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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
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,842 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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cleeds
5,947 posts
 

cd318

The ASR forum has certainly changed the way we look at audio and there’s no going back now.

Who is "we"? How has ASR changed audio? Do you think he was the first to take measurements?

Amir nearly always includes his own listening impressions at the end of each review.

If you’re not listening to every piece you measure, you have no way of correlating measurements with sonic results. That he can’t be bothered to listen to everything he measures speaks volumes about him, and his opinion of himself.

mitch2
3,969 posts
 

It’s just data, so my answer is no.

No different than other reviewers, Amir has his own bias.  Yet, some here seem to freak out at the mention of his name.  Earlier this year, Amir gave a positive review to the Hypex NCx500 Class D Amplifier.  This is likely to cause at least a few cases of internal consternation in people who have been waiting for a good-sounding, lower priced, class D amplifier, yet can’t bring themselves to purchase anything recommended by Amir.

lloydc's avatar
lloydc
751 posts
 

No. It would be like getting advice about the best symphony halls to visit, from a person who learned to read their acoustic specifications in trade school, but never heard any of them because he never left his home town

chayro OP
2,984 posts
 

I think that Amir, in a round about way, reminds us of how powerful our biases are. My friend’s 28 year old daughter loves sneakers.  She will see someone wearing a certain pair and salivate over them because she knows the back story. I don’t know the back story, so i just I just see an another pair of sneakers.  It just reminds me of how much our brain affects what we believe is important. I don’t know if it’s possible to separate them. 

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