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

@prof Thank you for the lead. I forgot about this head to head speaker comparison. I heard the Joseph’s and the Harbeth 40.1s and Herb’s description is right on target. I prefer the Harbeth sound (possibly because I have over 10,000 opera/classical vocal LPs/CDs and 78s) for voice. Fortunately, my speakers are somewhere in the middle of these two with big, deep bass as well (six drivers/3 12" woofers each).  

Did you decide on the Devore O/96 because it was an amalgam of those two speakers that you previously owned? I only heard Devores (O/93 or O/96) under audio show conditions and while it was pleasant, it didn’t excite me (the room was very wide and I have no recollection of the other equipment). Your description makes me want to hear them again in a better setting.   All 3 speakers you own/owned are also moderately priced and as two ways, maintain excellent coherence and imaging. 

I have under 100 bongo jazz and pop LPs/CDs and 1000+ jazz recordings commonly featuring drums . As my equipment got better, I could also relate to hearing the skins and feeling the snap plus the shimmering of cymbals. Very exciting. I know what you’re feeling.

@crymeanaudioriver

I will put it in perspective so that some here can understand. There is an earth sciences site and astrophysics site. A flat earth believer goes to that site and claims the earth is flat. His evidence? His eyes clearly show it is flat. The members ask for more evidence. He provides none and keeps insisting his eyes don’t lie. They quickly turf him. Many of you who got turfed at ASR were flat earth followers visiting a science site. What did you expect?   This has nothing to do with free speech.

OK. I'll bite.

A member comes to ASR wanting to discuss how the Earth deviations from perfect spherical shape may affect a practical business project he is working on. Some background on this topic is below.

But, he is immediately attacked by some of the loud regulars, who are laughing at him for not knowing that Earth is a perfect sphere, and there is nothing further to discuss. Their chiding comments gather numerous likes. 

The member persists, providing references to peer-reviewed scientific papers, and explaining logical reasons why Earth can't possibly be a perfect sphere. The chiding comments are now turning into outright character assassination attempts.

The member is then compelled to protect his reputation. He reduces the discussion to a very simple statement, asking the loud regulars to comment on it. The loud regulars reply, demonstrating their lack of both knowledge and logical thinking.

One would think, OK, the member earned his right to be taken seriously. But no! No no no! The loud regulars report him to a moderator - I guess one of them, who earned his likes points mostly through chiding others. And here comes the ban.

Obviously, Amir sees that. He knows what's going on. Why doesn't he put an end to that? My best guess is that because Amir is an experienced Microsoft executive, who knows how to use others to take down those who could damage his standing.

Amir needs these loud regulars, so that they could take down those inconvenient members who are asking "wrong" questions and are bringing in "wrong" information.

Amir employs other stratagems of corporate politics as well: badmouthing other prominent audio gear reviewers behind their backs is one of those. I guess it must have worked well for him during his previous career.

On the surface, he is winning, getting his way in shaping ASR the way he wants it to be. In a broader sense, he is losing. Losing members, self-tarnishing his reputation, and making his enterprise non-monetizable. This saddens me.

One example of why ASR has become non-monetizable. Amir decided to test power amplifiers only on purely resistive load. While he is relatively careful with legalese, he did make purchasing recommendations based on such tests.

"Inconvenient" members repeatedly asked Amir why wouldn't he test power amplifiers on a more realistic load: either on a well-known widely available speaker, or on a professional-grade speaker simulator.

Correspondingly, some of the power amplifiers Amir recommended, per other "inconvenient" members reports, performed significantly worse with real-life speakers compared to the amplifiers he deemed "not engineered well".

I believe this resulted in commercial losses for producers of undeservedly downrated amplifiers. Also, to reputation losses, resulting losses in employment opportunities, and monetary losses, for designers of these amplifiers.

While Amir, if we are to believe him, doesn't make profit on his reviews, suing him would be complicated. He could just maintain that those were honest rookie mistakes of a hobbyist.

However, the moment he tries to seriously monetize ASR, for instance through selling it to another corporation, or via taking in non-trivial ads money, he would be open to lawsuits from likes of Yamaha and others, whose flagship amplifiers he alleged were designed incompetently.

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@fair +10  I knew about the centrifugal forces which create a "bulge" in the earth's center since the 1970s.  It is considered an oblate ellipsoid rather than a perfect sphere according to scientists.  Arguing against that is considered like stating the earth is flat.  The latter statement of the earth ASR members agree on.  The former statement of the earth, apparently they do not.  And are they nasty denying it without any facts I bet in their denunciation.  Hence, I will not rejoin ASR under a fake name as it doesn't matter after my rude introduction and banishment by Amir.  

May they keep their religion far away from us.  

@crymeanaudioriver Many of you who got turfed at ASR were flat earth followers visiting a science site. What did you expect?

Its all rather odd, perhaps confined to American culture, because I have not seen this level of self pity anywhere else..

Like if a bloke walks into the women’s shower room and is not only surprised when he is booted out, but then goes onto pontificate at the standards observed in their shower room and the poor quality of nakedness he observed.

It is really nothing to write home about in terms of asr’s audio gears testing. Audioholics and Erin’s Audio Corner could do and actually were doing better jobs. Their recommendations are found more objective and thrustworthy because, as Stereophile does, they complement the measurements with critical listening in great length to give more comprehensive assessment. That covers not only the traditionally available measurement matrices but also important sound traits that can not be measured today such as soundstages and other psychoaccoustic elements. If asr/Amir proclaims you are the better scientific guys, prove it.