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What if a high end speaker measures really badly?

You know, it's true that I feel listening is more important than measurements and that it's generally difficult to really tie together measurements with pleasure.  Below 0.05% THD do I care?  No I do not.  I really don't care. The number tells me nothing about whether I'd like the amp more or not anymore.

In this one memorable review for the Alta Audio Adam speaker, I really felt shivers go up my spine when I looked at the measurements, especially at ~$20kUSD.   This looks like an absolute hot mess.  Does it sound this bad though?  I certainly don't have the $20K to test that out myself. What do you all think? 

erik_squires

Showing 1 response by avanti1960

avanti1960
1,610 posts
 

A 1 meter anechoic on-axis plot does not tell the complete story of how a set of speakers will sound but should not be ignored depending on what you are looking for.

In the case of this speaker, looking at the wider peaks and valleys tells part of the story.

There will be a noticeable bass bump between 40 and 100 Hz which many people would enjoy. There will also be a noticeable dip in the harsher frequencies centered at 3Khz which will make it sound smooth and in-offensive. The rising frequency shelf at 10 to 15Khz will sound bright on axis and create false detail but can likely be managed with blending through listening distance as well as aiming them off axis.

I bet these sound pretty decent and would certainly not rule them out based on that response plot.  

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