Audio Science Review = "The better the measurement, the better the sound" philosophy

I am still amazed at the vehemence of the attacks on Amir and his following on this thread. All he is doing is applying scientific criteria to his reviews of audio components. Additionally, he provides extremely valuable insights into craftsmanship that is often sadly lacking in high priced equipment. I doubt if any middle of the road ASR adherent would criticize someone who liked tube components; they would just note that the unit didn't measure up to scientific standards. It may well be that the most accurate sound doesn't sound as attractive as some tube component. Thanks to ASR I discovered class D amplifiers and am hugely delighted with my Purifi amp--to me, the sound is stunning. The site led me to RME and even Topping--the former is a wonderful DAC. People get emotional over the cable business but the bottom line is that the manufacturers make wild claims about their often monstrously expensive products that cannot be substantiated. Skepticism is a good thing, and just because someone gives you a lot of mumbo jumbo about some fanciful thing doesn't mean they are automatically right. To me Amir and ASR in general have demystified a lot of audio myths and I like that, even though he made me feel like an idiot for buying that USB cable. 

I'm still amazed at the hyperbole that ASR adherents use when describing anyone who disagrees with them. Also, the overuse of the term scientific as if it's a charm of sorts and can't be refuted, lest one anger the audio gods.

All the best,
Nonoise

@rtorchia

I’ll bet money on it that most of if not all the equipment that Amir recommends will be worthless in 10 years, but most of the high end equipment he doesn’t recommend will still be sought after and have some decent value. Accuracy is a myth in audio,

@rtorchia, you said it it 100%, "they made you feel like an idiot". You aren’t alone, they denigrate anyone that disagrees. Amir doesn’t even use room treatments and disdains them, go log back in and make him feel like an idiot and see how he likes it.

There is no reason to denigrate anyone, including Amir. Fact is fact, he does pass the donation plate, he is a dealer, he openly tells you that you can read bias into his articles, he is a former microsoft exec, he doesn’t have any peer reviewed papers published in any respected "scientific" journals and he is yammering away and made you feel like an idiot, just saying.

Actually the ASR people were very nice about the cable--I just felt foolish myself for getting talked into buying the thing and wasting $95. I'm not an audio engineer but it appears that Amir's reviews are quite well done. To me his analysis of the craftsmanship aspect alone is quite enlightening. He had a Nord amp where the negative and positive connections were reversed, and it was a review unit! As consumers we deserve to know that some mega dollar component shows sloppy soldering and such. I enjoy Amir's tear-downs in particular. I suggest that anyone interested in the field would benefit from reading ASR, even if they disagree with some of the site's positions.