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?
From a personal perspective; a friend of mine drank the Kool-Aid. He told me all about ASR when I bought a tweak and told him about the differences I was hearing. Of course, I wasn't really hearing a difference, I was just imagining things in view of the fact that he knew from reported measurements, that the tweak I had purchased is totally bogus. And please let me clarify, this is a device that he has never listened to. I don't mind dissenting opinion but I was basically being told that I'm full of s###. This is arrogance that I have trouble tolerating, friend or not. |
This is true to an extent. If a component like a DAC, amplifier, cable etc.. excluding speakers has a " sound" then it’s not high fidelity or was purpose built.
That’s a good point. The sound of equipment must be the sound of added distortion.
Therefore the measurement of distortion is the yardstick by which products are usually designed and compared. Less is always better if we want to remain faithful to the original signal. [If not, then there’s always DSP for those who want to correct perceived equipment/room/recording anomalies or perhaps they might simply prefer a particular type of distortion].
It’s surely no coincidence that when distortion is low that even tube and transistor amps begin to sound indistinguishable. Ditto for everything else too.
Of course you have to always factor in the limits of human hearing, otherwise we’d be forevermore trying to get down to infinitely zero distortion. Then there’s the fact that our hearing is more sensitive in the midrange, so distortion is particularly unwanted there. All of this this suggests that as replay equipment improves there must also be a general historical convergence of the sound that it makes, which is exactly where ASR comes in. Some products will be assessed as having an exceptionally good measured performance, and some not so exceptional. And as anyone familiar with the site will know, all of this is usually indicated by the corresponding posture of the residential panther.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/asr-panthers.11541/
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@mikepowellaudio @goofyfoot @vonhelmholtz 100% Arrogance=ASR members (generally). I noted the two members who either end conversations or are ridiculed. I was thrown out because I had unsupported statements, indicated my attachment to the live music performance community and their derision of anything more expensive than they could accept as better than cheap equivalent gear. I opened my conversation on the snake oil forum after someone posted that the Audiodesk CD shaper was snake oil. Ok, I mentioned that I had purchased one for $150 back in 2006 and tried it, found it made little difference compared to destatisizing my CD prior to play and can now sell it for $1000 or more. Just for trying it, I was branded a lunatic who wastes money. It went downhill from there. Mentioning that I preferred the SR Atmosphere X Euphoria digital cable, well, that was too much, the ghouls came out. Note that the after the MattHooper post on amp stand isolation, the posters call him nuts and crazy. I cannot view the site with Chrome anymore as I have been blocked so this information was made possible by viewing ASR on Edge. I don't intend to view ASR any longer as the members are generally mean, nasty and stupid/uneducated. I'm glad I began this forum. It's been a pleasure hearing from fellow audiophiles and music lovers, whatever your preference for sound reproduction and musical tastes.
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