I have noticed that when demonstrating a new piece of equipment it is much more effective to first play the standard, what folks are used to hearing, then the new one. Then back again.
I have tried going the opposite way without much luck. And, before you suggest it's all about stacking the deck by telling people what they are about to hear or the order in which they are hearing it, I would disagree. In either of these routines I never "prep the witness".
No, in fact, it seems our brains are more capable of going from worse to better than the other way around. If you taste something that is rather bland then try it with a bit more flavor, most of us more easily recognize the difference (and have an easier time describing those differences) than if we start with tasty and move to bland: bland to tasty and I can describe the difference in fine detail. Tasty to bland and I can only suggest broadly that it's lost whatever it had.
I am not sure why this is but it's an interesting observation, one that helps me demo to people differences in equipment.
Nothing startling here, just an observation.
