Hi Keith!
You have mentioned your natural inclination towards skepticism. I’m curious about the nature of yourr skepticism. If it is merely a tendency towards cynicism or doubt, that is fully compatible with being fooled, because every human experienced powerful bias effects. This is why you can find testimonials for every dubious, whacky belief you can think of, from cult members following a guru, to people believing in the cheesiest of faith healers, to the astrology, psychics, dowsing, crystal and energy healing, fake alternative medicines....the list is endless for which you can find the “converted skeptic” testimonial.
Because most people don’t understand the power of human biases and cognitive error.
They think mere “doubt” is a firewall to being fooled.
There is another version of Skepticism that is more along the lines of holding off on conclusions while applying critical thinking, especially to controversial claims.
This isn’t mere “doubt” but rather taking a look at the big picture, seeing if the claims make sense, seeing what people with the relevant expertise have to say in the subject, looking at how the claims fit with other things science accepts, and ESPECIALLY being cognizant of the variable of human imagination and bias effects. One could not be a Skeptic in the sense of being a critical thinker while dismissing or ignoring the reality (so much of it scientifically documented) of bias in our perception.
And when you actually start trying to control for your own biases you can come face to face with how powerful they are.
When you hear what seems to be an “obvious” difference disappear when you don’t know which cable or device you are hearing, it’s very edicational.
So I’m wondering what type of skepticism you would like to think you are bringing to your test. If it is a sighted test where you know you are listening to your new cable and trying to hear burn in over (a ridiculous!) period of hundreds of hours, this is absolutely ripe for regular old perceptual errors and bias to intervene.
It doesn’t guarantee you will think you hear any difference, but the problem is that if you aren’t controlling for bias you will not have distinguished between “real physically audible changes” and ones you imagine.
Please keep in mind: none of the above suggests you ought to blind test, or that you shouldn’t just proceed as you are and buy whatever you perceive you like. No one should be dictating what anyone else buys or why. I’d have most of my own gear taken away if my wife dictated what I should be spending my money on. :)
But if your goal is to truly determine if you have in your hands sound evidence for cable burn in, with a mind to skepticism questioning, THEN you should realize the inherent faults in your current evaluating method for doing so.
Cheers.
