n80
Double-blinded randomized tests of this sort need not be overly complicated. Yes, they will be tedious. Yes, the design would need to be just right. Yes, the stats can be a little mind numbing. But it would not be expensive or even time consuming ...If you’re testing a cross-section of listeners - which is necessary to have sufficient sample size - it is very time consuming. Each listener must be accorded multiple trials of whatever duration they need. So if only because of the time factor, it is indeed an expensive undertaking.
It is a bit strange to me, as a new audiophile, that this type of testing is conspicuously absent even as I see many people asking for it.Everyone who asks for such a test is free to conduct such a test. Why don’t they? Perhaps because it’s time-consuming. Tedious. Challenging to do properly. And - when you’re done - the results are often vague, or inconclusive.