News

November's Here!

Stereophile Staff  |  Oct 20, 2014

"Is it wrong to love it for its physical beauty?" asks Michael Lavorgna of Astell&Kern's extraordinary (and expensive) AK240 portable file player, which gets the star treatment on the November 2014 issue's cover. But as he also found it a joy to listen to, the question becomes moot.

The AK240 gets the most from hi-rez digital music and the Chesky Brothers' HDtracks website pioneered access to these files. Inside the issue, we interview the other Chesky brother, Norman, who is the business brain behind HDtracks.

In reviews, John Atkinson auditions an expensive Nola loudspeaker from the US, Bob Deutsch listens to a superb-sounding affordable tower speaker from Focal, Art Dudley lives with a classic tube amplifier from Japan's Air Tight, and Herb Reichert reviews a Bluetooth integrated amplifier from Roksan in the UK. The issue kicks off with Steve Guttenberg arguing that much of what audiophiles dismiss in today's music as bad sound is done deliberately by the artists. What? Get the November issue, on paper or on your tablet, to read on . . .

COMMENTS
Glotz's picture
Submitted by Glotz on October 21, 2014 - 12:41pm

Is once again so hilariously perfect! His argument is so insightful. My favorite statement-

"And if you can't do that (keeping an open mind), then at least stop worrying so damn much about the way the hobby is approached by people who aren't you."

There's alot more, but that's for you to read.

remlab's picture
Submitted by remlab on October 21, 2014 - 3:16pm

One of the best he's written.

Kal Rubinson's picture
Submitted by Kal Rubinson on October 24, 2014 - 2:03pm

Indeed, interesting. It seems to me that Art's whipping boy is misidentified. Visual comparisons are different from audio comparisons since the former have no temporal parameters inherent in the samples. Blind testing is not a problem in audio so much as is rapid and, undoubtedly, superficial listening imposed by unscientific (yes, I meant that) testers who do not know how to design experiments properly.

Art errs in considering "blind testing" to require rapid, A/B or small sample comparisons and that fits with the common association and with all the examples he chooses. That, however, is not true.

The only requirement of blind testing is that the subject must be unaware of the identity of the device under test (DUT). In a "blind" audio test situation, the subject can listen to the sound using the DUT for as long as is necessary. After that, the DUT can be changed (again without the subject knowing its identity) and the subject can listen for an extended period. This can be repeated, perhaps with random ordering.
Aside from the cumbersome behind-the-scene arrangements, this is hardly an artificial listening experience, especially for those of us with our equipment normally placed out of the line of sight.

Proper experimental design dictates that tests be constructed to suit the hypothesis to be tested and with full understanding of the interaction of the subjects and the test situation. Given that, blind testing is the (only) valid way to eliminate bias.

corrective_unconscious's picture
Submitted by corrective_unco... on November 13, 2014 - 9:34am

"The only requirement of blind testing is that the subject must be unaware of the identity of the device under test (DUT)....Given that, blind testing is the (only) valid way to eliminate bias."

The initial requirement for opining on the subject is that you know what double blind means, Doc.

Now he'll have another hissy fit and probably have this post removed. But that is testable.

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