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

@sns You are talking about ASR in terms of absolutes with extreme metaphors.

I’ll play devil’s advocate for ASR for just your argument. [I still think that ASR are bullies and they banned me indefinitely]

A subjectivist with an untrained ear is like a wine sommelier without a nose.

I’ll name just one example: JAMO S803 or C93.

This speaker got very positive reviews from the speaker review community. Some members like Cheap Audio Man and Z reviews were hyping them up.

And then Erin’s Audio Corner published a long review with measurements showing that the JAMO S803 was possibly the "worst" speaker he ever reviewed. Erin criticized the honkey sound, the huge midrange dip and the hot treble. Erin also demonstrated the JAMO S803 shortcomings with voice recordings and EQ.

So the JAMO S803 are the farthest from natural/neutral sounding.

Fortunately, the S803 is an older model and fewer people are interested in purchasing a pair. But I’m very certain that speaker reviewers from YouTube got the cold sweats knowing that they hyped up a "bad" product.

So you could be a subjectivist or an objectivist. But you need a reference point (live music, graphs, playing an instrument etc...) to know what’s good and what’s bad.

A lot of reviewers on the web lacked the knowledge but everyone believed them because they were charismatic and sounded knowledgable.

And this is where ASR waves their objectivist flag proudly. No sugarcoating. Just measurements.

Now I’m gonna praise Erin for not being a turd despite relying on measurements. And you can tell that Erin goes back and forth between measurments and subjective listening. Erin trained his ear with measurements. But you can train your ear with real instruments and live music.

If you bring this conversation to ASR you’ll likely get a sensible answer from some members who simply want to:

- Single out bad speakers like JAMO S803

- Alternate between measurements and subjective listening

- Make an informed purchase

HOWEVER, mention Erin once and you’ll be treated like a dunce by ASR. Criticize ASR’s lack of interest in music, subjective listening and personal taste and you’ll probably be banned. ASR has the final word, just keep your mouth shut.

"A lot of reviewers on the web lacked the knowledge but everyone believed them because they were charismatic and sounded knowledgeable."

- Shocker!

I read through and heard some of Erin's reviews and found them to be superbly informative in both objective and subjective factors.  His Dutch & Dutch 8c and Revel PerformaBe F226Be were his favorites and the latter, an inexpensive great speaker.  His Vandersteen 2 speaker evaluates it for it's time and inferiorities.  I only want him to evaluate higher end speakers.   It is unfortunate that his site is not Absolute Sound or Stereophile where the manufacturers are throwing samples at reviewers (or other on-line reviewers such as Positive Feedback, Enjoy the Music or SoundStageUltra for example).  I suspect that the Magico, WIlson, Rockport, YG, Von Schweikert, Magnapan, etc. would measure well but I'd like his report instead of John Atkinson's and his subjective opinion(s).  

Below is a great review, both objectively (measurements) and subjective (listening). Plus a very detailed description of all the technical aspects. To me, this is how all reviewers should be in the perfect world. A little outdated in terms of current pricing of the speakers.

And before you slam me about posting Audioholics stuff, note this NOT a “review “ from that clown Gene 😂

You are correct. Audioholics speaker reviews by Feinstein are excellent and include moderate priced high end products. He ended up with my second system speaker, the newest version of the Legacy Signature SE.