What if a high end speaker measures really badly?

As long as it gets good reviews on how it sounds, I do not see that bad measurements matter much.

@cdc You don’t have the reviewers’ ears. So, anything subjective said is like throwing darts. I ignore the subjective crap they throw out because it is useless to me. 

I look at the measurements on Stereophile - ignore the platitudes.

 

 

I can hear a pair of speakers, and by how they sound, I can usually be pretty accurate on what parameters will measure badly.

I have built and upgraded enough speakers in my life, to let me know where the problem measurements will be. I tend to be pretty sensitive to the sound of stored energy, that is visible in the waterfall plot.

@sounds_real_audio

I honestly do not need to look at the spec’s to know if a speaker sounds good.....but if you do and if you that is important to you then knock yourself out......

 

You have it a bit backwards from the way I approach speaker measurements.

I don’t look at the measurements, then judge how good the speaker is based on them. I listen to the speaker, then judge whether I like it or not, then I look at the measurements to see why I did or did not like the speakers.

As I said above, I can listen to speakers, and easily pick out too much stored energy in the system.

This is what highly experienced and knowledgeable listeners with sufficient hearing ability can do. Perhaps unfortunately, the majority of audiophiles are relatively inexperienced, and many are nearly in need of cochlear implants.

Then there are those who either cannot understand measurements, or mistakenly believe they understand them, such as the guy upthread who claims comb-filtering is relatively benign (incorrect). They read the literature of Toole and Olive but misinterpret the data and theories. That or they misrepresent the data in bad faith—in order to support their false narrative (like the speaker designers who point to Equal Loudness Contours to justify poor linearity (Audio Note for example).

What is most ironic, is some such manufacturers will only aim for linearity and low distortion where their flagship products are concerned. It’s easy to make the next higher performance tier legitimately better when the predecessor is mediocre.

@helomech That is BS. Who trained them to hear that way. I would say fine, if they were a trained musician. Not supposed golden ears. I have been when a few were fooled by low-cost systems when they couldn't see the system playing.

I went through taste training, when I worked at a distillery. I was not as good at others, that is the truth, so unless there is a standard training I don't believe 'Golden Ears' audiophiles. Since I know the rigor that goes into training ONE sense, that is standardized in the industry. 

@botrytis

That is a valid point. It is interesting how one’s point of view affects the interpretation of was was written.

I was thinking more about the affect on "salability". That is where I was coming from.

Which is more influential, bad measurements or bad subjective opinion? My guess is the latter.