How do you test the quality of a speaker?

 the use of the spectral decay ("waterfall") plot is ubiquitous in loudspeaker design

Funny how B&W, Wilson audio, Yg acoustics, Vivid Audio, Magico, Kef, and many more do not publish this data. How is a consumer supposed to compare speakers and decide which speaker has the best spectral decay measurements if it is being hidden?

If it measures bad but sounds good, am I gonna not buy what sounds good simply because it doesn't measure good? Really?

What sounds good is not an accurate descriptor of whats going on. Frequency response is a precise descriptor. The result should be the same every time you do the measurement if you use the same method. 
It would not vary according to the time of day, your mood, or your hearing. Measurements tell us reality. Our ears often do not.

If we had the ability to measure the quality of a speaker, we would not need to try to use our fallible hearing to compare whether speaker A is better than speaker B. The answer would be incontrovertible unlike our opinions.

Measurements are needed to confirm what we think we hear. 

No, I let the speaker lab techs do all that specs, for me. I trust in labs I know are superior craftsmen.

Thats fine but you havent answered the question. What other measurements do you need to test the quality of a speaker? 

I listen to them/speakers with the music I appreciate/like/love - PERIOD(.)

That wasnt my question. 

@millercarbon We need to use scientific methods to assess our speakers. Listening alone is inadequate. Are you suggesting we just take a piece of wood, cut it into pieces, stick them together and stick a bunch of capacitors and inductors together until it all sounds right to our ears? That is not how its done. Even cutting a piece of wood requires measurements to check you are cutting the correct length and size. You cant simply judge by looking can you? A crossover can be measured to check it produces the required slope, which ultimately affects the sound we hear. We know that a frequency response measurement of the speaker affects what we hear. Unfortunately it does not tell us everything we hear. The obvious question is, what other measurements do we need to objectively assess what we hear?

By the quality of what you hear.

Thats not the answer I'm looking for

 I "measure" by listening to MUSIC.

Thats not what I meant by measurements. I am talking about using equipment such as microphones to test the performance of the speaker. 

Do you have a better way of choosing speakers to own, and actually listen to music through?If so, then please enlighten me/US

You havent told me what measurements are currently used to assess the quality of a speaker. Are you suggesting there are none other than a frequency response chart?

Why should danny richie be the only person who can answer the question? Does GR research speakers represent every other speaker company? How do they know that their measurements are the only relevant ones? 

So let me ask you kenjit, in all these measurements, where is the rose? Eh?

Its all there in the measurements. But we are talking about sound waves here. No need to bring atoms and electrons into the discussion. We are interested in the movement of air. Thats all sound is. As long as we can accurately measure the correct data, thats all there is to it. 

How do you gather that I was suggesting ("Are you suggesting there are none other than a frequency response chart?") such?

Because you are not telling me what other measurements there are. Why dont you tell me, if you know the answer?

Why would I need a microphone and/or other gear to accomplish the MEASUREMENTS that are most appropriate for the end use/function of the speakers?

Because our ears are not good enough to check the quality of the speakers. Also different people hear different things even if the speakers are the same. Measurements can be much more reliable consistent and they are better at identifying subtle differences in sound and also help us to understand the reasons for these differences. 

Only listening tells you how they sound .. not measurements

So if i measure the response of the speaker and it starts to fall off at 24db at 200hz, do you think that wont tell me the speaker will sound very thin and light?  If the response shows that it has a severe peak at 1khz, do you think that will not be audible? There is obviously some correlation between response and sound quality. Its just not close enough.

" Measurements are needed to confirm what we think we hear."

Why?

There is no consensus about what people hear and even if there is it could be completely wrong. Measurements tell us the facts. Facts are what we want not opinions. If you dont care about the facts, you can do what you like. No measurements needed.

Please tell us, so we can dispense with all this listening, what are the correct things we need to measure?

That is my question to this forum. 

We do not "hear" dB. We perceive sound. These are completely separate and different things.

Why do you think they are completely separate? Everything that can possibly be heard is just movement of air. 

We measure the pressure waves. Which by the way are comprised of atoms, another one you got wrong.

I dont agree that we need to know what each atom of the air is doing in order to understand the way soundwaves work.

We have already been designing and evaluating the performance of speakers by listening tests for a long time. What we need are more measurements not less. Once we have found the exact set of measurements that matter, we can then dispense with listening tests completely. We are not there yet. But my question is, how far have we progressed in this respect? Are there newer measurements being used now that didn't exist say 20 years ago? How has our progress in understanding the way we hear sound affected the measurements we use when it comes to evaluating sound quality?