Would you buy a pair of speakers by just looking at the measured freq. response?

If measured well that would absolutely influence my buying decision all other things aside because I have been around enough to take that info for what it’s worth but buying any speakers without hearing first is risky business. If you do it buy used so can resell or buy with a suitable return policy only.  Otherwise be willing to take a financial hit especially for pricey high end items.  

Use the frequency response graph as a preliminary filter (kind of like tossing away candidates that didn’t go to college when reviewing résumés), but don’t ever buy speakers from a store or seller that doesn’t have a decent return policy and/or allow at-home auditioning of equipment because the room you set the speakers up in is equally important as the natural response curve of the speakers because the acoustics of the room will heavily dictate which speakers work out for you and which ones won’t.

-Ed

PS On a related, but separate note, I wouldn’t really hesitate to rely heavily on a frequency response curve if researching in-ear-monitors or headphones. Totally different situation there, and part of why I consider headphones a lot easier to pin down.

Overall no. It tells nothing how the speaker sounds. Kinda similar to an amp with .0007 THC (oops, I meant THD). Doesn't tell you how the amp sounds at all.

Yes It’s true that precision microphones used to measure frequency response tell you nothing about how speakers sound. Go figure! 

Measured frequency response is all you need to make an informed decision.

Listening is just so fake (like a reality show).

DeKay