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

"Not nice" begets "not nice".  I suspect that much of the perceived animosity for ASR stems from the harsh criticism someone will get if they post a subjective opinion.  I’m sure it’s a two-way street, but I certainly remember how critical they were of my subjective input before I realized how married they are to the specs, and how little emphasis they put on subjective listening.  It was quite unpleasant, and I thought unnecessary.  It seems it’s always the extremists who give a bad name to the moderates with a slight slant one way or the other.  

I also suspect that the polarized controversy appeals to his segment of the market, which makes money for him, so there may be a fair amount of posturing for the sake of promoting his stance.

No one has the monopoly on being thin skinned. 

"Consult reviewers that base their recommendations on listening to the gear. Have a look at Stereophile, The Absolute Sound, and HiFi+."

I agree with this comment made early in this thread. I am a fairly regular reader of these although much of the equipment is out of my budget. TAS steered me in the right direction on a pair of Polk Legend 600 speakers. I read a few reviews on them elsewhere but when TAS wrote a glowing review I decided to buy a pair w/o auditioning them (nobody near me carried them). I don't regret the purchase at all and never looked  much at the specs on them and I don't think ASR ever "tested" them. 

By our standards here, you could generalize the ASR crew as cheapskates and measurement fetishists. Their gold-standard 1-number SINAD ensures tube gear and analog sources will be positioned in the very bottom cellar of any gear lists. They don’t value listening results...at all. I remember reading one "review" ending with: "Listening tests were not performed because we had company arrive". Typical. In ASR land, more money for a component can only be justified by a better SINAD, and only so much. 

Superficially we're both into "audio gear", but they’re doing a very different hobby than we do. IMO it’s ridiculous to try and have discourse & debate between these two disparate groups. The SINAD results can be interesting to check up once in a while, but it’s a limited tool (when all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail) and end of day what I care about is listening results in my system. 

For those on a limited budget (most people),  ASR is a good source among others, whereas this place can be a total financial disaster, if not very careful.

People discredit sites like ASR yet pine about more people not joining the hifi club.  Makes no sense.  Like so much in people’s lives these days,   things that used to be affordable for most are no longer.

I’m sure if people were less financially strapped these days value would not matter as much.  But they are and it does.   Boutique products with bling are for fewer and fewer these days.  That’s progress?  Would seem so in that affordable items that perform well are abundant these days.  Good thing too.  That’s why more people than ever are getting better sound quality than ever before these days AT ALL PRICE POINTS!  That's good news for all.

My first system cost $200 in 1972, a Sanyo all in one with very poor sound quality.  THese days most people have a streaming device called a cell phone and can buy a decent pair of headphones for $200, maybe even a very good pair of powered speakers for just a little more.

Its a golden age for sure.  Better sound for more!   THank you to all who made that possible.