Audio Science Review of Expert 200.

[ssfas]

I am actually grateful to the good people of ASR, believe it or not.  I like ...

That you for taking the time for writing such an excellent post. 

Having been rapidly banned by ASR, then others after me, I asked the moderator where I could find on ASR an explanation of how the measurements might in combination be used to get an understanding of likely performance. I was pointed to a thread that was no use at all.

I think I mentioned there, or possibly here, that the Expert is essentially a digital input device and RCA is going be used for phono most of the time so a little higher distortion is completely irrelevant even in the context of the best phono sources. You made the point well, but such user reasoning falls outside the ASR mindset.

The thing that struck me when I bought my unit, and I compared a Quad, Le 250 and 250 Pro, was the transient speed. That may well be a factor of the power supply and output impedance. Yes, 100% a subjective observation, but it was so blatantly obvious because it makes music sound that much more realistic. And, yes, the wife would have noticed from the kitchen. 

I appreciate their standpoint, but it is not for me, just as I appreciate the lovers of valve amplifiers that improve subjective sound with distortion. For some fun I once emulated a valve amplifier with a typical response curve using Roon.

What is objectionable is their view that only measurements count and that if anyone who forms subjective options is an audiophile, when is clearly considered the worst of all personal insults. This is premised on the assumption that EVERYTHING can be measured. The only certainty about stating an absolute scientific truth is that ultimately you will be proven wrong. Ask Newton, Einstein, ...