We have had the very long debates about whether we can hear differences between two good quality amps and/or receivers for fifty-eleven years... and I suppose there is about as many that say one way as they do another. The debate is NOT what this thread is about (we have a thread for that here). This thread will be about setting up a blind listening test.
I am certainly not qualified to rebuke what someone else believes they can hear, regardless of what I believe I can hear or can not hear. Do I have doubts? Yeah, but doubts do not prove anything. I am definitely a skeptic of the magical nirvana that some claim they hear between different amps and cables and such. Again, that does not mean they are not hearing differences... my doubts prove absolutely nothing... I fully admit this. I do believe if there are differences, they are subtle, because I believe even I could notice dramatic differences.
I do not believe that I have ever really noticed a difference in amps and receivers that I have used, at least not when I was trying, which did not start until a few years ago and has been limited. For example, most recently I did not notice a difference between A: a pair of 1,000 watt monoblocks combined with a 300 wpc multi-channel amp connected to my receiver, which was used as the preamp, and B: the receiver's own amps. The monoblocks were powering my MartinLogan Prodigy's and when I switched to the receiver, I bi-amped the Prodigy's, thus using 7 channels of the receiver's 9 for my 5 channel surround. The multi-channel amp powered my ML Theater center speakers and my ML Ascent surround speakers... which were all switched to the receiver's corresponding amp channels. I have had this setup for several months now and have not noticed any differences, good or bad. That is not to say there are no differences, but that I simply have not noticed any. That is also not to say I did not like the monoblocks... they looked good, worked flawlessly... and I probably felt a little more comfortable with them in my system powering my Prodigy's, being they are somewhat of a more difficult load to drive than the average speaker, yet not as difficult as some others. Coincidentally, I do know someone that has a 100 wpc tube amp on his Prodigy's as I type.
In order to convince myself that there are differences between amps and/or receivers, I believe the only way I will ever notice if there is a difference will be via some type of blind listening test. I realize there are those that say we can not measure some of the differences we hear... and I am fine with that, but we surely can describe the differences we hear, and we should be able to do this in blind testing. If we can describe it, then hopefully someone else can also recognize the difference... and we can consistently repeat noting those differences. Therefore, I want to conduct a blind listening test between my receivers and maybe a couple of other good quality amps. Does it really make a difference in what receiver I have? For the record it is a Denon 4520, but I also have an Onkyo 805 receiver that we can use. I would like to do this using my OPPO BDP105 and my Arx A5 speakers in a two-channel listening test. Perhaps we can coincide this with our $2,500 speaker evaluation that will be held November 1st and 2nd. The testing would be conducted in my dedicated home theater room where we evaluate the speakers.
My first thoughts are that we hook up the receivers and amps individually with no processing (Pure Direct) on the receivers, connecting them to the OPPO BDP-105 media player and the Arx A5 speakers. We would then run an REW frequency sweep to check the frequency responses and match the levels. Have one of the panelist go into the room and connect one of the receivers or amps, while two or three others are outside of the room. All receivers and amps will be covered so that the unit playing cannot be identified. The three panelists will come into the room and listen, one by one, playing a 30 second segment of a music track they are familiar with. The segment would be played repeatedly ten times. Then they will temporarily leave the room while the receiver or amp is switched to another, return an listen to the same ten segments, writing down any differences they can describe. If we note differences, then we continue swapping amps and see if when we come back to the receiver or amp we noted the differences, if we can consistently note the same differences. Of course if we do not note any differences, there probably would not be any reason to continue through all of the receivers and amps repeatedly.
I have two receivers as mentioned above and I have a Behringer EP2500 two-channel amp. It would be nice to have a more expensive amp in the mix... perhaps one that others claim have made a significant difference in their system. If anyone has an amp they would like to volunteer, we would be happy to cover the shipping cost to and from... and of course take good care of it. It may be that we can get a manufacturer to ship us one, although I am not sure how many of the more expensive brands would be willing to participate in an event like this.
