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

@laoman

I use a dedicated mediaserver with Roon => Storm 16-channel processor =>

Storm 4 x 900 watt (8 ohm) Class d => Revel Ultima Salon 2 surround system + Velo 15DD+.

Dirac + Storm + Roon DSP.

ASR likes Storm and Salon 2 :-)

@gosta 

ASR likes Storm and Salon 2 :-)

Amir has these speakers, so everyone gets them!

Too many times Amir will test a piece of equipment that someone loved and they wind up selling it like sheep.

Just to buy what he recommends.

Are you listing to your music or just buying what your told?

@jtgofish 

But like any idealistic concept the enforcement can become toxic and counter-productive. Just like communism and religion.

Sadly that's all too often the case.

However, if anyone can resist the temptations of chasing wealth and fame, it's Amir.

He comes across as a man of principles.

Seemingly a rare thing nowadays.

@henry99 

Are you listing to your music or just buying what your told?

No doubt the Salon 2s are good speakers. It would even seem as if Revel themselves are unable to improve upon them.

However, that's a good question. 

Whether we like it or not, it's impossible to hear everything that's out there, and so we have to turn to third party opinions.

But exactly whose should we trust?

Personally I'd put forums like this ahead of any paid opinion. Old habits die hard but years of disappointment also have an effect.

Eventually.

However, that's a good question. 

Whether we like it or not, it's impossible to hear everything that's out there, and so we have to turn to third party opinions.

But exactly whose should we trust?

You are right about that. I fully understand you. This is why ASR wins. Right or wrong, it does no matter. It’s a fact. And they realized that, and they win. They make it a business. Lots of crap in the Internet, and people don’t know what you believe. The key is to get as much exposure as possible: own experience, audio shows, dealers, shops, friends, and internet people you know align with your tastes. If these are not possible for some reason, yes, your turn to …., whatever 

Demagogues tell people what they want to hear. I have a $ 4,000.00 amplifier and ASR tells me that it measures better than one of the hyped up $24,000.00 amplifiers. I like hearing that and automatically equate measures better to sounds better. This opinion cannot be subjective because it is proven by science and so I formulate all of these opinions about audio equipment without hearing any of them. So if the purpose behind buying audio equipment is to test them for frequency response, etc… without ever listening to them, then you have the quantitative evidence that you need for comparing measurements and that’s about it. 
So when I made that statement to my friend, he quickly countered with; ‘if you did a double blind listening comparison between your DAC and one of ASR’ cheaper recommended DAC’s, you wouldn’t be able to tell a difference.’ And my response was, ‘see you’ve already determined the results of a double blinded comparison without doing one.’