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

@mikepowellaudio I couldn't have said it better.

I am a member at ASR, as well as many other, along with numerous YouTube "Hi-Fi" subscriptions. All of them have their fanboys that will defend their favorite forum or YouTuber as if it is the greatest. ASR is mainly an engineering forum in my eyes, discussions of build quality and measurements. If a product measures with lots of distortion they are going to have words about it, even if the distortion is inaudible..which they will normally make the reader aware of this distinction. Most of their types of reviews are about taking a signal from the beginning of a product to the end and focusing if the signal stayed transparent or degraded along the way. How it sounds is not their main focus, that’s for you to determine is how I take it.

If you want to talk about how buttery your midrange sounds it’s not the place...but there are a hundred other forums that would love to hear about it...so go there when you want to share that type of information. I don’t post very often at ASR but I have learned a lot there and I’m glad a website like that exists. Do I make all my purchases because of high SINAD rating? No, but it helps as a starting point for certain types of gear I may be looking for. I have my own brain and I’m able to make my own decision on what sounds good to me without asking a hundred different people about what they thought about something I purchased.

I think people are wrong for trying to pigeonhole any members of ASR or any forum. With ASR they are based on science, and if you don’t agree with how they do things or their findings you will have to prove it by their standards or you won’t change many minds. If you don’t have the wits to do that then don’t bother..and I’d say don’t worry about it.

Take these measurement sites for what they are, there is much to be learned from them for the average Joe with no technical background. If a product you own measured poorly yet sounds good to you then so be it..no need to get upset about it. To me great measurements don’t always equate to great sound, but measurements do have meaning and can tell you a lot about what you are or are not hearing..although perception is a whole other can of worms.

Anyway, I just didn’t like the bashing of anyone that is a member of ASR..with that mindset you are no better than the people there or anywhere that do the same thing. I think if you were a regular at ASR and see some of the things discussed on a daily basis you might have a better understanding of what they are about, doesn’t mean you have to agree with everything, but if you want to speak up about it you should be prepared to prove it..and I think that is fair.

@mattw73 "With ASR they are based on science, and if you don’t agree with how they do things or their findings you will have to prove it by their standards or you won’t change many minds."

Nicely said. But "science" in this context is a position of authority with very little self-criticism or curiosity. It is biased science. The research has already been published decades ago. Floyd Toole comes to mind. The conversation is framed in a way where you have to challenge the existing dogma (Floyd Toole et al...) with solid evidence. Practically nobody has the credentials to challenge that dogma and still be taken seriously. This is why ASR has the highest authority (in their minds) when it comes to audio. In other words "trust the science". 

And I know that I will probably be diverging the conversation towards the meaning of "science". And that is futile. I'm merely pointing the finger at the bias of ASR. Science, a.k.a. objectivity is not immune to bias. This is how you get under ASR's skin. 

And you can disagree with ASR, but you cannot express your disagreement with ASR on the ASR forums without risking a ban. You can disagree with ASR on other message boards. 

@mikepowellaudio The specs are definitely a distraction but I have to give credit to ASR for shining the light on those dirt cheap class D amps with Infineon and Texas Instruments amplifier chips. They sound fantastic to me. But I don't have the highest expectations and YMMV. 

So if you view ASR as a site which focuses on entry-level Hi-fi it definitely has a place.  

Well ASR probably does a decent job of covering reasonable performing low budget components.But they seem to be a bit obsessed with the concept that new technology has to be best because it might measure well.Like the Purifu Class D amps for example.When a very affordable gainclone type chip amp which is not new technology probably sounds better.And also arguably some of the older Hypex Class D.