boys Boys BOYS!!!!
You guys just crack me up! (sorry, but I really was laughing out loud at some of the responses)
My take on the issue is that there is so much "magic" that occurs inside a CDP that it is possible that an evil spell somehow got into that Cambridge D500SE of 2x6spds and most likely caused the sound to be poor - perhaps you should consider an exorcist!
OK I am just kidding! In reality it is possible that there is/was indeed something wrong with the Cambridge D500SE. Perhaps an IC or other component was not functioning properly or the DAC converter wasn't just quite right. There are a lot of places where distortion could be introduced into the signal (both before and after DAC conversion)! (how about that old RIAA equalization curve?)
As far as the casual listening tests vs double blind tests vs at home instead of in a shop, etc.etc. - Hey we can only do SO much! I totally agree with chess in that any time you KNOW what components are being changed for a listening test, you "color" the results of the test. But we all do train our brains to listen for different things and "good" sound to me may be "bad" sound to you. Same for color, design, style, etc. So please don't be too hard on old 2x6spds! He does bring some good stuff to the forum! Even though you may not agree with him all the time!
Randyman
