Borresen X3 measurements


Borresen’s X3 measures pretty badly which contradicts a lot of the praise…
 

Detailed measurements in the video below. 
 

https://youtu.be/EfasOu928tQ?si=MdvDFWxYuSd4nStV

james633

I agree 100% with bojack!

 

Some things in sound quality are not measured or hard to quantify. But that does not negate the value of things we can measure that affect the sound. I have not heard the X3 so the measurments are interesting to me since there has been more or less universal praise for them. 
 

I am a bit taken back by 3 things about the measurements.


#1 the poor estimated in room frequency response (directivity issues coincide).

#2 the bass tuning…

#3 the lack of dynamic range. I have read people state they can play very loud but the data strongly suggests otherwise. This would explain why the X6 is made. I thought there might be something special with the tweeter but it shows heavy compression too. 
 

Anyway that is my keyboard warrior take.

Measurements, smeasurements........The speakers haven't receive almost universal praise by accident!!!  Believe it or not, most audiophiles really don't give a hoot about measurement, as they're drawn primarily towards what sounds most pleasing to their ears, regardless of measurements.  That's the reality of high end audio.  Some audiophile are very technical and measurement are of particular interest to them.  It's all good in the neighborhood.          

Kennymacc,

Your revels are some of the best measuring speakers ever… I bet you think they are some of the best speakers made too… measurements and sound quality can not be separated.

I find a lot of times people just don’t measure their systems response or their rooms decay time. Lack of experience is the issue. The X3 is not a tuning issue (rolled off or bright), the drivers simply don’t integrate and there is a lot of box noise.

@james633 True, my Revel Salon 2s do measure very well. However, the best measuring speakers are not necessarily the best choice for everyone. For example: Technically speaking, solid state amplifiers generally measure much better than tube amplifiers, but that doesn’t stop multitudes of audiophiles from choosing tubes over solid state. Many audiophiles don’t own speakers that measure particularly well. However, that doesn’t prevent many audiophiles from falling madly in love with speakers that don’t measure well, either. And, them falling in love with poorly measuring speakers has very little to do with their lack of experience. It has everything to do with how the overall sound of the speakers managed to capture their imaginations. And, that’s all that really matters. Happy listening.

I mean experience with measurements not just rotating equipment. Nothing wrong with liking a non flat speaker (bass boost, rolled off, bright, etc). It would be worth understanding how that equipment measures and searching out that equipment. One man sweet highs are another man’s dull speaker and that is where standards come in and play a roll.

Resonances, uneven dispersion and driver miss matches are not what I would call taste differences. It is a short coming in the designs. Harman has a house tune too. It is 0.5db per octave drop from low to high.

 

measurement tools like REW are free and a mic cost less than many people’s power cords. Measuring the rooms/system response and doing positional EQ (moving the speakers/subs) can/will make a huge difference. Measuring decay time and adding the right amount of treatment really helps too. 
 

I have a pretty large room and ended up with eight 7” thick panels and a fully treated ceiling to get my decay times down. That added far more clarity than switching equipment ever could have.