It would also be good to have suggestions on setting up and conducting the testing.
I am certainly not qualified to rebuke what someone else believes they can hear, regardless of what I believe I can hear or can not hear. Do I have doubts? Yeah, but doubts do not prove anything. I am definitely a skeptic of the magical nirvana that some claim they hear between different amps and cables and such. Again, that does not mean they are not hearing differences... my doubts prove absolutely nothing... I fully admit this. I do believe if there are differences, they are subtle, because I believe even I could notice dramatic differences.
I do not believe that I have ever really noticed a difference in amps and receivers that I have used, at least not when I was trying, which did not start until a few years ago and has been limited. For example, most recently I did not notice a difference between A: a pair of 1,000 watt monoblocks combined with a 300 wpc multi-channel amp connected to my receiver, which was used as the preamp, and B: the receiver's own amps. The monoblocks were powering my MartinLogan Prodigy's and when I switched to the receiver, I bi-amped the Prodigy's, thus using 7 channels of the receiver's 9 for my 5 channel surround. The multi-channel amp powered my ML Theater center speakers and my ML Ascent surround speakers... which were all switched to the receiver's corresponding amp channels. I have had this setup for several months now and have not noticed any differences, good or bad. That is not to say there are no differences, but that I simply have not noticed any. That is also not to say I did not like the monoblocks... they looked good, worked flawlessly... and I probably felt a little more comfortable with them in my system powering my Prodigy's, being they are somewhat of a more difficult load to drive than the average speaker, yet not as difficult as some others. Coincidentally, I do know someone that has a 100 wpc tube amp on his Prodigy's as I type.
In order to convince myself that there are differences between amps and/or receivers, I believe the only way I will ever notice if there is a difference will be via some type of blind listening test. I realize there are those that say we can not measure some of the differences we hear... and I am fine with that, but we surely can describe the differences we hear, and we should be able to do this in blind testing. If we can describe it, then hopefully someone else can also recognize the difference... and we can consistently repeat noting those differences. Therefore, I want to conduct a blind listening test between my receivers and maybe a couple of other good quality amps. Does it really make a difference in what receiver I have? For the record it is a Denon 4520, but I also have an Onkyo 805 receiver that we can use. I would like to do this using my OPPO BDP105 and my Arx A5 speakers in a two-channel listening test. Perhaps we can coincide this with our $2,500 speaker evaluation that will be held November 1st and 2nd. The testing would be conducted in my dedicated home theater room where we evaluate the speakers.
My first thoughts are that we hook up the receivers and amps individually with no processing (Pure Direct) on the receivers, connecting them to the OPPO BDP-105 media player and the Arx A5 speakers. We would then run an REW frequency sweep to check the frequency responses and match the levels. Have one of the panelist go into the room and connect one of the receivers or amps, while two or three others are outside of the room. All receivers and amps will be covered so that the unit playing cannot be identified. The three panelists will come into the room and listen, one by one, playing a 30 second segment of a music track they are familiar with. The segment would be played repeatedly ten times. Then they will temporarily leave the room while the receiver or amp is switched to another, return an listen to the same ten segments, writing down any differences they can describe. If we note differences, then we continue swapping amps and see if when we come back to the receiver or amp we noted the differences, if we can consistently note the same differences. Of course if we do not note any differences, there probably would not be any reason to continue through all of the receivers and amps repeatedly.
I have two receivers as mentioned above and I have a Behringer EP2500 two-channel amp. It would be nice to have a more expensive amp in the mix... perhaps one that others claim have made a significant difference in their system. If anyone has an amp they would like to volunteer, we would be happy to cover the shipping cost to and from... and of course take good care of it. It may be that we can get a manufacturer to ship us one, although I am not sure how many of the more expensive brands would be willing to participate in an event like this.
It would also be good to have suggestions on setting up and conducting the testing.