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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
kota1
2,706 posts
 

Chinese dacs:

 

kota1
2,706 posts
 

If you stream most of your music like I do the DAC isn’t the issue, it is getting a pristine a stream as possible. The streaming services are the bottleneck IMO.

Find ways to upgrade your network, your ethernet, reduce the noise and jitter coming from your streamer, etc. Upgrade your content with hirez downloads, vinyl if that is your thing, etc.

 

jtgofish's avatar
jtgofish
515 posts
 

Kota 1,Thanks for that youtube link.This is another one which discusses  similar issues in a very moderate and balanced way.

 

djones51
4,947 posts
 

Here is the thing. A while ago I was looking around for a new DAC. I listened to about 8 and in no case was the cost of the DAC mentioned. I just sat in a chair and listened to the same music. One that I disregarded very quickly was the Topping.

This isn't a blind test. Not knowing prices isn't the same as not knowing which DAC you're listening to. Who controlled the payback? Third party who level marched ? These are some of the  reasons  I suspect your anecdote was dismissed on ASR . 

noske
783 posts
 

@cd318

Dare I suggest it’s a simple matter of vested financial interests?

The subjectivists approach actively encourages consumers to spend, spend, spend ever increasingly large amounts of money on equipment and cabling.

Most of them usually include an ad hoc performance league masquerading as a buyer’s guide that always correlates with increasing prices.

Which reminds me of Robert Harley’s contention, not just recently but also from some years ago, that audio components follow his own law of increasing/accelerating marginal returns (as opposed to decreasing).

So, if you spend another 10%, you will be gifted with something that is more than 10% better in every respect (appreciating that this has nothing to do with the level of expenditure, rather, a comparison between two levels).

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