Test Equipment vs The Ear

@willemj

While frequency response is the single most detectable aspect of a speaker's performance, it is not the only one.

My ears are particularly sensitive to room acoustics and driver compression.  A measure not included in that. :)

Best,

E

Here is kind of what I am getting at.

I used to work in food service. We had a certain amount of meat / sandwich. 2 oz or something like that.

We had to weigh each portion. After the first week, my eye/brain mechanism had learned exactly what 2 oz was. I think most of us can do this.

I have learned the same with frequency response curves. Once I knew what I liked, I incorporated that into my crossover simulations. Now I can pretty much tell speakers that are brighter or more dull than what I make, and I"m usually spot on, but this has been integrative, not separate.

I'm sure we can learn to listen for, or completely ignore, other things as well.

Best,

E

I think it’s a straw man dichotomy.

I think the bigger issue is that test equipment doesn’t get a job, subscribe to Hi Fi magazines and spend days worrying about their first speaker purchase.

I think it is also important to note that tests become useful only after they measure something important. IM distortion for instance. I’m sure it was heard long before it was measured, or understood as "intermodulation distortion." Then came the gear, the parameters and measurement protocols. Then experimental circuits to eliminate it, then listening and experience.

How long between the invention of the telephone did the concept of harmonic distortion come about?

This is not an either or world I live in, it is an integrated, circular hole. At the same time, when my measurement microphone pays for a speaker component I will let it choose what to buy, but not before.

Best,

E