list 
who could make one, but that automatically takes performing such a test 
out of the realm of being "simple". Then you would need a different type 
of unit to enable the ABX testing of amplifiers, and yet another one for 
preamps. Can you imagine what kind of machine you would need to blind 
test speakers (considering the very real impact that speaker placement 
has on sound)?

Actually, Harman has one in their lab in L.A. - a listening room 
equipped with large turntables that can change out a set of speakers 
quickly and silently - but again, this is the farthest thing from simple.

After a while, I came to realize that one of the most important 
components in an sound system is *the room* the system is in. So unless 
a (blind, double-blind, ABX, long-term, or whatever) listening test 
could be performed with *my* system in *my* listening (read: living) 
room, they were of no use to me. So, I got my audio system to where it 
sounds as awesome as I could possibly ever need, and started building 
synthesizers...  :-)