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?
Someone said: "If it measures badly and sounds good, it is good. "If it measures good and sounds bad, it is bad." That may be true. No, not true. Never! If you feel good even if poor measurement, your listening comprehension is not perfect though you can enjoy with the poor-measure-speakers. Only true professional reviewer can tell any weakness. But we are ok with the speakers if the price is not so high. Otherwise, we are wasting our money. |
I have heard the Devore O series speakers. They are just terrible to me. And the latest from Devore, his 44K USD O that is out, at AXPONA, sounded like a tin radio. Down the hall they had the mini O's playing driven by a Naim Unity which sounded 10X better than his tour de force model. To each his own. |
@erik_squires wrote: "I'm reading @audiokinesis but avoiding commenting when I just don't know what I'm talking about. Honestly my experience with very poor measuring speakers is rather limited so I yield the floor. 🤣" Here is Floyd Toole being much more succinct than me: "A ripple in the on-axis curve may be acoustical interference (not very audible, or inaudible), but if it replicates in spatially averaged measurements it is almost certainly evidence of a resonance." |
