advertisement


Has anyone bought a product because of a recommendation on ASR?

Sloop John B

Sloop John B

And any old music will do…
Has anyone bought a product because of a recommendation on ASR ?

What product?

Did it meet your expectations (from its review)?

Did it replace and outperform a more expensive item?

I’m interested in some real word experience, from people who put their money down.

.sjb
 
No


But I know someone who bought a certain digital amplifier that was lauded on ASR due to its exemplary measured performance - suffice to say it did not end well ☹️
 
NRG said:
troll thread starter
Click to expand...

whatever you think….

but I don’t actually know whether ASR is the grail or Alice in Wonderland and thought people who actually spent money on products recommended on ASR might help me form an opinion about whether to follow some of his suggestions or not.

Why do you presume I’m trolling?

.sjb
 
7hz Zero 2 iem’s, not exactly a big purchase at £20 but it was good to see the tuning verified and the low distortion is nice if I want to play around with peq.

I like to see the measurements tally up with specifications and more manufacturers should be willing to publish them.
 
I've bought a half dozen items based on ASR recommendations. A couple have gone back, a couple of DACs are fine but do not outperform my MDAC.
Does that help? I would find my post completely useless.
 
Cambridge Duo Phono stage measured great, I borrowed it from my dealer.

www.audiosciencereview.com

Cambridge Audio Duo Phono Stage Review (Updated)

This is an updated review of the Cambridge Audio Duo phono preamplifier. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $349. The Duo has a solid build and is attractive to boot for its price. Back panel shows independent sets of inputs for moving magnet and coil cartridges: I like the...
www.audiosciencereview.com www.audiosciencereview.com

The sound was really bad. No noise and no music ...
 
brab said:
I've bought a half dozen items based on ASR recommendations. A couple have gone back, a couple of DACs are fine but do not outperform my MDAC.
Does that help? I would find my post completely useless.
Click to expand...

It does help, if I’m understanding correctly, 1/3 of the recommendations were returned so presumably did not do it for you, another 1/3 were fine but not world beaters, presumably the other 1/3 were keepers - (this is obviously presuming you mean 2 when you say a couple - which I’m told by my son living in Manchester that this isn’t always the case - whereas here in Ireland couple usually means a few and rarely just 2)

.sjb
 
Sloop John B said:
I’m interested in some real word experience, from people who put their money down.
Click to expand...

Hi SJB,

Yes, I have. I checked ASR for a cheap DAC that measured decently, to tide me over while my Chord Hugo 2 was out for repair. I bought a Topping D10 and couldn't tell the difference between the two DACs. (The Hugo had a battery problem but could play for long enough for me to get a decent comparison.)

I sold the Hugo and bought an RME DAC and put some cash in my pocket! (I wanted a volume control, which the RME has and the Topping lacks -- but they also sound very similar.)

--Joe
 
On a more general note, I'd advise caution when taking advice or making purchasing decision from sites siting in extreme camps.
To give them credit, ASR provide a useful service in highlighting issues - they really do expose inadequate and substandard junk, and their 'speaker reviews are very informative thanks to the wealth of useful information spewed from the Klippel scanner.

But SINAD is not king, and a whole range of performance results go into the final outcome so it should always be taken with a pinch of salt.

I also advise not straying into the forum comments, very much skip the starter, consume the main course and leg-it.
Too many headbangers.
 
I was reading about Lampizators on WBF a while back (mostly DAC's connected direct to power amps - Horizon/Pacific - not anything I can actually afford). A lot were real fans of their sound and had them in very impressive looking systems.

I just searched them on ASR out of curiosity and saw that the OP asking about them was quickly accused of trolling. By post 6 they had been advised that ASR might be a tough place for them, and that they were not considering sound when looking at them.

I would still like to hear one.
 
No. But I'm the kind of guy who checks reviews after I bought stuff to reassure myself that I've bought the 'right' product ;) The speakers in question does quite alright there, it turns out.
 
My take away from ASR is that it’s exclusively about measured technical excellence first and VFM next which produces a ‘giant killer’ mindset. Fair enough- the owner has revealed some serious performance flaws in high end items he’s measured, such as gross channel performance imbalances in amps etc. and at the same time can show enthusiasts on a tight budget how to get an honest buy. The chief problem is I think with the courtiers in the comments section- the sisterhood of the Bene Gessirit, ready with a a poison needle to wipe out apostasy.

Hifi reviewing viewed as a continuum would have ASR at one extreme and Ken Kessler at the other. I’ve never bought a single item he’s recommended ever but I could see myself buying something ASR gave the thumbs up to.
 
Yes and no. Yes: Topping DX3Pro+ and D70Pro Sabre (YouTube also influenced here) No: MHDT Pagoda, the worst measuring dac of all time on ASR. Part of this was a perverse experiment to see if the measurements made any real difference to listening pleasure - they don't.
 
I am curious about these just to hear what an "ASR approved" ticks-all-the-boxes speaker sounds like https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/ascend-sierra-1-v2-speaker-review.53350/ "Some of my reference tracks sounded so good that my jaw fell on the floor!"

These later models https://ascendacoustics.com/products/sierra-lx-pair conform even more to the ASR measured standards (The Ascend Acoustics guy had some poor measured reviews on his previous speakers so he dropped $100k on a Klippel thingmajig and these speakers are the result). Will some $1.5k damn-near-perfect-measuring speakers crush some £5.5k not-so-accurate but blooming great sounding speakers? Genuinely curious. Might pull the trigger.

FWIW I like what Amir brings to the table, partly addresses some of the snake oil elements of audio. Brings some balance to discussion. It's some of his followers who go OTT, to the point where it feels slightly cultish and overly dogmatic. But yeah, Amir seems like a good guy, doing some interesting stuff. He's/ASR are a plus net gain for the audio community, foibles and all.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top