@nicktheknife
My approach is remarkably straight forward. I listen. If something bothers me with how it presents sonically, I work to lessen it. If I find something is missing, I work to bring it forward. Measurements can be of great help to find the source of the problem. Much like food, we season sound to taste. There is no universal perfect seasoning of food as we all have different likes and dislikes. Same holds true for sound.
Experimentation, trial and error and of course, keeping an open mind when making changes. We listen and hear differently. Few and far between are those who have ruler flat hearing, and I certainly do not. Why then do I care if my speakers present as ruler flat to a machine? I do not listen with a microphone and a computer. My ears are not slide rules.
The speakers I am currently in the middle adjusting using a baffle step compensation are getting closer to presenting well. Make a small shift in the values of the components, A/B the two speakers and listen for the differences. Choose the one that sounds better to me, then live with it for a while. Then do it again after some time has passed. Reevaluate. Then I compare with my reference speakers to see how successful, or not, the experiment has been.
This is a process that exists separate and apart from sitting and enjoying the music. It is very possible for both these pleasures to exist and have the system serve as a meditative reprieve from the world and a technical wonder that can be tinkered with.
