Well yes, it tells them the opinion of the membership based on the test results... any other interpretation is at the fault of the lazy reader.
I think a similar question was made on Audioquest cable review, where someone asked
why bother even testing such things. Amir's reply was, that ASR gets a lot of traffic from simple searches on Google, from non members that just drop in, so in a way he was providing a public service, which is fine.
However, non members, by default, do not know the dynamics of ASR, and a rating, may be taken as a real rating! Which ASR ratings are not really.
Mind you, I am not blaming Amir for implementing the ratings system, I am all for it!
My only beef is with members, who vote about a device with absolute minimal knowledge and no experience of the device.
As I said before, Amir tests the performance of the device, but what about reliability, sharpness of the metal at corners, dodgy volume control knobs, so many things that Amir could not possibly test, but will affect any meaningful ratings of a device.
If one has access to Amirs review results, then the ratings of members based purely on those results, carries no information whatsoever.
But for example, on Audioquest cable review, I voted fine, because I actually had one, used one.
So I knew it was well-made, thin, flexible, strong - quality gold-plated jacks, low impedance etc.
My vote was based on personal knowledge and experience of the device, and therefore had value.
If I vote on this device now, my vote means zip! I could even vote on spite! Which some may have done on, say, Chord Electronics products.