[hawk]

There were 5 violins, 2 of which were fungus violins, one of those in particular received a staggering 60% of the votes. Not sure what the best conclusion to draw is but it's certainly believable that one day you'll be able to get a cheap violin with incredible tone quality.

[rms]

I assure that you that short of molecular self-assemblers, these fungus treated violins are not going to be cheap. They will cost well above the average for a new violin, but much, much less than a violin from a classic master.

[nopassrecover]

Demand will probably lower the cost of price due to competition and the related support of research. While demand for cheap violins might be low, the demand for cheap "x made better by fungus" will probably be pretty high, and violins will peripherally benefit.

[StrawberryFrog]

True, but no-one is making Stradivariuses these days.

[lkozma]

Stradivarii ? :)

[jacobolus]

But it's quite plausible that the performer played slightly differently on the various violins. A more robust test would include several performers, playing the different violins in arbitrary order, to rotating groups of listeners.

[euccastro]

That would introduce more extraneous variables. Do you think that different violinists might suit different violins better to an extent that overrides that additional noise?