The Audio Science Review (ASR) approach to reviewing wines.

@hilde45 "Measurements" is too crude a word. @prof was pointing at this issue and this comment ignores it.

Some measurements are, say, 2nd harmonic distortions -- those may upset some at ASR, but the rest of us understand that those measurements are NOT aligned with "bad sound" as some of us experience that. (Others here do NOT like that 2nd harmonic. So, this varies.)

ASRs whole approach of anything that measures bad sounds bad, and the inability to describe how things sound or what people prefer sometimes - is a nonstarter for me. It all comes back to what people hear and what they enjoy most, and no metric tells us this very well. The human ear/brain is sophisticated, and enjoys a lot more than todays graphs demonstrate. I believe today’s sensors and tools fall short, by a lot.

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Tube amplifiers are known for their "euphonic" distortions, which can add a pleasant warmth and richness to the sound. Tube amplifiers tend to produce even-order harmonic distortion, which is more musical and pleasing to the ear.

Even-order harmonic distortion means that the distortion components are harmonically related to the original signal, creating a sound that is perceived as fuller and more natural. This type of distortion can enhance the listening experience, especially for musicians. I’d rather ask a musician what they prefer.

@hilde45   nice post.  Only thing I’d add @toronto416 is that, with respect to power conditioning products, I think one can make a much stronger case for a measurements-first mentality there than for virtually any other product.  The point is to “filter out noise” or “lower the noise floor”.  These are very easy to measure, and I would argue harder to objectively and consistently hear.  So it is precisely for these sorts of products that ASR is most useful, in my view, particularly as it’s an area of the industry most prone to fraud and misrepresentation.  If someone says their products filter the AC mains, why on god’s green earth wouldn’t you want someone to measure that for you before you spent a dime of your hard-earned money?  

While Amir is definitely aloud to have his opinion, it’s rarely shared by me, so I haven’t looked at his channel in years.

I’d ask the clown car that does freq domain snapshots to measure my violins or my piano....bet that would go well/swell...

"Bad violin", said the dingus dumbernicus...

A good friend of mine is a winemaker of some renown. I've been following his efforts since he started out, I've helped with winemaking many times, we had numerous conversations about the fine points of the craft during which I learned an awful lot and, of course, I freely offered my unbiased feedback based on consuming vast amounts of the product. I'm a helpful guy. 

To make a long story short, winemaking is science-driven to an extent that truly surprised me back then. A good winemaker, or brewer, or distiller for that matter, is in large part a chemist and on the ground level, the incremental experimenting, documentation and chain of custody are straight out of science 101.

OP should familiarize himself with enologists and what they do.

ASR has value. Audiogon has value. Other venues and publications have value too. The more points of view - and data points - we have, the more empowered we are to make choices. Which, ultimately, are for us to make.