An important discussion / evaluation on recent blind shootout.

[randyb]

As much as I admire Dave as both a person and an engineer (I've purchased eight speakers from Ascend), it's not reasonable to add multiple footnotes or total retractions based on speculation no matter how knowledgeable the source. If Dave had been present, I'm sure, like so many of us in attendance, he could have zeroed in on several areas that made this listening session less than ideal. This event wasn't constructed to be the end all in speaker comparisons. I haven't seen anyone who attended frame it as such.
This was an opportunity for some very serious audio nuts to get together and experience what would otherwise have been impossible. For me it was nine hours of driving that day. For some others it was way too much time spent in airports and airplanes. Those factors alone would have effected the results to a good degree. How would you handle that as a footnote?
The session was what it was. I could nitpik it to death. That would add nothing. The session was a data point. Nothing more. Dinner and the comradery were not data points. They were the stars of the show. No one will forget having spent the day at Craig's. But few of us will remember what speakers we auditioned in the years to come. The listening session was fun and informative but not for the scores.

David

I am not trying to take anything away from the get together, it sounds like a lot of fun, but we both know that people who read about it do make conclusions based on the results regardless of what the participants think. I think you are talking as a participant that experienced the event and I am talking about the effect the event has on people who didn't experience the event. To answer your question, I wouldn't handle that footnote because you obviously can't. I am not really trying to nitpick. I'm just expressing my opinion. Ours differ I am sure for a couple reasons, but one is that you were there enjoyed a great time and experience. I am not trying to denigrate that at all and I really don't have anything to gain by even posting. I am just looking at it from a point of view of fairness to the mfg. of the speakers in the test. If you think the test was fair to the mfg and vendors involved, then perhaps it was.