wow, take a day off and see what happens...
thanks guys all for the defense of the exhibitors, but Dave's question was fair, though difficult to accommodate.
the idea of an A/B room has merit though I think it would have to be funded by volunteers and maybe have an entrance fee? also there may be some who would find an A/B room inappropriate? anyhow could be an interesting discussion down at the pub...
maybe they did this workshop a couple years ago when there were a lot of workshops, but one on cables and why they perform differently could be very interesting. I know that as my involvement in sound evolved I went from thinking wire is wire is wire to knowing that the voodoo is real,(at least some of it!) and I have found that there is a huge difference in the performance of cables in extremely revealing systems compared to less revealing. with many systems you just can't hear much of a difference in cables because the speakers/ amp/ source are the limiting factor, I suspect this understanding is why Dave wants to do the A/B?
like others have said , it's about system synergy.
Dave come by the room and say hi, we're all friends here.
maybe if you come in on sunday afternoon and promise to help pack up we'll swap out cables.
thanks,
lou