Nearly all manufacturers do not advertise/exhibit their product measurements? Why?


After my Audio Science Review review forum, it became apparent that nearly the only way one can determine the measurements of an audio product is wait for a review on line or in a publication.  Most equipment is never reviewed or is given a subjective analysis rather than a measurement oriented review.  One would think that manufacturers used tests and measurements to design and construct their products. 

Manufacturers routinely give the performance characteristics of their products as Specifications.  Those are not test measurements.

I searched the Revel speaker site for measurements of any of their speakers and could not find any.  Revels are universally lauded for their exceptional reviewed measurements.  Lack of published manufacturer measurements is true for nearly every speaker manufacturer I've searched for on line, perhaps several hundred.   Same is true for amps, pre-amps, DACs, transports, turntables, well you get the picture.  Do they have something to hide?   I doubt the good quality products have anything to hide but poor quality products do.  

ASR prides itself in providing "true" measurements that will aid in purchase decisions.   Why don't the manufacturers provide these measurements so that reviewers can test if they are truthful or not?

Then there are the cables and tweaks for which I suspect that there are inadequate tests available to measure sonically perceived differences but which objectivists believe don't exist or are "snake oil."  

Well, please chime in if you have some illuminating thoughts on the subject.   

I would have loved to see manufacturers measurements on my equipment and especially those that I rejected.  

fleschler

@lalitk +1 on gathering info from dealers. Maybe someone here will start a a new site, "Audio Measurement Review" so we can make it more convenient. Too much banning at ASR to make that site very useful for your other suggestion.

“Why don’t high end manufacturers who are so proud of their products provide test measurements in addition to specs? ”

@fleschler

Why not reach out to manufacturers and ask them? I am sure if you’re seriously considering their gear, they may provide the measurements. If all else fails, buy the gear and send it to ASR for measurements.

@fleschler , generally a dealer will be more than happy to provide and compare measurements if you ask and help you make a decision in the context of what you are trying to achieve, the size of your budget, your room, etc, both online dealers and brick and mortar. Some people feel dealers will just upsell you. With social media today they can’t survive for long if they make a bunch of customers unhappy and the good ones all know that. The bad ones don’t survive. 

 

If I ever saw this on the Monroney of the next car I buy, I'd pass on it knowing it wasn't designed by one who loves to drive.

'nuff said.

All the best,
Nonoise

You know the one "measurement" that consumers check frequently is online reviews. If a product is poorly engineered it gets one and two star reviews because it doesn’t perform, that is a metric that vendors pay attention to as well. The cable nazis lose their mind about cables they never tried and have been conditioned to hate. Yet when you see hundreds of people LOVE this or that brand of "expensive" cables it seems like it if it wasn’t well engineered that wouldn’t be the case. 

 

 

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@petg60 There are high end product buyers based on specs alone.  Why don't high end manufacturers who are so proud of their products provide test measurements in addition to specs?  

ASR insn't infallible but 99% of the time you can do the opposite of what ASR says and be in good shape.

ASR is the Shock Jock of the audiophile world, posting rediculous claims supposedly backed up by numbers, to create havoc and clics.  Unfortunately, the controvsy is making them rich.

Jerry

From the ASR forum, I stated, unequivocally, that equipment should be heard in a system in a room to determine a purchase. Regardless of the test measurements. Test measurements in sound only get one so far (ASR/Amir’s golden standard). Hearing is the platinum standard (me). Everyone has different music preferences and hearing capabilities (the physical and the learned from none/novice to experienced/golden ears). Knowing that, even if the measurements are the same, there generally are sonic differences one can hear and prefer.

I prefer tube amplification and multi-driver dynamic speakers in my room and system. The equipment is not perfect as tubes incur higher distortion than solid state (generally) and multi-driver systems have their own problems such as time alignment, phase shifts and dynamic compression.

@kota1 knows this and amply contributed to the ASR forum. I choose/chose my equipment, cables, tweaks based on hearing them in my listening rooms, not because they measured well or at all.

However, the query remains as to why don’t manufacturers supply their own test measurements and depend on reviewers?

Knowing measurements of the equipment I own, borrowed or owned "may" have  helped eliminate some wrong choices in the past.

My audiophile friend who is also a car sales manager of many decades reads car test measurements and comparisons with ample scrutiny. He gave me an example today that in one review, one sports car had 600 horsepower and the other 490 horsepower yet in a race, the 490 always beat the 600. Why, well what was left out of the review was that the 490 car had one ton less weight than the 600. Could that have been the reason? Probably.

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Hot topic these days but meaningless, i bet still many people buy only specs, most likely they are rich to throw away money.

Could it be because nobody uses a component in isolation but in a "system" with a group of components making the measurements of the system, taken in context of the room they are used more important?

 

 

Just like alleged performance figures/data for cars, trucks and motorcycles. All data is suspect buy what you like. 

I prefer to listen to music and not measure the equipment. How can you possibly measure all variables that determine what reaches your ear?  Perhaps manufacturers should require hearing tests prior to obtaining permission to purchase equipment.

Really? If you were now aware of them, would it change your rejections or adoptions?

 

I would have loved to see manufacturers measurements on my equipment and especially those that I rejected.  

screw measurements.

yet to really get get excited reading measurements. nothing wrong or right about measurements......they are data points with dubious value.

OTOH listening to music does get me emotionally involved and it’s fun. and i have faith in my listening perceptions as to long term satisfaction.

show me a system built with just with measurements, just one time. never done once. why is that? easy.....not relevant to the result. i rest my case.