What if a high end speaker measures really badly?

I don’t think we can say much of anything about that graph, and the others presented here without knowing the level of smoothing applied to the raw data.

@bruce19  True, but the problem here is that, if anything, the graph was not smoothed enough! 🤣 Are you suggesting maybe this speaker is far worse than it seems?

My point is, we know at least that those deep valleys are not due to over-smoothing.

In high-end industry crowded by unaware and uneducated rich kids of baby boomers you can take different approaches. 

1) Design Measure Build and Measure again then present and advertise

2) Build Present and Advertise -- provide unmeasured good looking parameters.

Measuring per specific room is important. That gives a consumer an idea if these speakers will match his/her room.

PS Everyone says "listen to these before you buy. My point is you may not catch these dips in a 15 minute audition.

@carlsbad2 

Yes, exactly. With a little experience, and a lot of misspent money/youth you’ll realize how extra-sexy speakers which reveal sounds you’ve never heard before, won’t actually last long in your listening room.

Oddly, where these speakers do measure well is in the horizontal dispersion. I’d expect they have an excellent and wide sweet spot, though not a very tall one.

Measuring per specific room is important. That gives a consumer an idea if these speakers will match his/her room.

This is an area where I think Vandersteen does it exactly right.  Uses an active woofer with built in EQ and a low pass filter for the amps.  In hotel rooms this delivered exceptional bass in a tiny room.

@deep_333  illustrates the deep, deep chasm between DIY builders and kit makers, modders vs. the high end industry writ large. 

"How can a speaker maker offer such poor performance for so much money" they ask, and sometimes I have trouble defending some models.