Early blind loudspeaker comparison relied on single overall preference ratings

Evidence

A “Friday-afternoon” experiment was arranged in late 1965 to do a simple comparison listening test in one of the laboratory rooms. Having learned the basics of experimental psychology for the doctoral thesis work, it was obvious that this test had to be somewhat controlled. So, cotton sheeting was hung to render the experiment “blind”. The loudspeakers were compared in monophonic A/B/C/D randomized sequence and were adjusted to be equally loud. … A “gestalt” impression, a summarized overall sound quality/preference rating, was required: a number on a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 was rubbish and 10 was perfection. No discussion was permitted during the tests. — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 68

Categorization

• QUESTION: Contrast the single ‘gestalt’ 0-10 rating with today’s multidimensional listener-preference testing; a method-history note worth chasing.