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.
Nope. He does not need to think. He already knows, it comes to him naturally. He absorbs a book, any length, by just staring at it for three seconds 😉 He does not wear a watch. He decides what time it is 😂
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The thing that intrigues me is that the High-End crowd would rather endorse this kind of review : "The key observation about the effect of five Blackbody v2s on duty in my room narrows down to the way how the two used speaker sets rendered space there. The entire view grew a touch more anchored and denser in both cases, but higher humidity was the most obvious change. The air in-between key sound sources felt rich and fragrant just like before a storm. The overall vibe was less dry and chiseled. Instrumental and vocal shapes struck me as more moist and bloomier than before, while their outlines became somewhat thicker. Sound audibly leaned towards the extra color, boldness and aroma rather than twitchiness, sparks, elasticity and high contrast. Increased relaxation and less prickly incisiveness followed. Considering all this, Blackbody V2 was groomed to fit the usual LessLoss noise-killing profile indeed, so enjoyably familiar. The fact that the theory behind it raises quite a few eyebrows doesn’t change that." The above review from the HiFi Knights website to me is utter nonsense. Not only is it just a deluge of meaningless superlatives. The possibility of some metal discs occupying the same room as your sound equipment creating audible effects is preposterous. This should be obvious to any rational person. However, the Audiophile class just seems to eat up this type of subjective "testing". Not only that, they will purchase these types of devices and "hear" the effects. I have participated in a few HiFi and Audiophile forums and always found that there is a cadre of individuals who are prepared to hate someone offering technical advice on audio equipment as it contradicts their world view. The example above of Amirs measurements of the Neumann monitors is exactly the type of information I would want prior to purchasing any (costly) audio product. The last thing I would consider is purchasing a product based on someone using words like "humidity" or "bloomier" to describe it.
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@thyname Amir seems to be a pretty smart and successful guy. Is that what you are mocking? |
Yep. There’s also a streak of anti-expertise too. "How DARE someone deign to tell me something as if it’s just a fact! Like Who Made You The Lord Of What’s True??!!" The Golden Ear approach is attractive because it allows non-experts to always feel like they can trump experts, to always have a trump card. "Yeah, well mr "trained in the relevant field" expert... you and all your theory, measurements and evidence? Since my experience contradicts your "knowledge" it just shows what you don’t know. Our Ears Don’t Lie!" It’s an inherently anti-expertise stance, (particularly popular at this time) and so someone who actually knows more about the relevant technology, who actually has expertise they lack...and..stating things as facts? It can’t be that he knows what he’s talking about. That just has to be someone on their high horse that needs to be knocked down a peg. This thread is full of this sort of turf-protection (not to mention not a little dunning-kruger syndrome...)
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