Audio Science Review = "The better the measurement, the better the sound" philosophy
"Audiophiles are Snobs" Youtube features an idiot! He states, with no equivocation, that $5,000 and $10,000 speakers sound equally good and a $500 and $5,000 integrated amp sound equally good. He is either deaf or a liar or both!
There is a site filled with posters like him called Audio Science Review. If a reasonable person posts, they immediately tear him down, using selected words and/or sentences from the reasonable poster as100% proof that the audiophile is dumb and stupid with his money. They also occasionally state that the high end audio equipment/cable/tweak sellers are criminals who commit fraud on the public. They often state that if something scientifically measures better, then it sounds better. They give no credence to unmeasurable sound factors like PRAT and Ambiance. Some of the posters music choices range from rap to hip hop and anything pop oriented created in the past from 1995.
Have any of audiogon (or any other reasonable audio forum site) posters encountered this horrible group of miscreants?
I understand. Thankyou on this occasion for your generosity of spirit in explaining to others about your own predicament. In psychology it is called projectionism. In the meantime, others may wish to know the answer to my quite simple question - is that too difficult? |
Kota1, the militia characterization is indeed nonsense. Yes, some ASR people use terms like “snake oil” that AG people may find offensive but it it is overall a fair and square site. One has to retain a sense of humor with all this stuff—what would any normal person not bitten by the audiophile bug think about someone who spends thousands of dollars on a cable without an iota of hard evidence that it performs any better than an Amazon basic one. It’s funny, and I can’t think of another hobby where this type of situation arises. I predict this thread is going to taper off now that Amir is providing such temperate and rational responses to critics who have misrepresented and misunderstood ASR and its “minions” (who aren’t losing any sleep over being called that.) |
Non-comformity is in play every minute on ASR Forum. As I mentioned, look at every review I do and see the volume of complaints about my review. Heck we have entire threads dedicated to people just complaining about us: We will see if you walk the walk then, I will see you on ASR today using this same handle and if you can actually keep your word about and an open debate going without sending dissenters to the instant ban firing squad if they don’t conform to your opinion, no flame wars, just a discussion. BTW, you never answered my question. Do you keep non conformists and dissenters out of ASR because it might disrupt your cash flow?
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As for the other thread about audioquest this is what I said and how you replied: I really feel sorry for folks like you. Instead of sitting back and enjoying music, you keep worrying about the most mundane things like how your wires sound! Learn to take some things for granted. You know, like how you don't worry about the bolts that are holding your engine together while driving. Base your audio decisions on science and engineering and you become free of such anguish. I suspect it won't be long until folks like you worry about your sock color impacting the sound you hear..... |
Let's see if I have this right, amir_asr has purely altruistic motives for reviewing and measuring equipment. He has no credentials that I have seen for test and measuring nor has he shown any type of equipment certification. If I am wrong, now is the time to show that. I'm calling nonsense on this. No one does something for nothing. Whether he is feeding his ego gaining notoriety through controversy or is making a good sum of cash, he has a motive. The fact that he himself admitted he would not report on a $20,000 DAC that he claims had a flaw seems to go against his very agenda. Are not all of his followers now at risk of spending their money on this flawed DAC? It would seem that his own moral standards have been compromised by accepting equipment from manufacturers to test at no cost. That is different from testing other peoples equipment for them that they own. Amir_asr makes some generalizations about, "audiophiles" that is not correct. 1) He says that we audio hobbyists in general cannot hear the difference in sound of various gear. And he has test data to prove it. I call that nonsense. The people in this hobby and on this forum can hear enough of a difference to be willing to invest their time and money into it. Many of the persons here benchmark their systems to live sound either/both outdoors and inside concert halls. Many of us play musical instruments and therefore look for recreating that live sound in our listening rooms. If generalizing that most stereo gear sounds the same albeit cables, DACs, speakers or amps across price points then musicians must be deluded to prefer a specific more expensive instrument over a more basic, cheaper alternative. 2) He seems to think that the people on this forum, with the exception of the trolls and flamers are naive and have too much money to spend on gear. I call that nonsense. Most on this forum are well moneyed, motivated and successful people with a desire to reproduce music as accurately and enjoyably as possible. The idea that these type of people check their brains at the door and buy the most expensive, shiny noise making baubles they can afford is ludicrous. Most on these forums are skeptical and require verification of genuineness, value and reliability/customer support before buying. The point of these forums is to help buyers beware. Plenty of accredited journals exist to review and assess the latest technology and offerings. Now and then a manufacturer comes along and tries to pull a fast one on the buying public. They don't last long. Enough people on these forums as well as the industry in general have the ability and influence to put a stop to shams. Over the years I have seen a lot of "giant killer" companies come and go, or the ones that survive eventually improve and develop a reputation for their products. Reputation is everything in any business. Sure, many will always go for that promise of gold for the price of straw but those companies quickly run out of customers. Amir_asr has the promise of uncovering bogus gear but falls short in terms of objectivity and fairness. Fairness in terms of accepting that people can hear more than that can be measured. Fairness in being able to counter a conclusion or debate it without a character assignation attack. |
