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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?  

fleschler
russ69's avatar
russ69
3,507 posts
 

@amir_asr  given the huge premium they charge for their amplifiers.

How is price part of audio science? 

 

whipsaw
758 posts
 

@amir_asr 

No one has done such side by side testing.  If anyone should do that, is Pass Labs given the huge premium they charge for their amplifiers. If they sound better, then it  should be trivial to perform controlled tests to show that.  Alas, not only do they not provide such a listening test, no do any other amplifier companies.  So much for "it is the sound that matters."  In really, it is the marketing that matters.

C'mon, Amir. As you know, Pass Labs amps have been very well received by audiophiles over decades now. They clearly have sound signatures that are pleasing to the ears of many listeners, and the suggestion that a meaningful percentage of those reactions would likely change if only those listeners were to A/B their amps with those that measure with less distortion is dubious, at best. And the same could be said of high-quality tube amplifiers.

To be clear, I don't doubt that some listeners would arrive at conclusions that would be at odds with their long-standing, stated preferences. But given the vast weight of the feedback from audiophiles who apparently prefer amps which measure with some distortion in the audible frequencies, it is, in my view, highly improbable that their choices are primarily due to marketing-related biases.

 

td_dayton
320 posts
 

there's a pass int-150 for 3k on tmr right now...very tempted to do my own "testing" 

russ69's avatar
russ69
3,507 posts
 

...and I guess my next question to Amir would be: Do you have any significant data to show the correlation of SQ of components priced from $1000 to $30000 as an example. 

tonywinga's avatar
tonywinga
844 posts
 

Amir, 

You are getting emotional.  I was pointing out that it is not just the subset of audiophiles that struggle to hear nonlinear distortion but everyone is that way.  

I have this image of King Kong hanging on the top of the Empire State Building as the biplanes circle overhead machine guns blazing.  The A'gon'rs being the biplanes.  You being the big gorilla.  Or did I have to clarify that?

Perhaps you can buy everyone dinner and we all go our ways.  You are clearly not listening to what we all are saying and we are not drinking your kool aid.

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