Oh dear, it would appear that measurements not only matter but are essential when judging loudspeakers.
Audio Science Review = Rebuttal and Further Thoughts
@crymeanaudioriver @amir_asr You are sitting there worrying if this or that other useless tweak like a cable makes a sonic difference.
I don’t worry about my equipment unless it fails. I never worry about tweaks or cables. The last time I had to choose a cable was after I purchased my first DAC and transport in 2019. I auditioned six and chose one, the Synergistic Research Atmosphere X Euphoria. Why would someone with as fulfilling a life as me worry about cables or tweaks and it is in YOUR mind that they are USELESS.
@prof "would it be safe to say you are not an electrical designer or electrical engineer? If so, under what authority do you make the following comment" - concerning creating a high end DAC out of a mediocre DAC.
Well, I have such a DAC, built by a manufacturer of equipment and cables for his and my use. It beat out a $9,000 COS Engineering D1v and $5,000 D2v by a longshot. It is comparable to an $23,000 Meridian Ultradac. Because I tried all the latter three in comparison I say this with some authority, the authority of a recording engineer (me), a manufacturer (friend) and many audiophiles who have heard the same and came to the same conclusion.
Another DAC with excellent design engineer and inferior execution is the Emotiva XDA-2. No new audio board but 7! audiophile quality regulators instead of the computer grade junk inside, similar high end power and filter caps, resistors, etc. to make this into a high end DAC on the very cheap ($400 new plus about the same in added parts).
@russ69 We must be neighbors. I frequented Woodland Hills Audio Center back in the 70s and 80s. I heard several of Arnie’s speakers including a the large Infinity speakers in a home.
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That little clip is fodder for those wishing to deny the value of measuments in audio. The guy was so unprepared that he often had to refer to hardcopy notes that he flapped around. Not a good look. A good and talented teacher conveys the message they wish to share in a clear manner. This bloke is not such a one. I still do not understand his message even having watched it a few times. He tries to make such a one near the end of the clip, but so what? No wonder that anti-measurements dudes are on the prowl with proponents such as this clip confusing the crap out of even disciples such as myself. |
My take was that when auditioning and comparing loudspeakers it's important to have some technical data beforehand. Otherwise the anomalies of the human hearing system, which is basically always trying to make sense out of sound, can play all kind tricks on you. As Alan Shaw says, even the order in which you listen to 2 different speakers can make a difference in perception. I myself have noticed that after prolonged listening to a bright sounding speaker/headphone a more neutral design can, at least initially, sound quite dull. Measurements on the other hand tend to be rather more consistent. |
I liked Paul Barton’s take on listeners in tests and comparisons of speakers. He, if anyone, knows more than a thing or two about it since he participated in the fabled speaker tests that Harmon did back in the day. He said that when conducting double blind tests on people, they couldn’t take more than 20 minutes or so and that the first test had them all confused due to being in an unfamiliar room. Being unable to differentiate between the speaker and the room made the first round of tests unreliable. They waited the same amount of time for their hearing to settle back to normal. On the second test, everyone was attuned to the room and could more easily tell the differences, asking the testers what they did to the speakers. It’s all in this podcast John Darko did with Paul Barton. Worth a listen. All the best, |
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