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Did Amir Change Your Mind About Anything?

It’s easy to make snide remarks like “yes- I do the opposite of what he says.”  And in some respects I agree, but if you do that, this is just going to be taken down. So I’m asking a serious question. Has ASR actually changed your opinion on anything?  For me, I would say 2 things. I am a conservatory-trained musician and I do trust my ears. But ASR has reminded me to double check my opinions on a piece of gear to make sure I’m not imagining improvements. Not to get into double blind testing, but just to keep in mind that the brain can be fooled and make doubly sure that I’m hearing what I think I’m hearing. The second is power conditioning. I went from an expensive box back to my wiremold and I really don’t think I can hear a difference. I think that now that I understand the engineering behind AC use in an audio component, I am not convinced that power conditioning affects the component output. I think. 
So please resist the urge to pile on. I think this could be a worthwhile discussion if that’s possible anymore. I hope it is. 

chayro
willyht
32 posts
 

Having recently spent a considerable sum ($35k) to put a nice system together, I had the itch to spend a few thousand on a power conditioner, until I watched a few of Amir's videos on YouTube. Right or wrong, I never pulled the trigger and have stayed with my $99 Audioquest power strip. My power amp and sub are connected straight into the wall. The noise floor has been quiet from day 1, so I convinced myself that I didn't have a problem to solve. Who knows what the future holds?

vonhelmholtz
911 posts
 

@gosta 

my system belongs to ASR’s absolute favorites and gives me a listening quality few will ever experience. 

How about posting your system components as your virtual system?

cd318
2,636 posts
 

ASR hasn't just changed my mind on things such as the importance of measurements, the respect for the science of audio (Toole, Olive, Choueri, Barton, Shaw etc), the acknowledgment of the work done by professional broadcasting manufacturers (Genelec, KEF, Neumann etc) it's also changed the way more and more reviewers are now recognising the increasing need to back up their subjective opinions with hard science.

 

@gosta 

Most I think he should get some thanks for fighting the industry.

 

Absolutely he should.

Unlike almost virtually every other reviewer he relies almost solely upon the goodwill and kind donations of his readers. The ASR forum has certainly changed the way we look at audio and there's no going back now.

Of course some manufacturers and dealers will always be less than pleased with his conclusions, and we should expect that as they are trying to push product. Selling is their business - numbers, units, turnover, dollars, pounds etc.

However, for us the potential consumer, it's all good news. Highly detailed and backed up with a generous presentation courtesy of the Klippel NFS technology. Technology that the likes of Ascend Acoustics are now employing in the development of future loudspeakers

 

Lastly, lest we forget, Amir nearly always includes his own listening impressions at the end of each review.

 

What's not to like?

Post removed 
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,577 posts
 

Name dropping leaders in their audio fields with Amir does a disservice to them. They used measurements to create and ensure great audio products whereas Amir uses measurements to tear them down. Not even close to the same thing.

It's like citing the science and work behind the internet and saying Elmo is a genius.

All the best,
Nonoise

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