Did Amir Change Your Mind About Anything?

Correct me if I am wrong, but on ASR forum general consensus seems to be that,  investing in tubes, analog rigs, cables or 'expensive' dacs is something that will not lead to a better sound, to say at least and if a person express different opinion will be ridiculed.

There is no need to say that everyone knows that the price does not equals the qualitiy or that there are many expensive and yet, poor sounding products.

Still, the criteria that people over there use in building their systems (which exclude all of  the above mentioned products) seems very limited, imho and certainly is contrary to my humble experience.

There are so many products to choose from when building your system and despite how they messure, it would be anwise to buy any without prior listening

Building a 'good' sounding system requires experience, good hearing and certain level of craft with all that and its quite easy to get it all wrong. 'Poor' selection of cables with components that do not match with, is all it takes for a such result.

 Even among the people who share my point of view there are big differences between experience,taste and of course systems and the way they sound.

So I am asking this question again. Why 'worry' or argue what Amir or anybody else thinks or does? Is he perhaps dictating how yours or mine system should look or sound? If anybody wishes to follow him or his methods, let them be. Their system, not yours. Why argue about such trivial things (like hi fi) ? 

Darwin is not the problem, most Darwinists are...

Freud is not a problem, most Freudians are...

Marx books are not a problem, most marxists are ...

Etc...

Amir hobby to put useful information and his own opinion is a service then Amir is not the problem, some rude ideologue Objectivists may be the problem...As are some impolite and rude subjectivists ...

Someone as me experimenting for himself, is not the problem , gullible people passive consumers thinking that a cable is the key to audio, are not even wrong, because in spite of some difference beween cables it is never a main factor in audio...

I concur with this post :

To be clear, measurements are valuable, but do not characterize everything. Amir providing measurements as a service is fine, The issue is the uncontrolled vitriol of the hard core followers.

I concur with this post too :

Back at the beginning of this thread I asked if the OP uses an auto tuner to tune their instrument or do they do it by ear? The OP responded both ways. That is the interesting point. Many of us have the ears, the fine hearing to tune an instrument, or a stereo, but still need the assurance of measurements. Being an engineer I also tend to want confirmation by measurement of what I am hearing- although less so these days as I have learned to trust what I hear more. At some point the best learn to work without a net.

A remarkable memory from years ago: I knew a musician with great hearing. He came over to my house and with a single tuning fork he tuned our piano. It sounded better than ever. Even something as basic as tuning an instrument by a skilled musician can sound better than just adjusting the strings (or tube length) to a set and measured frequency. Something about the feel of the instrument in a master’s hands that is superior to measurements. A good example was some decades ago a renowned flautist was being interviewed after giving a concert. The reporter, in jest handed the flautist a plastic recorder to see if he could play it. The master played an amazing tune on that plastic toy. Very impressive.

Measurements go only so far. The feel, the emotional response of the music and the memories make a human connection that no analyzer can quantify.

 

 

I’m at a complete loss as to what the moderator is up to, they are even deleting pleas for civility. It seems like some of you on either side of this debate are having the same problem.

It’s only possible to answer specific claims. Vague broadsides are just that. You have to show how Erin or Amir measured incorrectly, or there’s nothing to discuss.

It’s very similar to the attitude I take towards cables etc., you have to show any difference exists in the first place before it is useful to discuss the character of the difference.

As for group pile-ons, I don't think one site has a lot on the other in that department.

I’ll close with my signature quotes from ASR, which are a good guideline to avoiding a pile-on over there.

• “Beliefs are hypotheses to be tested, not treasures to be guarded." - Philip Tetlock
• "Scientifically improbable claims require scientifically impeccable evidence" - Me.
• ”We have been drawing attention….to the absolute necessity to separate the quantitative judgement of audio from the qualitative judgement by removing loudness as a bias. It has been ignored, and the audiophile business carries on its own merry way. Those who work in sound professionally know that this is lesson 1 semester 1 in audiology: the very core of the science. So we have given up trying to educate on this point, as every audio engineer has eventually done over the last half century, as the usual audiophile has an emotional need which cannot be reached by logic, reasoning and science.” - Alan Shaw

Amazing to see this thread still going.

If Amir is worthless or a charlatan as some here claim, why are you bothering to read and post about him? Are you trying to protect people from him? Are you St. George slaying the dragon? Or, perhaps you have too much time on your hands and this is the best you can come up with for amusement?

My voice would be completely lost on the Internet if people didn't see value in my work and didn't talk about it.  And continue to support the activity by sending me huge volume of audio gear to test. 

Pretty much nails it. I'm not an active participant on ASR, but for pete's sake, the notion they are all zealots following a cult leader...come on. This is not the 118th Congress!

Even something as basic as tuning an instrument by a skilled musician can sound better than just adjusting the strings (or tube length) to a set and measured frequency. Something about the feel of the instrument in a master’s hands that is superior to measurements.

Indeed, piano tuning is a bit of an art, as you have to set the temperance intervals slightly out of tune deliberately, and it will be slightly different for every piano.  Tuning it like open guitar strings with a tuner would sound horrendous.  But all of that is still just physics, and measurable. Pianos are musical instruments, not music reproduction.