What if a high end speaker measures really badly?

I find people that don’t think measurements matter just lack experience. Use REW (it is free!) and start making your own correlations. 
 

I have had/have 4 speakers that have full kipple measurements posted publicly. I find frequency response and dispersion to transfer very well from measurements to my room.  
 

what I think is still missing in measurements is detail and transient response. The ability of the driver to start and stop with no over hang or over shoot. 

Some bumps are good and others not so much.

With DSP, you get to add bumps where needed and where you want them to be, not where they just happened to be when the product shipped.

I find with most speakers I tend to like a bump from ~4-6khz. That adds a bit of edge and definition, much like one might expect with a very good pair of high efficiency horns. In particular it helps to keep your attention at lower volumes. The other tweaks I might apply often tend to be more room and listening position dependent.

In the chart in the original post, that relative peak at ~10k in conjunction with the dip just below will likely result in a piercing sound (more fatigue) that might only benefit in certain more extreme cases of hearing loss. Would not be for me most likely. though again it may be nothing that some smartly applied DSP couldn’t resolve. But even if so, better to not have to apply DSP to fix what appears to be a significant design flaw. Better to go with a more suitable design right out of the gate where any bumps perhaps might be better located and maybe even work in your favor in some cases. You decide! To me a good design is always preferrable.

I'm thinkin' someone switched out the real speaker graph for a recent DOW stock market graph!

Regards,

barts

I'm of two minds about this question.

On one hand, I do want my speakers to measure well.  It suggests good engineering for one thing.  Also, if something is too colored I think it will bother me either immediately or over time.  So I always look at measurements.

On the other hand:  I have really liked some speakers that have been torn to shreds on ASR, e.g. the Devore O series speakers.  Devore managed a canny combination of generally neutral on axis sound (O/96) but with some zigs and zaga and I think some resonance.  The end result is a speaker with a character that I found utterly engaging, on all types of music.  Since I've never owned them I'll never know if my initial audition impressions would hold up, or improve, or if I'd get tired of them over time.

I like that my Joseph Audio speakers generally measure well, and are generally well regarded even among the "measurements" crowd.   They have a mild "smile" eq, but it is so cannily done it I find it extremely pleasing and seems to give a bit more tonal "life" to the sound.

Asked another way, if this is a high-end speaker, then is there anything we can objectively point to besides the price tag as "high-end?"