Making speakers sound tonally similar with an equalizer

Lots of EQ experts here, but how many of them have actually used one? Great review on the Loki Mini+ in this months TAS. I hope all the “experts” here read the review.

I have used various DEQX preamp/DSP units for seventeen years with my tri-amplified fully horn loaded DIY speakers so I feel qualified to answer.  I still say no.

@asctim 

I would bet though that if you took two different reasonably well designed speakers with the same baffle shape, same driver sizes and driver placements on the baffles, let’s say a 5" woofer and 1" dome tweeter on 16" x 7" baffle, they could be equalized and phase corrected to sound similar enough under blind testing that most typical listeners and even a lot of seasoned audiophiles would have a hard time distinguishing them.

I guess you could say the same about a lot of speakers put to a blind listening test.

Anyway, I don't think anyone is actually suggesting you can make 2 different speakers sound the same, only more similar in frequency response.

Whatever else, tonal balance is still a pretty important part of a speaker's sound, and it's good to know that adjustments can be made.

You might say that a flat pair of speakers in a flat room doesn't need tonal correction, but not everyone has that luxury.

I can recall an enthusiastic review for the diminutive Harbeth P3 where the reviewer felt it sounded remarkably similar to the vastly larger M40, just missing the (all important?) bottom octave.

@cd318 

Yes, more similar in frequency response is primarily what the EQ will do. And if distortion is kept low and dispersion is similar the overall presentation will be very similar. Chances are if you like the sound of one you'll like the sound of the other.

I agree tone controls and EQ can be helpful in the less than perfect listening environments most of us have to deal with. I've played around with digital EQ and active crossovers on a number of speakers over the years. My general approach is to get them as flat as I can on axis at 1 meter, and then listen and make measurements at the listening position to try to figure out how to fix the bass issues in the room as much as possible. My front room with lots of glass and hard floor made me realize how much different the same speaker sounded in a different room, and how much the dispersion characteristics of the speaker change the way the room and speaker sound together. I ended up often using a reduced treble curve in that room before I set up some big horns in there. With their narrower dispersion I find the horns don't need any treble reduction slope.

The little Harbeth P3 sounding remarkably similar to the big m40, except missing the bass... I can make sense of that from the perspective of listening to a piccolo solo. They could sound very similar if they have similar dispersion and frequency response in the treble. 

Nothing could beat mechanical equalization...

No electronic equalization will ever change the room response... They change only a part of the speakers response..

Electronical equalization is a removable tool not an indispensable one, mechanical equalization is a permanent essential devices grid in a dedicated room...

I will not repeat here all i could say about that..

Anyway no mechanical equalization is doable in a living room...Then this will not interest most people...

I just post this to say that mechanical equalization of a room exist...