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

@westcoastaudiophile 

@amir_asr "Measurements I perform are routinely replicated by manufacturers and other third-parties” - please provide proof to your statement.

Sure, I don't have them all memorized but here are a few:

Genelec (top manufacturer of studio monitors):

"Company was kind enough to review and approve the measurements you are about to see."

Neumann (another top studio monitor manufacture):

"You expect the company to deliver, and deliver it does! Other than a minor dip around 50 to 60 Hz, frequency response is flat and extends to both ends of audible spectrum. We exchanged measurements and company's on-axis response has a smaller dip to the tune of 0.8 dB. This has been a continuing theme with Neumann speaker bass response. Either they are wrong a bit here, or Klippel NFS is. No way to adjudicate. Doesn't matter anyway as your room will wildly modify that region so what the speaker outputs is pretty secondary other than amount of SPL it produces."

Denon:

"Note: Denon engineering was kind enough to review these measurements and confirm that they match their expectations."

Trinnov (highest end manufacturer of AV processors):

"The measurements you are about to see were reviewed by the company and were agreed upon as being representative. "

Again, there is a lot more than this.  I have reviewed 1,300 products in the last four years. If there were issues with my measurements, there would be riots in streets from manufactures.  You don't see that. Instead you see companies like Schiit throwing out their obsolete audio measurement machine, buying the same unit I have, and a year later produce far more performant products. Indeed, they send me samples to test and now publish their own measurements.

@westcoastaudiophile

@amir_asr "

No Faraday cage. Those are used for EMC testing. None of you use your stereo gear inside such a cage so I don’t see why I should test them that way.

Cabling for XLR is Mogami Gold. For RCA, I use Amazon Basics. No power conditioning is used or needed. I have tested a ton of these and either do nothing, or impair performance. I do have a LAB AC generator that I use for special testing. Ditto for DC lab generator."

Thanks Amir for response! I can ignore your test results now!

Well that was anti-climatic! :) FYI I own high-end cables like Transparent Audio, Audioquest, etc. that when needed, I use. Usually to deter excuses like you made above. But no, my measurement gear didn’t come with such cables, nor is there a single recommendation to use such.

Do you have any data that measurements are impacted by the things you mention? Or is it just gut anxiety?

@cd318 , I honestly appreciate the comment. Perhaps some who are reading this mess will take it to heart. Quite evident, many will not. Some will even resort to inventing a fantasy life in order to feel superior though I cannot fathom what end goal they have in mind? Everyone seems to feel they have to be in a "camp" these days, even if it is not in their best interests, or anyone else’s for that matter. We used to hold everyone to account, now people just pick a side and turn off part of their brain.

@westcoastaudiophile 

Amir, your equipment and tests are “too ancient” and missing novel micro-dynamics, transient, noise and more important performance metrics High volume manufacturing data is missing in your tests as well. 

Too ancient?  What is not too ancient if you don't mind listing?

For now, my AP has a noise floor that is low enough to produce signal to noise ratio as high as 130 dB: 

*Best case* dynamic range of our hearing system is 115 dB (limited by max SPL and noise level of the auditory system).  With 130 dB like above, we have ample headroom.

Transients are trivial to measure and I show them all the time to satisfy people even though they have so little meaning as far as fidelity.

As to "high volume manufacturing," that is not my job. It is manufacturer's job.  BTW, such testing usually uses (an obsolete) audio analyzer with "go/no go." Precision is not required there although would be appreciated if it existed.

My job is to determine performance of an audio device.  Not its reliability. No reviewer can give you that data. The fact that you think my equipment is "obsolete" to do that and that I am supposed to do such testing makes my head spin!  

@amir_asr "I have reviewed 1,300 products” in not authorized/certified LAB? WOW

what is your background, engineering degree etc?