I’m reading Reddit and an ASR approved system pops up, with people arguing if Amir would approve. Seriously is this a cult?
Short answer is yes it’s a cult.
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yes
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You got to be kidding me.
It is amusing to watch.
We’ve gone so long without mention of those A** folks!
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Who???..
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Many amplifier designers play with second or third order harmonics in order to achieve a more musical sound. From what I’ve read, people tend to like second order, negative or positive phase.
This concept causes Amir’s head to explode. Harmonics are distortion! He’s a pisser. And his followers hang on his every word in a most devoted, cult-like fashion.
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I think my Pass amps are somewhere around 10% distortion at moderate listening levels. It’s perfect.
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Are you joking?
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Maybe. 
I do know that Nelson does use distortion in one way or the other to add to the “Pass sound” (which is glorious by the way).
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LOL. I just finished getting banned from their site for not agreeing that subjective opinions are not a part of data.
I was accused of being a troll. To be honest, I had trolling tendencies once their responses started rolling in asking about my education. I’m 80% sure I have a higher education than 90% of them
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Its kind of funny how the ASR folks flamed Bacch DSP poster.
The whole crowd is just a bit too flat earth in their open mindedness
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I wouldn’t know at all if people didn’t mention it here. Grin.
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Somewhere in his collection of white papers on the Pass website, Nelson states that about a third of audiophiles prefer 3rd order harmonic distortion (the X-series) a third prefer 2nd order distortion (the XA-series), the remaining third have no preference., and that some will change their preference over time.
He’s one of the more intellectually curious designers out there.
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My day job is being a sociology professor who specializes in the study of religion. I’ve noticed that conspiracy theories aren’t confined to weighty political matters. Hobbies are a hotbed for conspiracy theories, the audiophile world included.
ASR appeals to the conspiracy-minded in my opinion. He and his followers think they’re smarter than everyone else in the audiophile world. This sense of superiority is exactly the psychological payoff that drives most conspiracy theory followers.
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This is quite interesting. Any other insights on the cult of Amir welcome. I feel some of their smugness comes from being broke (or just cheap) and feeling empowered by empirical “proof” confirming their choices their gear is superior. Not sure how known it is in the cult that Amir also sells low cost gear imported from China.
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In the cult of Al, my followers all know they are smarter than me.
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If one reads the Reddit thread’s comments, even the originator of that “ASR approved” post says the ASR fanboys are cultish and admits he’s had numerous disagreements with them. Especially over his love of vinyl records.
I think I would agree with this.
It seems that they confuse their data interpretation to be the same as the data itself. Therefore it cannot be questioned.
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