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

I can't stay away. The thing that makes interesting reading is, interesting writing. Writers make good reading, not engineers. Writers that use their vast vocabulary and emotions to explain what they are hearing. That is helpful, although not 100% reliable. On the other hand, the guys on ASR can't say what something sounds like until they perform double blind tests with their control sample of buddies, not very useful. That is why their subjective reviews are one or two lines of not very descriptive words. 

Multiple people including myself experiencing a difference in sound using so called "magic wood" giving one "special sound" is not what I was stating.  That we heard a small improvement versus no clamp and some expensive metal clamp (maybe Stillpoints or Synergistic Research) in it's use was obvious, in that system in that room.  At that price, we all considered it (except for the owner of it) ridiculous.  Just like the DS Audio LP centering device.  Yes, it does work but at what cost in money, time and aggravation?  I consider both unnecessary tweaks.  

@djones51

I was more an objectivist long before ASR existed so it isn’t surprising to say I have learned a lot more from ASR than this one but I never really considered Audigon as a site to learn but a site to buy and sell and shoot the breeze on forums. Some of the discussions here are interesting but some are outright bizarre, for instance, colored fuses, exotic cabling, magic mats in mains panels to name a few. At any rate adios.

I didn’t get such a good start. I went into this hobby fairly clueless. I just wanted a system that sounded good to my ears.

I read magazines and built a knowledge base from that. I even got into the tweakery side once I become a little bored with my Rega/NAD based system.

I remember a fair bit of dabbling with cables, power supplies, speaker stands/spikes on screws, CD players, amplifiers, even putting a few CDs into the freezer overnight.

Eventually the realisation began to dawn upon me that the information I’d read in the magazines was more or less a complete work of fiction.

None of the above made any significant improvement to the sound I was getting. At best they were subliminal differences, nothing more.

Pro audio was always more science based but it never waxed lyrical about products the way domestic audio did. There was little or no fantasy, and being a subjectivist, I craved for that fantasy.

In some ways I still do, except I now understand that systems which are not adept at playing all genres are of little use to me. Those kinds of systems, despite many strengths, tend to have one or two serious flaws.

Sites like ASR will readily point out these serious flaws in a way that magazines will never do. That kind of information can prove invaluable in helping avoid seriously expensive mistakes. That kind of information will never be found in magazine reviews.

At best they are subjectivist entertainment, nothing more. At worst they are little more than a collusive practice with mutual benefits for the manufactures, dealers and reviewers.

Their victim is always the consumer. I should know. I’ve been there, time and time again.

Sites like ASR, Erin’s Music Corner and Archimago’s Musings as well as some Pro Audio publications can certainly help you avoid equipment with serious technical flaws.

There is a good reason why such sites are unpopular with many people, and it’s usually down to vested personal interests

Just look at the mountain of criticism given to blind listening tests and yet hardly a word said against the corresponding sighted tests??

I would implore even the most hardened subjectivist to take with them a wide variety of music with which to test products. You will learn next to nothing with the kind of well recorded instrumental jazz you hear at most shows.

That kind of Muzak does not reveal system weaknesses, it seeks to hide them. Even if that’s all you listen to, you know the old cliche of the audiophile with a million highly subjectivist dollar system who only plays 2 or 3 CDs etc.

Perhaps the best non measurements based test of all is the human voice. There’s a good video from Ditton Works below that tries to make the same point.

I don't know your backstory @cd318 mine is in the sciences. I fully admit I went through the same as you did. I probably spent a small fortune on audio magazines, tried all the tricks, etc.   I don't consider it a sign of weakness to admit I was mistaken. Is that why some are so ardent that they will not even challenge their own beliefs. They don't want to admit weakness?  Perhaps I could have related to it when I was younger, but today it is very foreign to me. It's a conscious decision to not grow.

@cd318

At best they are subjectivist entertainment, nothing more. At worst they are little more than a collusive practice with mutual benefits for the manufactures, dealers and reviewers.

Re "at worst" I agree. But "at best" they are informative descriptions of the sonic characteristics of the devices reviewed.

I’m not a former/converted subjectivist, however, so I don’t have recovery PTSD to contend with or commiserate over.