Vinyl’s own asymmetrical distortion confounded early polarity-audibility tests

Evidence

Johnsen said: “Sources were LP records exclusively, as the CD medium was found (in collateral, unreported tests) to reveal polarity rather less well.” I have an intimate understanding of the LP medium, and its lengthy list of non-linear behaviors. It is easy to understand that the asymmetrical distortions added by the playback medium would indeed make polarity changes more easily audible than the demonstrably more linear CD. Were the listeners responding to the medium or the message? It was a flawed experiment. — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 978

Categorization

• CANDY: A great bar-fact for audiophiles: that a famous polarity-audibility test relied on vinyl because CDs were too transparent to show the effect, meaning the medium itself was confounding the result.