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


"Audiophiles are Snobs"  Youtube features an idiot!  He states, with no equivocation,  that $5,000 and $10,000 speakers sound equally good and a $500 and $5,000 integrated amp sound equally good.  He is either deaf or a liar or both! 

There is a site filled with posters like him called Audio Science Review.  If a reasonable person posts, they immediately tear him down, using selected words and/or sentences from the reasonable poster as100% proof that the audiophile is dumb and stupid with his money. They also occasionally state that the high end audio equipment/cable/tweak sellers are criminals who commit fraud on the public.  They often state that if something scientifically measures better, then it sounds better.   They give no credence to unmeasurable sound factors like PRAT and Ambiance.   Some of the posters music choices range from rap to hip hop and anything pop oriented created in the past from 1995.  

Have any of audiogon (or any other reasonable audio forum site) posters encountered this horrible group of miscreants?  

fleschler

@fleschler 

I do not trust @crymeanaudioriver opinion(s).   ASR site is replete with anecdotes and foolish statements concerning cables, especially digital cables.    I've tried half a dozen digital cables and none of them sound the same, not even close.  I bet they measure the same though, 75 ohms, similar capacitance, resistance, inductance although I have no tests proving that other than a voltmeter.   I decided based on listening.   None of the cables had specs although five had extensive explanations concerning their construction.  

My tests are extensive and include measuring the output of audio devices to see if the waveform has changed at all.  I recently started to play music through them and perform null tests showing the cable made no contributions whatsoever.

Reports like yours persist not because the facts are different, but that you think listening with your eyes wide open is the same as doing so without them.  Until such time that you can provide reliable evidence of sound only, what you are saying has no value.

One of the top audiophiles in this forum with half a million dollar audio system swore a few years ago that he can tell the difference between his MIT oracle cable and others.  He agreed to a blind test where he could not remotely do so. All it took was using just his ears to change the outcome.  You can read about it here: 

"So our results with Mike as our listener were clear: for this particular methodology, Mike could not accurately identify a difference in the cables."
 

Mike posts this about the experience: http://www.avsforum.com/forum/86-ul...184-observations-controlled-cable-test-2.html

"yes; i have, to some degree, changed my perspective on cable differences....but...my mind is still processing the results and what they mean for me. i hope that i can coherently relate the various thoughts that go thru my mind. as Chris mentioned; the controls were successful at keeping me from knowing which cable was which. for each test i felt confident about my choice (except #6...see below).
[...]
when i made my choice known for #8 i was confident that i was 100% for all 7. then my friend Ted said 'that's it.....test over'. we had discussed prior that any result 7 out of 10 or better or 15 out of 20 or better would mean a positive result and to continue. once we got to only 3 out of 7 it was clear that we were not going to get a positive result.


why did i fail?.....or put another way.....why did this test show no real difference? was i overconfident?

yes; regardless of the eventual answer i was not respectful enough of the challenge.

[...]

in my mind i am not confident that i will ever be able to hear reliable differences between the Monster and the Opus to pass a Blind test. OTOH i am also not sure i won't be able to do it."

----

Until this lesson is learned, nothing you know in audio can be trusted to be true.

“ What is the solution? Ban them after a few posts when you realize they are going against the grain of the forum/thread? “

https://i.gifer.com/Mtiv.gif

 

 

Hey, Amir is back and still trying to prove a negative.  Notice he continues to try to make his point with singular examples.  In this case someone who owns an expensive stereo.  Remember, Amir considers himself and anyone who has spent a lot of money on equipment an expert.  He just can't get over other people hearing things he cannot.  

Hey, Amir is back and still trying to prove a negative.

No, he is disproving a positive.

Notice he continues to try to make his point with singular examples.

Every positive claim that "I or a group heard cable difference " not using proper testing methods are also "singular examples".  He is pointing out those positive claims can be disproved with proper testing methods and have been . I have yet to see any proof to support that positive claim of hearing differences other than useless anecdotal stories.

And you will forever remain in that state because that is what you want to believe. Imagine someone who is color blind arguing there is no such thing as a green light on traffic lights.