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.
@hilde45 : +1! Lot of Amir haters here on Agon! What I find interesting are the measurements that reveal how poorly designed some products are! Products that are highly praised by the golden-ear crowd - like the Chord M-Scaler and the Magnepan LRS speaker. Woe to the buyers of the LRS! The measurements and Amir's listening test show this speaker to be a real turkey and a coloration-generator far from neutral to the source!
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@audphile1 : go to ASR and read the review of the Chord M-Scaler. Amir listened to it on his system (Revel speakers/Levinson amp) and stated his impressions. Regarding my income level I own enough HiFi gear - both tube and transistor - to equip a retail store! |
In 1977 I went down to NYC and bought a twenty-foot pair of Polk Cobra Cable - $40 plus sales tax. It sure looked nice with its green-and-red Litz wire braided construction and nicely tinned ends! At home I didn’t notice any sonic difference compared to zip cord. It just looked like "audiophile" quality! I used it for a few years until I replaced it with a twenty-foot pair of Mogami 2477 Blue Neglex 14ga OFC copper coax - again only $1 a foot - my friend owned a local high-end store. It sounded the same to me as the Polk cable but looked more serious in an engineering sense! |
Noel Lee with his clever marketing of his Monster Cable brand started the high-end wire business back in 1976. Before that everybody used gray Switchcraft IC's and Radio Shack zip cord. Nobody complained! Mr.Lee learned that it was possible to sell a fantasy without engineering credibility to the masses - and become rich in the process! Soon others took notice of Monster's success and the race was on to market wire to the naive, eschewing engineering rationale for "golden ear" fantasy and pseudoscience! |
@somethingsomethingaudio : so you will choose the Benchmark DAC over the Topping because you like its appearance? LOL! You know what they say about America - "It's a free Country!" |
