Powered speakers show audiophiles are confused

@thespeakerdude When I started in sound we got to use a new technology called TEF (Time Energy Frequency) an acoustic computer made by Crown. It would show the acoustic reflections on the screen, we found that unless the speaker was next to a wall the main reflections are from the floor then the ceiling. We did discover that there were some walls that were very reflective, in fact reflected more energy than they were receiving which is impossible turned out if the wall was vibrating sympathetically with the frequency it could push out more energy, this was a new finding in acoustics at the time. 

In a WMTMW speaker design the midrange drivers could be 1 foot from each other that is roughly a 1k frequency very important for vocals There is an old rule in recording called the 3 to 1 rule and it means the distance between the source and first mic is 1 the next mic should be 3 times that distance if you want less phasing. Looking at speakers this rule isn't followed at all especially in the WMTMW design. Physics is a tough competitor it always wins. Perhaps to audiophiles it's like not understanding that synergistically designed amps and speaker drivers are best practices, maybe they will never get it.

@thespeakerdude

Much of the hobby survives on the satisfaction people get from spending money.

Too late, I just spent more money🎧. I wanted to try a nice headphone rig and have been thinking about getting a 2 CH preamp for my home theater. My active speakers have both RCA and XLR inputs with a toggle switch to connect two preamps. So, I pulled the trigger on the Sony Signature headphone amp/dac/preamp, the TA-Z1HES. 

@kota1 Wow, I think you will be so happy with the Sony, Sony like Yamaha and other big companies can make very good equipment if they want to it's only a matter of approving the budget. Yamaha makes some of the best professional mixers ever. Why didn't you get a tube amp for your headphones, I have Focal and Naim but my headphones seem to accurate and cold not so fun to listen to. I hope you don't have the same problem, please let me know when you get that rig, congrats.

With all the variety in our head shapes, I am not sure how any headphone can sound right "out of the box". Speaker and room to me equate to headphones and head.

There is an old rule in recording called the 3 to 1 rule and it means the distance between the source and first mic is 1 the next mic should be 3 times that distance if you want less phasing.

To me, this rule (guideline) would factor around the typical fundamental tones of what you are recording, with the fundamentals being much more narrow than the extent of harmonics. With a speaker, and each driver working over a defined range, pointing in a specific direction, with the listener assumed to be at tweeter level, the problem would be more bounded. Remember MTM falls apart in the vertical direction if you are too far off axis.