As I have said before, entering into a world of arguing over specs is not a world ATC wants to be in.
The elephant in the "room" is the fact that a ROOM itself changes every speaker inside it so drastically that factory or ASR measured results elsewhere bear no resemblance to the actual in room measurement. Beyond the room, there are so many source related factors added to the results. The general lack of understanding that a speaker sounds very different "here" than "there" is revealed in the number of people that think buying a new speaker before experimenting with room position is a proper way of pursuing good sound.
Arguing over speaker "specs" as printed or claimed has no bearing on final audio results. If the public ever knew the number of manufacturers who just widen the tolerance to get the number they know will sell speakers, they would not trust any of these specs. Arguing that a factory measurement reveals values relevant to our expected in room performance of a loudspeaker is parallel to arguing the measurement of horsepower of a motor reveals the important values of a sportscar on the road. They might some offer insight, but that insight might not be relevant to our unique expectations. What does horsepower have to do with the handling? Ot the comfort in the drivers seat? Or the reliability and repairability? Same with frequency response or power handling: the say nothing about off axis performance or dynamic range or reliability, values that may be far more important to real life use of the speaker.
ASR misleads people into thinking their measurements are relevant to playback in a listener’s room. Frequency response is LAST spec one should trust. Distortion is another. This "measurement misdirection" is well known by the transducer and speaker engineers that use measurements to make decisions and choices in the endless trade offs in design that balance cost, materials, performance and repeatability. The 20 year old SCM19 review is a great example of this "measurement misdirection" agenda- measurements are really a MARKETING vehicle that directly relates to sales or at the very least, attempts to influence sales. Beware of those that fly this measurement flag.
A loudspeaker is in short a physics puzzle extraordinaire. It really is rocket science. There are so many different sciences involved, it’s daunting. Transducer engineers need extensive schooling, apprentice training and still spend a lifetime trying to master it. Attempts to reduce this engineering effort to a single "spec" or a simple number is just an insult to those that invest their lives chasing this holy grail. It’s not just the factory I import (ATC) that has done great work, there are loads more, past and present. Stromberg Carlson’s 1930s "acoustic labyrinth" and handmade leather coax driver come to mind, Ray Cooke [KEF] his research continues to influence all loudspeakers; Don Keele [EV, JBL] and his horn research and work, John Meyer in live sound and pattern steering, Floyd Toole, on and on.
Brad
