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

@laoman , assume I know nothing about wine and explain to me, in as much detail as necessary, why my analogy shows I know nothing about wine.

@kota1 , are you working from the perspective that if you tell a lie enough times it will become true?  Amir has been considerably more professional than those attacking him here.

@fleschler, I learned something about CDs today when I tried to find your posts on ASR. Unlike a record where the grooves may not be concentric with the center hole, the CD manufacturing process ensures the tight alignment of the hole and the grooves. While learning, I also saw someone note that if we can read CDs at 30-40x reliably, that reading at 1x is trivial. I also learned that even early CD players had data buffers, which in retrospect is obvious, but I never gave it much thought. What am I getting at?  The informed reaction to a device that shaves the outside of a CD should be skepticism. It would be very easy to test whether it makes a difference. I expect Amir's equipment would do this easily. 

@whipsaw , I agree and do not agree with some of your statement. I do agree that many users on ASR appear to equate perfect measurements with idealized sound for an individual. I do agree that is a flawed position. I do not know how strongly Amir believes in that position and I will not put words in his mouth as others are doing. I do know from reading these pages that Amir's comments have centered on whether audio products do what they say they do, including whether they do or can sound different from another product. Amir is stating based on his measurements that many products must sound the same or that they do not do what they claim. I think that is the more contentious issue. The issue of accuracy and preference is peripheral to the discussion.

@kota1 Leave Amir alone LOL. He doesn't have to conform to you. His forum. His rules. Amir has many followers. Amir and his followers are not speaking kindly of us (specifically us two). 

There are so many kinder and more open-minded Hi-Fi reviewers who lean heavily measurements. I find that their reviews are better written than Amir's. More words. Complete sentences. Fewer syntax/grammar errors. If ASR was in for the money, they would write more qualitative reviews. It's just absurd to mention the money. I think that Amir is doing a labor of love and that he's genuinely trying to cut through the BS perpetuated by marketing. 

As a reader you can just take what you want from ASR. It's all free. You don't necessarily have to agree. That's my conclusion. 

@kokakolia  "

I am the same way. The sound which pleases me comes from a single fullrange driver mounted on a transmission line and powered by a tube amplifier. That's what I like. I listen to a lot of chill music and vocals are the most important quality for me..."   

We have a passion for the art of recorded music reproduction. We are feeling the emotional connection as we glance at a masters painting. Amir is analyzing the paint pigment and is missing the bigger picture. This hobby is big enough to let everybody join and share their experience. There is no need to exclude other opinions nor any reason to provide measurements to back that opinion up. I guess the thing that bugs me is some think I need to provide documentation of my opinions. I most certainly do not need to prove anything to others. The sound that comes out of my system is the only proof I need. 

I think @amir_asr ​​​​@crymeanaudioriver should get tossed. Pure spam.

Toss this @axo1989 too!

Their theme song!

@crymeanaudioriver Your statement concerning Amir’s TESTING of the CD trimmer is IRRELEVANT to my statement made of MY EXPERIENCE using it. The hatred and condescension in the replies to my experience was 100% uncalled for.

I am not upset with Amir’s testing although I disagree with it’s relevance over listening in different rooms with different systems (most often published and on-line reviewers indicate the equipment and multiple choices to test by ear, the equipment such as multiple amplifiers to match with speakers or multiple speakers to match with an amp, etc).

I am extremely upset with character assassination, defamation, perverted twisting of neutral statements/personal experiences which degrade the person stating them and the statement. That’s what he has now done on Audiogon.

As to your 100% certainty that all pressed CDs sound alike is up for discussion, not 100% certain. My friends in the manufacturing/stamping of CDs note the variation, somewhat like the variation in pressing of vinyl. My friends and I note that some variation in pressed CDs occur despite the manufacture in the SAME facility. Using the same digital information at different manufacturing plants can result in greater variation (I have 2 complete sets of the Mercury Living Presence classical CD reissues and it is very obvious about 15 of the early pressings sound very different). My friends and I have maybe a dozen copies of Kids Songs for Grown-Ups that there are variations in sound, relating to dynamics and tonal balance.

Now you can call that nonsense but here at Audiogon we can freely discuss our experiences, despite some test measurements that could maintain that there are no measurable differences.

As to reading CDs, I have tried numerous three beam laser transports using computer drives and find them inferior to old, single beam, single pass reading transports. I use one and so do my friends. I have heard some very expensive modern transports that sound great but at great cost. I haven’t heard all of them obviously. However, I use an extremely upgraded Arcam Delta 250 transport (15+ caps, resistors, 10 regulators) which uses the Philips CDM 9 laser system. On this site, we have had multiple forums on transports. My alternative choices to hear are the Jays Audio and Proceed transports. I tried the PS Audio, which I liked in concept but disliked in the resulting sound, possibly due to poor implementation such as cheap computer drive and/or parts. The same with Emotiva. They make well constructed, inexpensive, often good design quality CD players but use computer grade parts rather than audio grade parts. Again, just because computer grade parts measure great does not mean they sound great. I have had extensive experience with Marantz CD players new and old. In the past 12 years, they tend to have a less resolving and warmer tonal balance which is pleasant but inadequate for me (or my friends who also tried them). The 35 year old Kyocera 310 and 410 units, especially with upgraded power caps, sound more open and musically satisfying. They have ceramic vibration elements and a sapphire spindle using a single pass drive. I have four friends who use that as their main CD player and I use one in my secondary system.