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

Post that testing, people gained general knowledge about the issues here and they will spread the word. This is why ASR is a team effort. Members enable testing of a ton of gear. Measurements provide very reliable facts. And knowledge gets discussed and disseminated.

Any followers measurements done on samples of one, alligator clip leads, and un calibrated measuring devices, for a start.

Remember, hundreds of gear gets measured every year on ASR. With very, very rare exceptions, no manufacturer has disputed them! 

How many other reviewers measurements or opinions are disputed by manufacturers?  No disputes can easily be interpreted that manufacturers simply don't care.

As a corollary to above, no audio reviewer’s work gets scrutinized remotely like mine. I publish a new review almost every day, subjecting my testing and opinion to verification/rejection by industry and membership at large. ASR would have thrived if the work we were doing was bad as you claim.

Your work is scrutinized partially because you relish in promoting superior knowledge, e.g. "I am the smartest person in the room".  You also relish in accusing others of not knowing what they are doing.  Post your data, let it stand on its own, no need to engage in arguments to prove you are right.  Unfortunately, that behavior would not generate publicity for ASR.  

The major reason for scrutiny and criticism is an issue you refuse to acknowledge or take any responsibility for, the hostile and snarky tone of too many of your followers.  Dozens of times arrogant followers accuse others of being too stupid to ask questions, e.g. "read this list of publications or technical papers before returning".  

Your long replies, like many at ASR, are full of self promotion deflection.  Again, let your work stand on its own merits.  It is valuable.  All the ASR self created drama is NOT.  He doth protest too much.

 

They send me equipment, I test and publish them.  We then collectively discuss the findings.  Certain truths pop out of this process.  That truth resonates with so many audiophiles who are desperate for reliable facts about audio gear.  This is the appeal.

All the best,
Nonoise

@texbychoice

You also relish in accusing others of not knowing what they are doing.

If someone has designed something in a way that suggests they don’t know what they are doing, or measures something in a way that suggests they don’t know what they are doing, that is worth pointing out by Amir...or anyone else with the knowledge to do so.

Funny how many ASR-averse audiophiles jump on Amir claiming "he doesn’t know what he’s doing" but...no hint of criticism about that, right?

 

Post your data, let it stand on its own,

 

Amir’s youtube videos are hugely popular and he generally does provide data that can stand on it’s own. IF the viewer/reader is technically literate enough.  However...the point is that Amir is aware that most of his audience does NOT have the technical knowledge and gear to vet these claims, which is why Amir spends time explaining what the measurements mean, and when something isn’t doing what it claims to do.

 

That seems to make a lot of golden eared audiophiles salty. That’s mostly their problem IMO.

 

no need to engage in arguments to prove you are right.

 

Amir and ASR get slagged on forums like this, where strawmen accusations and inaccurate claims are made about him and the site. It’s completely his right, and certainly worthwhile, for him to engage with some of this criticism to correct some of the misinformation.

The thing is his critics will never cut him slack. They generally won’t show up on ASR to challenge Amir’s reviews with objective evidence. Instead you see people in forums like this sniping and criticizing, and if Amir ignores it then "Amir just ignores all the critiques of his approach and reviews!" But if Amir actually makes the effort to show up and address the critiques then it’s "Amir is so obnoxious and evangelical, he can’t just leave other audiophiles alone..."

Yeesh.

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... I did not understand why people are so focussed on one aspect of audio forgetting the other...

YouTubers need to differentiate themselves from the crowd of competing YouTubers. (The cost of entry is so low, that anyone can become a YouTube influencer!) The smart ones, such as Amir, find a "hook" and then cultivate the audience that follows it.

Amir argues:

"The world of audio marketing is broken to the core."

That premise allows him to be the savior. It’s the, "Only I can fix it" canard.