I am continuously questioning the threshold of audibility. What is it we can and cannot hear when it comes to differences in the signal chain?
And why?
What is it I am actually hearing when a small change in the circuit results in, what to me, sounds huge?
After decades of wondering about this same question, about the only thing I can suggest is that it must be a combination of factors that we're not able to measure—a cumulative effects distortion, perhaps.
Or maybe something else entirely.
One answer from engineers I trust is that it is a placebo effect. That I am not really hearing what I am hearing. Ok, that's possible, but why then do so many unprompted people hear exactly the same thing without any prior knowledge?
We have, over the years, released circuit and software changes into the wild without any notice to the recipients as to what was changed or what to expect. Inevitably, a group of good listeners will hear exactly what we hear and independently publish their findings without a prompt.
That cannot be assigned to coincidence.
Anyway, just ruminations on a long held question.
