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?  

fleschler

In a recent discussion there was a comment about the Coincidence 300B Frankenstein MkII. I dug around and found this study that was VERY detailed and yet does it cover every aspect that can be calculated, NEVER!

COINCIDENT FRANKENSTEIN 300B SET AMPLIFIER (high-endaudio.com)
But one thing I wanted to extract was about one particular capacitor. It was a .47 uf Teflon Foil film cap. Now do they measure the same? for most aspects they are identical, but most people know that different manufacturers make their products slightly different and the items that we measure are not even part of the consideration. Like what is the gap on the layers of films? What is the length of the film? There are so many factors that make one just slightly different to another. I can’t tell you haw many times I have played with different caps in my speaker crossovers achieving different results and sometimes a lesser expensive one does something more desirable. On the opposite end, often choosing an elite name like say, Morel over a Solen, well not all Morels are created equal. For a fact there are dozens of different grades of Morel caps of the exact same value, and one might fit the bill very well and another totally creates a trashy sound. It depends on the purpose, the design, the expected outcome... and yes often just plain outright COST effectiveness. Also you need to ascertain how a particular component compliments another. Sometimes one more expensive device might have a slight advantage due to something as simple as the reluctance of the binding post, or a .001 uf difference in capacitance, or the type of architecture of the device. We all know it isn't the most advantageous thing to do by putting Digital components with Valve components. You can't just say because of Ohms or watts or $k something is going to be the best choice and something else I seldom see discussed beyond speaker wires is, How long was a combination of components burned in together before it was given its final sanctification. And don't leave out room treatments.

@esarhaddon How would a purchaser know the amount of measurement and testing that went into an audio component? There may be some designers who volunteer that information to the public domain but most do not for a variety of reasons, like not wanting their work to be pirated. And those customers who want to evaluate an amp or a DAC, etc... base their decisions on the sound and the visual aesthetics. Designers have to use testing and measurements to build their products but scientific data isn't what they're selling.

Still don't understand how ASR can claim to be an audio equipment reviewer without actually listening to the audio product being reviewed.