Nearly all manufacturers do not advertise/exhibit their product measurements? Why?


After my Audio Science Review review forum, it became apparent that nearly the only way one can determine the measurements of an audio product is wait for a review on line or in a publication.  Most equipment is never reviewed or is given a subjective analysis rather than a measurement oriented review.  One would think that manufacturers used tests and measurements to design and construct their products. 

Manufacturers routinely give the performance characteristics of their products as Specifications.  Those are not test measurements.

I searched the Revel speaker site for measurements of any of their speakers and could not find any.  Revels are universally lauded for their exceptional reviewed measurements.  Lack of published manufacturer measurements is true for nearly every speaker manufacturer I've searched for on line, perhaps several hundred.   Same is true for amps, pre-amps, DACs, transports, turntables, well you get the picture.  Do they have something to hide?   I doubt the good quality products have anything to hide but poor quality products do.  

ASR prides itself in providing "true" measurements that will aid in purchase decisions.   Why don't the manufacturers provide these measurements so that reviewers can test if they are truthful or not?

Then there are the cables and tweaks for which I suspect that there are inadequate tests available to measure sonically perceived differences but which objectivists believe don't exist or are "snake oil."  

Well, please chime in if you have some illuminating thoughts on the subject.   

I would have loved to see manufacturers measurements on my equipment and especially those that I rejected.  

fleschler

Makes prefect sense, dull, boring cables to record music. Does it record only dull boring music?  The only thing this shows is the need for controlled testing. 

Power cables and speaker cables appear to be easier to design

Geometry designed to lower inductance (i.e., twisted, star-quad or braid) and sufficient gauge to conduct the current should get you most of the way there with power and speaker cables.  However with SCs, and perhaps irrationally, I have found a sonic preference for multiple, individually insulated, small diameter solid core wires (e.g., Harmonic Technology with foamed PE insulation or Cardas with individually enameled wire).  OTOH, I also like the sound of my vintage Western Electric wire as both speaker cable and power cable, and I am using 7awg WE wire to power my large monoblock amps, which supports my thoughts on geometry and sufficient gauge.  

djones51, you described why I decided to audition Mogami cables. If they are used in the studios to record music I can at least capture that much fidelity. I also took a page from the pros by going with active speakers although I don't use pro monitors. I like JBL speakers a lot for the same reason, in my man cave, a lot of studios use JBL. 

However, studios use LONG runs of lots of cables. If you want recordings made with high end cables try Mapleshade Records, WOW, very good.

I did not deride Mogami cable. If test measurements make it ideal for recording or mastering, that’s what pros should use. If it happens to work in a home system, that’s great too. I only reported what it sounded like in a few upper mid-fi and one high end system. My own experience had the same result with Canare cables.

High Fidelity (brand) cables (defunct) were so much worse than pro-cables. They actually made us cringe at the sound and wanted to leave the listening rooms we heard them in.

A very cheap yet good beginners IC is the original Monster Interlink 300. It is relatively neutral with a slightly plummy bass and modestly rolled off highs but is inoffensive. Decades ago, nearly all my friends used it. I tried it but my boutique cables are superior. Further iterations by Monster are bright/hard sounding. The designer made this one off cable for Monster than began his own line of high end cables.

You know how much money it would cost to use boutique cables in a recording studio, that's probably the reason they use mogami or belden.