Why did you join ASR?

[xanalog]

What a nice (and candid) thread it turned out to be!
Thanks, @David.M.

 

[Mort]

What a nice (and candid) thread it turned out to be!
Thanks, @David.M.
View attachment 556843

It's the only thing we can agree on.

We all got here.

 

[FrantzM]

Amir asked me. The forum we were both contributing to took a deep dive into the subjective world, to the point he was banned, and I felt very limited in where and what I could post (I still post, still some good people there, but skip the vast majority of threads). Here are more kindred spirits and the opportunity to grow technically as there are so many folk with exceedingly deep knowledge of many aspects of audio (and other things). Amir has created an incredible resource. I try to pay back by contributing where I can with entry'ish-level technical articles and assorted babbling in threads when I think I can add value (not always true).

+1. Same story.

ASR is entirely responsible for me having the best, and least expensive audio I have ever had in my 50+ years of being an audiophile. System is 10 years old, with no desire to change it.

 

[Wizard509]

I stumbled onto ASR a bit more than three years ago while trying to educate myself on DACs. Subsequently, I've spent MANY hours tumbling down numerous rabbit holes here. At some point in the not-too-distant future, I hope to start working on some DIY loudspeakers that are somewhat akin to the Directiva units.

 

[Shotgun Rico]

I was getting too many subjective videos on YouTube from Cheap Audio Man’s ridiculous recommendations to Paul from PS Audio reading his viewers emails which were just subtle ways he can sell his very expensive equipment. I’m a WiiM user so someone on their forum mentioned ASR. The objective reviews with actual measurements was a breath of fresh air.

 

[Plcamp]

Insulting folks at superbestaudiofriends repeatedly dissed “ASR” in a DAC thread so I came here to check it out and found true expertise.

There is more knowledge about audio here than anywhere else I have seen. You can’t help but learn a lot.

 

[xanalog]

It's the only thing we can agree on.
We all got here.

Truth be told, some of us --old timers-- were forced to relocate here!

'We' grew up in the old days of tube/transistor based hardware, where we foraged for audio-related information, because it was a passion then, as it is today.
Dial-up modems were not even tools available to seek audio news... yet.
We used smoke signals, word-of-mouth, books, periodicals, college libraries, and radio to feed our audio-appetite!

Then, all those sources just dried-up or just became archaic or morphed into something else.
So, the old-timers --amongst us-- are like refugees and asylum seekers, under forced-relocation!

 

[Platypus20]

I was reading an article about the Benchmark AHB2 amp, that I own, ASR was mentioned. I came an d started to read, I’m still here.

 

[JPA]

Who can resist a forum owner like this?

 

[Salt]

Who can resist a forum owner like this?

 

[Salt]

That guy is transparently clean off of foreign affairs as we learned here in this thread

 

[MattHooper]

I knew Amir from another forum and already respected him a great deal. Don't recall exactly how I learned that he'd started his own forum but signed up soon as I found out. That was a little over ten years ago.

Lemme relate a quick story about someone I met here. He disagrees with me on various issues and challenges me with annoying effectiveness. He's exasperatingly intelligent and if someone was keeping score I'm pretty sure the tally would show he's right quite a bit more often than I am. I thought he disliked me, but then one day out of the blue he sent me a friendly private message and we've been friends ever since. We don't agree any more often than we did before; he might be pulling his punches a little bit but his aim is as good as ever; but I've learned something way beyond audio from my online association with him.

So I guess my point is, there are some really good people on this site even if you find yourself on the opposite side from them in a heated discussion.

I’m waiting for that same PM

Glad you guys worked things out.
And as I’ve said before, I think you are a model of how we ought to conduct ourselves on a forum.

 

[Salt]

I’m waiting for that same PM

Glad you guys worked things out.
And as I’ve said before, I think you are a model of how we ought to conduct ourselves on a forum.

Not exactly the answer to the question by OP ?

 

[MattHooper]

I got heavily into high audio in the mid 90s.
Enjoyed the various mags like TAS, Stereophile and many others. And then online discussion for enthusiast was taking off as well.

However, I also grew up reading books and publications concerning science and scepticism - I particularly enjoyed the sceptical investigations in magazines, like the Skeptical Inquirer, Skeptic magazine, and other such rational inquiries into pseudoscience and woo woo claims.

I couldn’t help but notice a lot of the same type of pseudoscientific and woo woo beliefs populating the high-end audio hobby.
So I always make sure to pay attention to what skeptics were saying, especially those with the relevant electronics or scientific background. I wanted to keep my feet on the ground and have a way of shifting through the pseudoscience and woo. (which is also a reason I started blind testing various types of gear occasionally, starting in the 90s).

So when ASR arrived on the scene I was naturally attracted to a place where audio could be discussed without flights into pseudoscience, and the mush of purely subjective takes and claims.

And I admit that Amir’s myth-busting reviews and videos, where he takes on various dubious audiophile shibboleths, remain closest to my heart

I also knew of Amir from the AVSForum (I’m a longtime member and have many more posts there than here). I enjoyed his contributions there. He was pretty notorious for extended argumentation So it was interesting seeing him start this Forum.

All that said I don’t limit my participation only to ASR. I still highly value the subjective aspects of this hobby, and exchanging subjective impressions. As I’ve argued, not only do I find them entertaining and a nice way to commune with other audiophiles, I don’t think they have to be totally worthless.
I think exchange of subjective impressions can be navigated, keeping one out of going down pseudo scientific rabbit holes, by imbibing the type of information found on places like ASR.

Sometimes I find ASR a bit arid in terms of the allergy many members exhibit to informal subjective descriptions as ways of discussing equipment. So I inhabit some of the more subjective forums to enjoy that aspect.

But when I stay in subjective forums too long, the sand starts shifting beneath my feet, like there’s no objective foundation for analyzing claims, leading to flights of fancy. Then I come running back to ASR as something of an oasis in the audio discussion world .

 

[MattHooper]

Not exactly the answer to the question by OP ?

Patience

Refresh your browser

 

[Salt]

Patience

Refresh your browser

Your iPhone ' s on charge now, not?

 

[JayGilb]

I came here because I appreciated Amir’s scientific approach to measurements and stayed here because it’s the only site that doesn’t have advertisements.

 

[JohnnyAudio]

I needed a way to get rid of more money.
Thank you everyone.

 

[xanalog]

Plus, another benefit is that it helps me improve my English.

Here, let me help:

Only because we like helping each other!

 

[Multicore]

It was 2019. I was shopping for better speakers. I went to the best hifi vendors in town and didn't get along with their methods and felt some of their claims were untrustworthy. (I'm an engineer and know a bit about signals and acoustics.) I went searching for better info and found it here.