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

However, after listening to multiple cables of the same make, I rarely heard any difference.

….

#metoo 😎

So, I don’t see how the video you posted would help a member test cables or other components.

I explained how you do that in the video.  Setup your system such that you don't know which cable is used (cover/hide it).  Then have a loved one randomly switch one cable for the other.  You keep score of which is which as does the person doing the switching for you.  Do this 10 times and see if you can correctly identify one cable at least 8 times.  Seeing how in sighted tests major fidelity changes are reported, then this process should back that up.  If not, then the sighted tests are faulty.

If you are unwilling or unable to do such tests, then my measurements and null tests are an excellent substitute.  In some cases I have actually provided the captured outputs of the system so you can use any ABX software tool to compare them.

So very easy to do when it comes to cables (or any other audio tweak) which is the topic of this thread.

A comment, or clarification: measurements are a means to an end, not an end in themselves. 

When building something it can be very useful to measure certain parameters, in order to quantify progress in design changes, especially changes that might be below the threshold of audibility. Or it might also be useful to measure in order to discern what quantitative measures correlate with listener preference. Keith Herron for example once told me he believed people were sensitive to as little as 1/4dB in a certain circuit. This is far too low a level for anyone to identify as being louder or pick that out as the reason, they simply preferred one over another and only Keith knew the reason.

The takeaway, what I got from it anyway, was three-fold:

First, his testing was double-blind. So there is a use case even for this so often abused method.

Second, measurements can be essential. It was only by rigorously measuring output that he knew what it was his test subjects were hearing, or more precisely choosing between.

And third and most crucially, the end goal was listener preference. Not the measurement. The experience. 

Say again, measurements are a means to an end. If you can keep this simple fact in mind any time you see anyone putting the cart before the horse, it can save you a whole lot of misery, wasted time, and money.

And now, at the risk of beating a now hopefully dead horse, I was not looking for a way of measuring cable vibrations to prove Cable Cradles work. Simply listen, it is obvious. I was looking for something that might help me figure out how to make them even better. There is always better. The proof is in the hearing. That is all.

@millercarbon I certainly agree with you but unfortunately, the highness of all things audio through measurement declares we are mislead, foolish and wasteful of our money.  A few others declared experts in mastering and sound reproduction as well as myself and friends as incompetent in discerning gross differences in sound and whether the sound is better or worse.  Hence, this site debunking the measurements uber all (well, primarily the ASR/Amir site) without the testing and measuring of the differences for audiophiles and music lovers.  If you read my previously posts, you'll know that I consider some measurements fundamental in matching equipment (speakers to amps, amps to pre-amps and cartridges to arms for example).  As to cables and tweaks, it becomes more of a listeners preference and not "snake oil."  Seasoned and expert listeners can easily discern better, worse and subtle/slight differences and each may have a preferential sound.  I have two friends with contrary opinions, one prefers and upfront, detailed (brighter) sound and another prefers a laid back, warm and fullsome sound.  Neither of them are wrong in their preference.  Neither of the approaches necessary denote that the equipment is faulty or measures significantly differently.  It's a combination of equipment in a system in a particular room/acoustics which determines the sound combined with the other elements such as power source, humidity, temperature, cabling and perhaps tweaks to create the sound the person prefers.  It is not easy to do.  That is why audio shows and audio salons strive to combine components which work together and present a unified sound, one type or another.  

Yes, I am aware of that hopelessly lost, muddled, and illogical view. Hopeless, because they won't listen. Lost, because it forgets the reason for music in the first place is enjoyment. Muddled, because it pretends to serve as a guide and frame of reference, when in fact it removes them all. Or let them prove otherwise, simply tell us what measurements and in what order and proportion they can be used to rank performance. Illogical, because they pretend to be mind readers. After all, how else would THEY know YOU wasted YOUR money? 

Nonsense on stilts, a smorgasbord of it, from soup to nuts.