Amir’s an exceptionally bright and talented person. I have no doubt he is more than capable of sorting the issues out. After all, this is 19th and early 20th century technology. It’s at the core relatively simple. It’s possible to control for the variables in a meaningful way. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Nothing ever is.
We all know what the master tapes sound like, right? I mean, for anything originally recorded onto analog magnetic tape, the CD or high resolution copies are indistinguishable from the originals, right? So we’ve all heard exactly what the classic recordings’ master tapes sound like. This is the crux of the BS in high-end audio. It is not possible to do better than the original master tape, and a high quality digital transfer cannot be distinguished from the original.
The claims about analog superiority are as old as the medium itself. Edison held public blindfolded tests to show his reproduction equipment was “indistinguishable” from live performance. When vacuum tube technology was introduced in the 1920’s, a diehard core of audiophiles insisted the new electrical gear was nowhere near as good as the old, acoustic only technology (!!). Truth is, in 2021, turntables, tonearms and cartridges are solved problems, and are actually quite good, even for not tons of money. Maybe not quite as cheap as DAC’s, because they’re mechanical. But I but you can get top level performance from a $1,000 cartridge (maybe a $500 or less), and a $1000 or $2,000 turntable with tonearm, and a $400 phono pre. And that is what Amir is the very best at demonstrating, and that is what makes ASR so very special!