[Antonmb]

Originally Posted by audio bill

A classic example about measurements and audibility goes back to the 70's, when electronics manufacturers were in a very competitive race to lower the measured Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) in their amplifiers. They found that by adding feedback to the circuit they could significantly lower the measured THD so they employed more and more of it in order for their specs to be best. Critical listeners then complained that even though these amps had great measured specs they often sounded worse than the older models which had higher levels of THD. It was then later discovered that using so much feedback to lower THD resulted in much higher levels of Transient Intermodulation Distortion (TID) which was previously not a known entity nor being measured. So it's often now understood in engineering circles that if we can hear a difference in audio gear but can't measure that difference then we're likely measuring the wrong thing or don't even know what measurement represents a specific aspect of sound that we're able to hear.

Great post. Jitter is another great example: in the early days of CD, we didn’t know enough to measure jitter. CD was perfect in all the measurements of the day, yet people heard differences. If many people hear differences in cables, there are a couple of possibilities: either we’re all deluded (there are a lot of us, mass hysteria?) or some day some bright engineer will say, “Aha! That’s what we’ve been missing, we need to measure for xyz.”