MrPotatoHead
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AVSForum is Talking ASR Smack!
- Thread starter MrPotatoHead
- Start date
Vini darko
Major Contributor
Meh
Twenty years a member there and never donated. Now I know the reason.
I prefer reviews by real owners who spent their own money and plan to live with the product in their own home.
As written by an administrator of that site. Where to start with the inherent biases that come from that position! There do seem to be a fair few people on that thread being positive about the work Amir does with his testing.
As written by an administrator of that site. Where to start with the inherent biases that come from that position! There do seem to be a fair few people on that thread being positive about the work Amir does with his testing.
It is fine. 
Who is J Atkinson there? I trust he is not John Atkinson of stereophile? He has an administrator login.
Who is J Atkinson there? I trust he is not John Atkinson of stereophile? He has an administrator login.
I’ve gotten a lot of good information over there on video calibration, projector setup, home theater speaker setup and calibration. It’s a great site with a lot of very knowledgeable contributors. They normally stick to science. Cable believers are simply not tolerated.
That thread simply looks like sour grapes from someone who has spent a lot of money on high end AVPs and doesn’t want to accept that they measure relatively poorly when compared to SOTA DACs.
Martin
That thread simply looks like sour grapes from someone who has spent a lot of money on high end AVPs and doesn’t want to accept that they measure relatively poorly when compared to SOTA DACs.
Martin
danadam
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It is fine.
Who is J Atkinson there? I trust he is not John Atkinson of stereophile? He has an administrator login.
I liked his comment about he got 312 wpc at 8 ohm on the Starke amp (and mentions spec of 320....when even Starke only rates it at 225)....let alone wonder what his test gear/parameters are....but couldn't turn up anything in a brief search to see if he posted an actual review with measurements....
ps But did just look at your review, that's quite different from spec on your results....
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It’s a good source of info for beginners and primary focus is on home theatre stuff and set ups. One of the best Subwoofer guides is published there (linked in my sig) by a good friend. A good site overall. I remain a member there. Actually good to see ASR is making waves there. Going to be haters, but the folks with brains will come to take a look. Driving traffic to us is a good thing.
Trell
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It is fine.
Who is J Atkinson there? I trust he is not John Atkinson of stereophile? He has an administrator login.
From post #63 it appears not as he write in his reply
“As for your statement about John…..
He knows and loves audio. He runs tests on speakers. If he thought the Kippel was needed he would get one.”
And the writing is quite different than his posts here.
Thanks. If I were him I would put in my signature that I am not the stereophile reviewer.
Perhaps he likes that angle to trade on his distant relative's rep?
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Bed wetters.
I read the thread and most of the comments seem reasonable to me? There are a few trolls but it's hardly a SBAF bash thread or anything.
The fact of the matter is that judging AVRs/AVPs based on SINAD can be silly since many perform "well enough". And it's also a fact that Amir's ratings/comments have significantly changed over time. Early on, he was basically calling every single AVR broken because they didn't perform as well as desktop DACs. Now, as stated directly in the recent Anthem review, he "grades on a curve", with $15K AVPs that barely equal a $1200 Denon still passing the test
This has, IMO, unfairly left some older reviews judged as "broken" when they are fine, like the Monoprice HTP-1. The problem that gave it a headless panther was later confirmed to be fixable with a setting, and, honestly, not something that would ever be triggered by regular content watching. But it kept the headless panther despite general performance that is very similar to the previously mentioned $15K Storm Audio AVP.
I am not bashing ASR, however As multiple comments state, Amir's testing IS valuable and does confirm whether or not the basic electronics are broken, IF you know how to read the reviews. For example, it uncovered the fact that Marantz units use a very slow filter which will pull down high frequencies in the audible range. And Amir himself has stated that ASR isn't intended to be the best resource for functionality/features, so it is reasonable to look elsewhere for information about that. Which is very important information -- functionality/features are the entire reason you buy an AVR instead of a basic multi-channel DAC.
So, yes, it's totally correct to say the reviews are a good source of information for AVRs but you should not base your purchase solely on them.
The fact of the matter is that judging AVRs/AVPs based on SINAD can be silly since many perform "well enough". And it's also a fact that Amir's ratings/comments have significantly changed over time. Early on, he was basically calling every single AVR broken because they didn't perform as well as desktop DACs. Now, as stated directly in the recent Anthem review, he "grades on a curve", with $15K AVPs that barely equal a $1200 Denon still passing the test
This has, IMO, unfairly left some older reviews judged as "broken" when they are fine, like the Monoprice HTP-1. The problem that gave it a headless panther was later confirmed to be fixable with a setting, and, honestly, not something that would ever be triggered by regular content watching. But it kept the headless panther despite general performance that is very similar to the previously mentioned $15K Storm Audio AVP.
I am not bashing ASR, however
As multiple comments state, Amir's testing IS valuable and does confirm whether or not the basic electronics are broken, IF you know how to read the reviews. For example, it uncovered the fact that Marantz units use a very slow filter which will pull down high frequencies in the audible range. And Amir himself has stated that ASR isn't intended to be the best resource for functionality/features, so it is reasonable to look elsewhere for information about that. Which is very important information -- functionality/features are the entire reason you buy an AVR instead of a basic multi-channel DAC.So, yes, it's totally correct to say the reviews are a good source of information for AVRs but you should not base your purchase solely on them.
In one of the replies, the [ummm...] 'admin' refers to another 'John'...It is fine.
Who is J Atkinson there? I trust he is not John Atkinson of stereophile? He has an administrator login.
There was one reply about "hardware of the year":
I would like a variation of that idea, but only if we can do so, in an infighting [electoral?] manner!
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The admin of that name seems only semi-literate so I'd be astonished if it's JA from Stereophile.It is fine.
Who is J Atkinson there? I trust he is not John Atkinson of stereophile? He has an administrator login.
EDIT: I see it's not.
Enchy
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We also have no evidence that he got those results, and never will because he doesn't post them in his reviews. How helpful!
Reading the early replies have amusing value in them because of exactly what I thought @amirm was doing here. He had rich parents, and they endowed him with an expensive piece of pretty looking doorstop. So, he just sits back on his ikea couch, w/his remote and presses a single button, and schzaaam, the doorstop spits-out a post all by itself. So, easy! You see?
