Is ASR for real, or is it only for those sub $1k or even sub $2K?

lol I know some ASR members who own very expensive stuff. Like most of them own a lot of pretty spendy gear. They just don’t go around flaunting it. But yes, value for money is the tenet there and will seem cheap compared to this forum but there are people with uber expensive stuff on there @andy2

You’d not hear them wax poetic about the latest gear but some do own a lot of TOTL stuff.

Most of the reviews of gear from members track on the expensive side

They subscribe to the 'If it measures good, it must sound good, if it tests bad it must be bad " school of thought.   

I have several products that they have shat on and they sound quite good.   They put little effort in listening to the audio gear they test. 

I don’t agree with the ASR philosophy as anyone who looks at my system would immediately realize. I do believe Amir has a point of view that is worth consideration, and I don’t think it’s very wise to just reject measurements out of hand. I think it’s shameful the way he is treated whenever he comes on this forum, just one personal insult after another. I think he’s wrong but find no reason to insult him. There is also a little cognitive dissonance in saying trust your ears, but you will find that a lot of folks who say trust your ears, and I’m one of them, will find one reason or another to reject any sort of blind testing. Which is trusting your ears.  Each to their own. 
 

I’d be a little careful about putting too much stock in magazine reviews, and I am a subscriber to both the absolute sound and  stereophile. I think these magazines are informative, interesting, and often educational. When it gets to reviews, however, they simply have obvious conflicts of interest arising from advertising dollars, very seldom do direct comparison reviews, which tend to be the most useful to a consumer and really rarely do a negative review. Surely something out there is just not good?  If you need a feeling of affirmation for a purchase, however, their reviews will do it because whatever it is, they’re gonna say it sounded really good. So, i think it’s good informational material, enjoyable reading, but their touts are about like buying a two dollar tip sheet at the racetrack. Just my opinion, read and decide for yourself.

Of the two, I prefer stereophile because it publishes a strong suite of measurements which gives a little more context to the subjective review

I discovered a YouTube channel, which I think is very good, more educational than reviews, but straightforward, knowledgeable, and well reasoned. 
analogholic it’s called and even if you don’t agree with everything he says, I think you’ll learn something from him.  I know i do. 
 

cheers.

Although I look at them, I've never based a purchase on specs alone, and I couldn't care less about lab tests. All those do is tell how the piece being tested behaves on it's own on a test bench, not how it will sound in conjunction with other equipment in an actual listening environment. A spec that looks bad on a bench test might just give you the exact sound you're looking for in your system. I find reviews from actual owners to be a much more reliable source of information for any given piece of new gear I'm interested in. That, and purchasing from a well established dealer with a robust return policy.