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Strange but true: Stereophile editor John Atkinson once sold a tweak amplifier after being startled by not being able to identify it in a blind listening test. "Convinced by these results of the validity of 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!" says JA of the experience.

In an effort to get to the bottom of the problems with blind listening tests, JA started hypothesizing that blind tests themselves might skew results. After an AES listening test with 180 subjects concluded that three very different amplifers were statistically indistinguishable, JA decided to conduct his own public listening test at HI-FI '89 in San Mateo, California. Hundreds of participants---including Stereophile webmaster Jon Iverson---compared a tweak tube amplifier with a middle-of-the-road solid-state amplifier under blind conditions. The results? Click over to Blind Listening and read the full report.