New Collaboration with Ascilab!

[M.C. Logan]

Sure, I don’t trust stereophile reviews either, but even it hasn’t crossed the line of actually selling products that compete with products it reviews.

Have you seen a bad review in stereophile? If you have, was it from a prominent advertiser?
Never seen one. They accept money direct from manufacturers, they don't take any risk, financial or otherwise, and take no risk in their reviews.

 

[PristineSound]

That'd be almost exclusively a North American product line.

That's only a 4.3mx4.3m room. I've been to Europe, Latin America and they absolutely do have room size bigger than this.

In Asia, maybe that a different story if you live in the urban area.

 

[Mazzeroph]

Maybe this has already been said, but IF this new side hustle ends up reducing the number of reviews we get, I for one, will be greatly disappointed. I hope he's not selling out the way some other reviewers have (Thomas and Stereo and how his amplifier business has replaced his reviews, for example)

In the end though, this is Amir's baby. He created it and the $25 donation I made doesn't give me a vote on what he does with his life. He needs to do what is best for him and his family. I would just hope that he recognizes that his audio review legacy will be far greater than his speaker sales.

 

[Labjr]

How much is the ASR member discount?

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Hi all!

Members have helped build this community and appreciate the support and understand that change can be difficult.

However, Amir has stated his intentions for ASR in the OP and reiterated in post #313.

Please keep any future posts focused on facts rather than speculation about ASR or other members. Amir has done his due diligence on this opportunity and is best if we allow him more time to focus on his testing and reviews.

I always look at it and say there are two parts to this. One the one hand ASR and Amir are measuring gear and letting everyone know how the gear complies with existing standards. I have no doubt Amir is doing an unimpeachable job and an invaluable service to the community in doing that.

Then there are Amir's subjective opinions. I also have no doubt they are done in good faith and are as objective as he can make them. And Amir is a highly trained and experienced listener, so every one of those opinions are well founded and professionally done. But that doesn't mean everyone always agrees with them. Inasmuch as they are subjective, others will have different takes. As a subjective reviewer, people can and do from time to time have honest differences with his assessments.

In any case, there's absolutely nothing that I've ever seen here to lead me to believe Amir and ASR don't live up to the highest ethical standards at all times. Any and all potential biases as well as financial dependencies are fully disclosed. And I, for one, applaud that he's facilitating bringing this important new manufacturer to the American market. And that's a service that brings value so he deserves compensation for it. As Hyman Roth said in the Godfather "After all, we're not communists here."

 

[GXAlan]

1. Members, companies and retailers will continue to send me products to test. I will also purchase some as I always have.

Just brainstorming. Since you aren’t dependent on advertising revenue and the need for constant page views and you do have a thriving forum, would it make sense to make ASR reviews like TV episodes with a specific weekly or monthly drop?

Conflict of interest and perception of conflict of interest are two different things, but minimizing perception of conflict of interest is important for those in public service roles. ASR isn’t a public service by intent or design, but we all know that ASR is one of the most instrumental organizations to push audiophiles toward more objective assessments.

We know your schedule is random since this historically has been a hobby for you. Readers might perceive that Ascilab gets priority reviews over user reviews. Maybe a solution would be to post a whole batch of reviews at a time.

I am not sure if you should do something like publishing 5 articles in a batch and it is random how long it takes to get 5 articles published? Or if it is better to follow print magazines and just publish new reviews the first of every month whether they are electronics or speakers?

3. There will now be a clear and easy way for members to find select few products that are subjected to vigorous testing and recommendation by me. These will products will get no more or less coverage as far as reviews in ASR.

4. A few in the industry may take offense to this and reduce their involvement in ASR. Likewise a few members may become unhappy. This is understood and is part of the calculous of this new effort.

Do you plan to expand distribution of other products beyond Ascilabs as you expand?

If Madrona Digital carried Ascilab, it seems like there would be less complaining.

For example. Madrona carries Harman. When Harman acquired Arcam, you probably started selling Arcam. If Harman had acquired Ascilab, there wouldn’t be any concerns if it was just another acquisition.

So I guess a question is: will readers need to buy Ascilab speakers from your brother in order to get them tested? Could Madrona send more Harman speakers or electronics for measurement without requiring readers to prepurchase?

