Hi - ASR refugee here....

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#3
right now digital and streaming via headphones due to environmental conditions - so am using Hifiman/Hidzs planar phones/IEMs and Qudelix USB DACs with a Bluesound Node as the primary source, and a PC with Foobar 2000 for ripped CDs

Hope to someday find a new place where I can setup a proper system again - which would be magnepan based with bi amped woofers -- already have the amps and Sublime acoustic xover - just need the apartment that'll support it...
 
#6
Hi guys, thx for the welcome!

Yeah - the "SINAD Uber Alles" thing gets pretty stale in a short time --

I swear - Amir @ ASR is the demonic reincarnation of Julian Hirsch (If you guys go back that far to the late 70/early 80s "battles-in-print" between Harry Pearson (The Absolute Sound) and Julian Hirsch - Julian was the "measurements are the only reality" guy -- and TAS (and Stereophile) constantly mocked him -

It is funny to see Amir's reverence for Harman audio products though, especially since his alter ego is as a high end Home Integration company owner - Madrona Digital - in the northwest (Seattle?) - that uses Harman products (Revel, JBL, Arcam, Lexicon, Levinson etc.) in their projects...

And I am aware of his history as a Harman employee...

and @ tomchr - I know you're a fan of the LM3886 - I'm wondering if you ever came across the IRD Audio "Le Amp/MB100" mono amps - I think they use TDA7294 devices...
 
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#8
tjf411 said:
I know you're a fan of the LM3886 - I'm wondering if you ever came across the IRD Audio "Le Amp/MB100" mono amps - I think they use TDA7294 devices...
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The TDA7294 data sheet leaves a lot to be desired. The ICs may be great, but there isn't enough information in the data sheet for me to tell or to design with, so I've moved on.

Madrona Digital is in Bellevue, WA if I recall correctly. Across Lake Washington from Seattle.

Tom
 
#12
ASR was great when it first started. Now it's converged in a very dogmatic direction. You must agree or you are not worthy. It's unfortunate because its original mission was well-intended (IMO).

I don't like how tube amps are hung out to dry as the laughing stock of society. Tubes will never have as low distortion as a solid state amp optimized for the lowest distortion possible, but many people still like tube amps. That's their preference and they have just as much right to exist as those of us who prefer low distortion. We don't all have to like the same stuff.

Tom
 
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#14
I pulled myself back from ASR after Amir spun a bad faith argument suggesting I wrote something which I didn’t. When I questioned what the problem was, he never replied but his hounds did. I’ve seen this happen to a few members there and either he confused someone else’s posts with mine or just doesn’t read.
 
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#17
tomchr said:
ASR was great when it first started. Now it's converged in a very dogmatic direction. You must agree or you are not worthy. It's unfortunate because its original mission was well-intended (IMO).

I don't like how tube amps are hung out to dry as the laughing stock of society. Tubes will never have as low distortion as a solid state amp optimized for the lowest distortion possible, but many people still like tube amps. That's their preference and they have just as much right to exist as those of us who prefer low distortion. We don't all have to like the same stuff.

Tom
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Yes, the Tube amplification (pre or power) option absolutely doesn't fit with ASRs narrative - rather than looking for ways to find the hearing and perception mechanisms that make listeners prefer tube gear - ASR just says: "impossible, the SINAD numbers prove it's all down to "Expectation Bias" or "Confirmation Bias" -- rather than the listener perceiving greater sound quality (notice I'm not using the audiophile descriptors: depth/spacial accuracy, transparency, harmonic accuracy, dynamic accuracy -- even though these terms may accurately describe the listener's experiences and perceptions)...

And the requirement for any "subjective" listening experience to be proven by "controlled / peer reviewed / double blind" tests -- based I assume on the Harman/Toole "listener preference" model -- will never happen, as the costs for such experiments can't be borne by typical listeners -- and the few ASR members that try to do controlled objective testing in their homes are shouted down by claims of improper controls, poor level matching, and the favroite criticism: "Expectation/Confirmation" biases are poisoning a truly "objective" test result...

So ultimately ASR has an unassailable narrative to deny any listener's perceptions and experiences -- unless they conform to the few subjective opinions of Amir (cf - his "subjective" evaluations of Headphones, speakers, and room correction systems "in-room" acoustic results)...

Anyway - I trust my listening perceptions, and ultimately that's all that matters - some of the products I've tried that received high (SINAD) marks from ASR usually prove to be fairly boring/un-interesting to listen to (i.e. - Topping DACs and Headphone amps, Wiim streamers, etc.)...
 
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#18
tomchr said:
I don't like how tube amps are hung out to dry as the laughing stock of society. Tubes will never have as low distortion as a solid state amp optimized for the lowest distortion possible, but many people still like tube amps. That's their preference and they have just as much right to exist as those of us who prefer low distortion. We don't all have to like the same stuff.
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The tube amp one really gets me. They know in advance there will be harmonics so they could move past those and actually look at things like the power supply performance. Instead they lump the harmonics into the SINAD number and everyone gets so excited slamming a product that just may not be for them.
The only reason I see that they keep 'testing' them is because it feels good to slam products they don't approve of and the people that enjoy them.
To me, it is the equivalent of Farm Equipment Review (if such a thing exists) testing a Corvette and saying "this thing is terrible, you can't haul hardly any livestock in it!" Every time a tube amp shows up on there we get the standard "It's an effects box" and "that would sound terrible". Ironically, I'm not aware of a single one of them that has done a double blind listening test at moderate volume levels to back up their statement. Which also leads to what seems to be the other fundamental belief there "every amp should be able to drive inefficient speakers to hearing damaging levels"
 
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#20
invaderzim said:
To me, it is the equivalent of Farm Equipment Review (if such a thing exists) testing a Corvette and saying "this thing is terrible, you can't haul hardly any livestock in it!"
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LOL <snort>. That's spot on.

This time of year can be pretty entertaining around the hockey rinks. People show up in their summer cars that are fun to drive but not very suitable for hauling hockey gear. A friend of mine fought quite a bit to get his gear into and out of his 911 Carerra. 🙂

Tom
 
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