I think the cable industry in general has started to accept that the dielectric (insulation) can have as much of an effect on the quality of a cable as the metal conductor can.
EE's should have a basic understanding of dielectrics and the reason why surrounding conductors with PVC vs. polyethylene vs. teflon vs. air vs. a vacuum would affect sonic performance. They also know that conductor metal, purity, gauge and geometry all have consequences. Termination quality is also important as is connector quality. You put all of these variables together and it makes perfect sense that cables can sound very different from each other.
Still, anyone who has actually spent any real time listening to various cables on a good stereo knows that they make a difference and that's really all that matters.
As for blind testing, it simply puts the listener in an unnatural stressful state where the anxiety of the test serves to block the listeners ability to hear things that are obvious during casual listening. It proves the limitations of the testing methodology more than anything else.
I have always believed that long term blind testing would remove most of the anxiety associated with standard blind A/B testing and result in more meaningful and interesting results. Admittedly, it would be harder to do though.
EE's should have a basic understanding of dielectrics and the reason why surrounding conductors with PVC vs. polyethylene vs. teflon vs. air vs. a vacuum would affect sonic performance. They also know that conductor metal, purity, gauge and geometry all have consequences. Termination quality is also important as is connector quality. You put all of these variables together and it makes perfect sense that cables can sound very different from each other.
Still, anyone who has actually spent any real time listening to various cables on a good stereo knows that they make a difference and that's really all that matters.
As for blind testing, it simply puts the listener in an unnatural stressful state where the anxiety of the test serves to block the listeners ability to hear things that are obvious during casual listening. It proves the limitations of the testing methodology more than anything else.
I have always believed that long term blind testing would remove most of the anxiety associated with standard blind A/B testing and result in more meaningful and interesting results. Admittedly, it would be harder to do though.