@Doodski @tiramisu I agree with many of the points you make. (I also appreciate the even-handedness with which you make them!) I understand that Amir does not test for durability/reliability. I think what bothers me, however, is how 'recommendation' is being doled out in ASR. Generally, when you recommend a product to a friend, reliability is implicitly part of the recommendation. I suspect
@archerious would not recommend the SU-9N to a friend based on his experience, no matter how great it sounded while it worked. (However archerious I don't mean to speak for you, so correct me if I am wrong.) At least, I would certainly not recommend this DAC to a friend if I had had their experience.
So, granted, Amir does not and will not take reliability into account in his reviews. But doesn't it feel like his reviews are being a bit naive (if not a bit disingenuous) about all these recommendations in the context of the veritable flood of Topping, SMSL, Loxjie, Sabaj, Gustard etc. Chinese hi-fi products that ASR rushes to review? I see no acknowledgment of this -- no questioning of why Amir reviews dozens of Topping etc. products for every RME or Schiit that comes along. "That's because Topping produces many more products than an RME does." YES, right! I count 47 reviews of Topping products on the Master Review Index. Just how many DACs or combo DACs does one company need to produce? (Yes, I know not all 47 are DACs; many however are.) Doesn't the breakneck rate of Topping's new product output raise any concerns or suspicions about quality?
None of that is taken into account by Amir. It's just, "NEW Topping product! Highly recommended by ASR!" rinse and repeat. At some point, this starts to feel deceptive, or at least, naive. Caveat emptor, of course. It's on the buyer to make informed choices about purchases. Yes, indeed. But the only message I get from ASR re:Topping et al. is 'amazing products, highly recommended.' Just keep them coming.