Best measuring speaker?

[sweetsounds]

Dear all,

what's according to available data sources the best measuring speaker (i.e. flat on axis, going deep in bass, no kinks in impedance, homogenous lateral response, no resonances)?

Here Magico S5 from Soundstagenetwork:

Revel Ultima Salon 2. not at that level in bass:

Dutch&Dutch 8C (except for the bass dip, which might come from freestanding mode, super flat):

Genelec 8361:

 

[sweetchaos]

Take a look at spinorama.org

 

[kma100]

I see this...

 

[Soniclife]

from Soundstagenetwork

Their chamber isn't too be trusted below 100hz, and things like the 8c with rear drivers confuse it even more, trust ground plane or NFS more down there.

I think you need more than just the spin to properly judge.

 

[sweetchaos]

The https version of the website loads normally for me.
Here’s the link:

A collection of loudspeakers measurements

www.spinorama.org

Cc @pierre
If I type in spinorama.org into Chrome or Firefox, it shows that landing page.

Perhaps add a .htaccess file to fix this?

 

[mglobe]

The https version of the website loads normally for me.
Here’s the link:

A collection of loudspeakers measurements

www.spinorama.org

Cc @pierre
If I type in spinorama.org into Chrome or Firefox, it shows that landing page.

Perhaps add a .htaccess file to fix this?

I get the same result in Chrome, but it works fine in Safari

 

[Beave]

Their chamber isn't too be trusted below 100hz, and things like the 8c with rear drivers confuse it even more, trust ground plane or NFS more down there.

I think you need more than just the spin to properly judge.

Right. And that's important to note in a comparison such as this.

 

[jonfitch]

If you accept vendor Klippel NFS measurements, then Ascend Sierra LX is probably the best measuring bookshelf speaker, and by that extension the Sierra ELX Titan towers should be up there too.

 

[alex-z]

Could certainly make an argument for the Kii Audio Three. Having cardoid bass control down to 100Hz is invaluable in rooms without serious acoustic treatment.

If we are talking passive speakers, probably KEF Reference 5 Meta. We already know the Reference 1 Meta has arguably the best coaxial mid/tweeter, adding more woofers just serves to bring the distortion lower at the cost of some lobing in the vertical off-axis.

It isn't worth judging the performance of speakers below 50Hz IMO. Bass is hugely influenced by the room, and managing room modes with subwoofers is much easier than with tower speakers alone.

 

[voodooless]

The https version of the website loads normally for me.
Here’s the link:

A collection of loudspeakers measurements

www.spinorama.org

Cc @pierre
If I type in spinorama.org into Chrome or Firefox, it shows that landing page.

Perhaps add a .htaccess file to fix this?

It’s probably a DNS issue. The domain without www just does not work/redirects to a different (default) host. The www prefix should be banned

 

[flipflop]

If you accept vendor Klippel NFS measurements, then Ascend Sierra LX is probably the best measuring bookshelf speaker

They're not even in the top 10.

 

[Bjorn]

Spinoroma is very misleading in what's the better measuring speaker. It gives high scores to speakers that only have constant direcitivty in the higher frequencies and that arent broadband constant, and it disregards how a speaker interacts with the room in regard to boundaries. And then there are areas like IMD distortion, coherency/time domain behaviour, thermal compression, etc. which it also ignores.

The result is that you can have a speaker that scores lower in a spinorama vs another but ends up measuring much more even when it's placed in an actual room. And also be better in other audible and important areas compared to the one that scored higher.

 

[flipflop]

Spinoroma [sic] is very misleading in what's the better measuring speaker. It gives high scores to speakers

The spinorama itself doesn't give a score to a speaker. Spinorama data can be used to calculate the predicted preference rating.

It gives high scores to speakers that only have constant direcitivty [sic] in the higher frequencies and that arent broadband constant

Directivity isn't a variable in the equation used to calculate the score.

and it disregards how a speaker interacts with the room in regard to boundaries.

Yes, of course. The measurement data is anechoic.

And then there are areas like IMD distortion [sic], coherency/time domain behaviour, thermal compression, etc. which it also ignores.

It's true that in a few cases, loudspeakers with a high predicted preference rating scored a low actual preference rating due to high amounts of IMD. Fortunately, Erin's reviews include IMD measurements.
Time domain behavior should be ignored because it's not correlated with preference and is also tied to the frequency response which is shown in the spinorama.
Thermal compression was a non-issue under the test conditions.

The result is that you can have a speaker that scores lower in a spinorama vs another but ends up measuring much more even when it's placed in an actual room. And also be better in other audible and important areas compared to the one that scored higher.

The spinorama shows you "audible and important areas". The in-room response above the transition frequency does not.

 

[holdingpants01]

in terms of interacting or somewhat "ignoring" the room, Genelec W371A with any compatible top in constant directivity mode (after GLM)

 

[Thomas_A]

Research has mostly correlated spinorama and score to single speaker evaluation. Stereo is different. While most of it would apply to stereo there are responses that can improve or worsen the stereo errors. More research is needed in this area.

 

[Grotti]

in terms of interacting or somewhat "ignoring" the room, Genelec W371A with any compatible top in constant directivity mode (after GLM)

Absolutely. But a nightmare to look at every day in your living room....

 

[Infinit0]

What about the Neumann KH150? Add on top of it a pair of KH750 and calibrate with MA1 and you will have impressive results

 

[holdingpants01]

Absolutely. But a nightmare to look at every day in your living room....

lol true, I ordered them for my studio/work and I still considered hiding them behind curtain and 8381 aren't really an upgrade in this regard

 

[PatentLawyer]

They're not even in the top 10.

Aside from Kii and D&D, what are the other 8+?

(Not being sarcastic; I’m close to pulling the trigger on the LX for my desktop)

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Aside from Kii and D&D, what are the other 8+?

(Not being sarcastic; I’m close to pulling the trigger on the LX for my desktop)

I would be very interested in seeing an objective review for them. But, yes, one of the highest scoring passive bookshelf speakers along with the March Audio Sointuvas, and, with long port, the Kef Reference 1s. Obviously, the most economical as well.