Alors le but n’est pas d’encourager quiconque à argumenter en faveur d’un camp ou de l’autre, mais simplement lire cette superbe conclusion qui à mon sens laisse toutes les portes ouvertes, tout en tirant un enseignement des différents tests :
Conclusion
The clear conclusion is that ABX testing does not back up many audiophile claims, so they become audiophile myths as they show cables do not inherently change sound. Any change in sound quality comes from the listeners mind and interaction between their senses. What is claimed to be audible is not reliably so. Blind testing is also sometimes passed off as ABX. But blind testing is not really testing, it is a review of a product without seeing it, and that allows claims to be made about sound which have not been verified.
If hifi is all about sound and more specifically sound quality, then we should, once the other senses have been removed be able to hear differences which can be verified by being able to identify one product from another by only listening. But time and again we cannot.
So you can either buy good but inexpensive hifi products such as cables, amps, CDPs and be satisfied that the sound they produce is superb. You do need to spend time with speakers as they really do sound identifiably different. Or you can buy expensive hifi products such as cable tec and luxuriate in the build and image and identify one hifi from another by looks and sound. But you cannot buy expensive and identify it from cheap by sound alone.
However and this is important, after failing a blind test, one hifi buff, no less the editor of Sterophile said;
"Over 10 years ago, for example, I failed to distinguish a Quad 405 from a Naim NAP250 or a TVA tube amplifier in such a blind test organized by Martin Colloms. Convinced by these results of the validity in the Consumer Reports philosophy, I consequently sold my exotic and expensive Lecson power amplifier with which I had been very happy and bought a much cheaper Quad 405—the biggest mistake of my audiophile career!"
The author of the article goes on to say;
"My point being, taking part in any kind of blind listening test necessarily creates an unnatural condition, one that we never encounter when listening to music for pleasure."
I agree 100%, I did the same with my set up, reading and researching for this thread I would switch from using my Firestone Fubar DAC and power supply to using the DAC that comes in my MF X_CANV8P headphone amp. All the testing states they sound the same. But they don't!!!!! That is because when I listen for pleasure I can see my set up, its red, green and blue lights on telling me it is working. That gives me pleasure and pleasure makes for better SQ.