5. There will be no change in my title, where I post, etc.

+1


Last, companies like Power Sound Audio offer open box specials and customer trade in specials.

1) Do you plan to have an Ascilab showroom? Or will you be distributing to other retailers?
2) Will you be offering open box discounts on the speakers that are tested? If so, is there a raffle or system for figuring out who gets the discount?

Just throwing out ideas. I am officially no longer in the market for speakers.

 

[mrick39]

Amir....discounts for ASR members???? LOL

 

[muad]

Canada is included but how your question is handled, is yet to be figured out. It partially depends on how much tariff we will be charged when importing into US. What duty do you have to pay currently for audio products imported from US?

If US tariffs inflate the price when imported into the US, will that be passed on to Canadians?

 

[ssashton]

I can't help but read it like this

    _    ____   ____ ___ _        _    ____ 
   / \  / ___| / ___|_ _| |      / \  | __ )
  / _ \ \___ \| |    | || |     / _ \ |  _ \
 / ___ \ ___) | |___ | || |___ / ___ \| |_) |
/_/   \_\____/ \____|___|_____/_/   \_\____/

 

[amirm]

If US tariffs inflate the price when imported into the US, will that be passed on to Canadians?

I don't yet have the answer to this. Let's say the tariff is 10%. Do you rather pay this and get support from US or buy direct from Korea?

 

[amirm]

Amir....discounts for ASR members???? LOL

There is. It is one cent!

 

[amirm]

Just brainstorming. Since you aren’t dependent on advertising revenue and the need for constant page views and you do have a thriving forum, would it make sense to make ASR reviews like TV episodes with a specific weekly or monthly drop?

This is not related to the topic at hand but the answer is no. Unless I hire a team to do reviews, I can't stick to schedules like that.

 

[amirm]

Do you plan to expand distribution of other products beyond Ascilabs as you expand?

I am considering it. Idea is one-stop-shop for "what would Amir buy?" I get so many questions like this that being able to refer people to a site would be a major relief.

 

[amirm]

Readers might perceive that Ascilab gets priority reviews over user reviews.

I don't know why this keeps coming up. Ascilab is only going to release a handful of products per year. This is a drop in the bucket compared to all that I review per year. And at any rate, I would be reviewing their products anyway, whether this venture existed or not.

 

[JPA]

Amir....discounts for ASR members???? LOL

The discount will be tied directly to your donation amount.

 

[amirm]

If Madrona Digital carried Ascilab, it seems like there would be less complaining.

Madrona's overhead is huge compared to what is required to run this business. And it is not setup to handle mail order. So it is a poor fit and hence the new organization.

 

[DMill]

There is. It is one cent!

Be advised the cost of mailing a penny to Canada may actually cost you a Starbucks coffee and muffin with tariffs.

 

[amirm]

So I guess a question is: will readers need to buy Ascilab speakers from your brother in order to get them tested? Could Madrona send more Harman speakers or electronics for measurement without requiring readers to prepurchase?

Madrona has never supplied any products for me to test. Mind you, I have purchased products through Madrona for testing when customers wanted to purchase them. But Madrona itself was never in the loop of just testing things.

And I don't know why anyone would want to buy anything from Ascilab to be tested when company does its own testing, and I and others will perform independent testing as well.

 

[Timcognito]

I am considering it. Idea is one-stop-shop for "what would Amir buy?" I get so many questions like this that being able to refer people to a site would be a major relief.

IMO that would be a distraction as those kind of issues usually get handled in the comments at the end of your review by you and then many others. Most of the ASR tests focus on I/O testing and many products purchase decisions have a lot to do features, connectibility, compatibility, and control of and from other devices, just a lot of subjective user needs data not covered in your reviews. Just the Apple vs Android issue is nightmare. Perhaps Amir's Top Ten in a dozen calories backed with a lot what to look for advice would be better. Food for thought.

 

[muad]

I don't yet have the answer to this. Let's say the tariff is 10%. Do you rather pay this and get support from US or buy direct from Korea?

I would rather buy direct from Korea than pay US tariffs as a Canadian.

Just to be clear, if you have exclusive rights, does that mean I can no longer order directly from ascilabs to Canada?