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

...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. 

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.

@russ69 +1

I think measuring amp by driving pure resistive load is not enough. It is much harder for amp to drive actual, far from ideal, non-linear, distorting. etc speaker, vs resistive linear load. Many PASS amps on my opinion are good choice for driving high end speakers. 

@prof

Right, and after OldHvyMec made his first major statement, there was a dispute, then 2 pancake posts and then posts where he could peddle his wire and break-in assumptions.

As to cartridge break-in, just admit you know nothing concerning vinyl playback. There are no tests that I have viewed indicating new versus 50 hour break-in results in sonic characteristic changes. HOWEVER, just because it wasn’t tested, I am not going out on a limb by stating nearly every other site discussing and reviewing cartridges ALWAYS recommends listening/reviewing after break-in, 15 hours or 50 hours or whatever.

I will swear that I have heard break-in of my new cartridges after 50 hours of play, which has happened over a dozen times since I’ve owned VPI turntables (40 years in 2023).

As to speakers, my dynamic speakers took about 50 to 100 hours to go from very dark sounding to open sounding.  Not subtle, very obvious.  I'm with OldHvyMec 100% on mechanical break-in. 

As a cable beta tester, I hear the cable raw, then burn it in for 24 hours.  I can't say I can always tell if it sounds better, but I can always tell when it sounds worse.  Depends on the cable.  Doesn't matter to ASR.   Tubes, maybe an hour or two.

Some of the greatest sounding musical instruments, in fact most all musical instruments  and even concert halls were designed and built without computers and electronic analysis equipment.  They were designed and built by artisans with skilled hands and ears.  It's all about what we hear.  When someone tries telling me I am not hearing what I think I am hearing, well that goes over with me about like putting a tax on a child's piggy bank.