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Testable claims.

First of all, not screaming, simply emphasizing that you don't seem to be able explain what your question means. It's your question and you terminology (not mine), after all, so you should be able to explain what you mean. You still haven't explained what you mean by validating subjective experiences, so I have to try to figure out what your concerns are from what you do say that seems clear and the from the context.

You perceive what you perceive. Others have no access to what you perceive subjectively except through your reactions and what you say. Perhaps some sophisticated brain wave scanning could work in some cases, but most of us wouldn't have access to that sort of thing.

It is well known that sighted comparisons are worthless for detecting small differences (I take the word of the experts in the field on this, and there have been several posting here including jj (aka 'real jj'), Caymus, FlZapped [or whatever Bruce's moniker is now], and others pretty knowledgeable such as Dan Banquer, Tom Danley, Soundmind, and Richard Greene). I have to take that as a fact, just as I do when astronomers tell me how far away Alpha Centauri is. As Richard Greene and others ask, 'What special insights is provided by seeing the name plates?'---other than, of course, knowing what you are listening to.

Hence, the DBT, so that various biases and perceptual processes cannot influence the statistical result. If someone wants to participate in a controlled DBT, or even do an SBT, they can and should try out the choices sighted so that they can make up their mind whether they can hear any difference. This also provides a degree of training.

If they decide to proceed, then they can see whether they in fact differentiate to a desired degree of statistical significance between the sound of the two components when they don't know which one is playing. The subject should be the one who chooses when the switching is done. An ABX comparison is nice because at any moment, they can go back to sighted comparisons before deciding in any trial which one they think X is. Once they do decide, they can put this down on the answer sheet or otherwise record it. The subject's scores of correct and incorrect responses can then be analyzed to see if they reach or surpass the threshold of statistical significance.

So, neither I nor anyone else seems to doubt your reports of subjective perceptions. Such are not, per se, testable claims. However, when someone claims those perceptions are related to the equipment used, those claims are testable. With some equipment (such as speakers and signal processors, we can take for granted that they usually sound different); with others, such as accurate amplifiers, CDPs, and so on, some evidence is needed to convince rational observers (and I didn't say a blind test is necessary in all case!).

You show no evidence of having looked at any of the links I have thus far provided, but I will provide a link to a page on the Stereophile site from which you can access the recording of a debate between editor John Atkinson and Arny Krueger which is quite relevant. The actual article by Jason Victor Serinus is a self-serving justification of subjective reviewing. The link to the audio file is given right above the picture of the two debaters.
____________________________________________________________
"Nature loves to hide."
---Heraclitus of Ephesus (trans. Wheelwright)

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