Please don't make up nonsense. No one bailed on anything. If there is a volunteer and wants to attend his video production, they are more than welcome and encouraged to do so.
What I have done is to say that I can't put $1,000 on the line for a simple "different or not" test which has protocols that may be in error, thus making such a test trivial to pass. If our blogger wants to proceed without the $1000, I am still happy to critique his test protocol and help in any way I can to make his test more valid. I am sure others would too.
Indeed, an ABX or even AB test like this is a good filter to know if there is any "there there." To the extent he can't pass this test, then we are done. If he passes it, then we have phase to 2 of this test to show that he can identify that the impairments he heard in Magnius are there. To the extent this is a review he has done and is representing it as durable facts -- like measurements are -- then he should be able to show that others can hear these problems too.
To that end, in his AB testing, I highly suggest he not only test himself but whoever else is in the room. This help filter out some of the "tells" as others may not be aware of them as he might be.