There is no debate - Harman blind studies show that more neutral speakers were preferred over more colored speakers. But the studies didn't control for only frequency response; there were other variables that contributed to the lower ratings of the speakers that already were less neutral. Admittedly, it would be near impossible to test 2 speakers that were identical in everything except frequency response, but that would be the only way to control for other factors.
Sean Olive in his blog says as much:
"The early studies involved comparison of different speakers that varied more than bass and treble balance. Some speakers had resonances that produced serious colorations, distortions, differences in directivity. The headphone study basically takes a flat neutral headphone and asks people to adjust the bass and treble. That's where experience and age seem to take over. The same holds true for loudspeakers when we did a similar experience. "
"Prior to this study, I nor anyone I know had published a study where trained and untrained listeners were given a bass and treble control and asked to adjust to taste. In previous studies, trained and untrained listeners were asked to give preference ratings to speakers that varied in ways other than bass and treble. It seems that given some finite choices people will pick the most neutral speaker or headphone (no resonances), wide bandwidth. However, given some tone controls they will adjust for variations in program and taste. "
Source: http://seanolive.blogspot.com/2015/11/factors-that-influence-listeners.html
Here is the link to the white paper "Listener Preferences for In-Room Loudspeaker and Headphone Target Responses": http://www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=17042 The abstract itself says the following: "There were significant variations in the preferred bass and treble levels due to differences in individual taste and listener training. "
The conclusion is that under the overarching umbrella of being "neutral enough," listener preferences take over, and from there, there is "significant variation" - this is the definition of subjective preferences.
This is why I believe little stock should be put into the "preference ratings" in these loudspeaker reviews - at least in how it correlates to real-world listener preferences. The preference rating rates how strictly the loudspeaker design adheres to the basic principles of flat frequency response on-axis, smooth and consistent off-axis frequency response and directivity, among other things - not listener preference. The results of the study above show as much.
This may be preaching to the choir for some; most of us understand that the preference rating isn't a literal ranking of worst to best speakers, but for newcomers to the site casually looking at these rankings, they may misinterpret the data and use the preference rating to determine what speakers they would prefer.
Sean Olive in his blog says as much:
"The early studies involved comparison of different speakers that varied more than bass and treble balance. Some speakers had resonances that produced serious colorations, distortions, differences in directivity. The headphone study basically takes a flat neutral headphone and asks people to adjust the bass and treble. That's where experience and age seem to take over. The same holds true for loudspeakers when we did a similar experience. "
"Prior to this study, I nor anyone I know had published a study where trained and untrained listeners were given a bass and treble control and asked to adjust to taste. In previous studies, trained and untrained listeners were asked to give preference ratings to speakers that varied in ways other than bass and treble. It seems that given some finite choices people will pick the most neutral speaker or headphone (no resonances), wide bandwidth. However, given some tone controls they will adjust for variations in program and taste. "
Source: http://seanolive.blogspot.com/2015/11/factors-that-influence-listeners.html
Here is the link to the white paper "Listener Preferences for In-Room Loudspeaker and Headphone Target Responses": http://www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=17042 The abstract itself says the following: "There were significant variations in the preferred bass and treble levels due to differences in individual taste and listener training. "
The conclusion is that under the overarching umbrella of being "neutral enough," listener preferences take over, and from there, there is "significant variation" - this is the definition of subjective preferences.
This is why I believe little stock should be put into the "preference ratings" in these loudspeaker reviews - at least in how it correlates to real-world listener preferences. The preference rating rates how strictly the loudspeaker design adheres to the basic principles of flat frequency response on-axis, smooth and consistent off-axis frequency response and directivity, among other things - not listener preference. The results of the study above show as much.
This may be preaching to the choir for some; most of us understand that the preference rating isn't a literal ranking of worst to best speakers, but for newcomers to the site casually looking at these rankings, they may misinterpret the data and use the preference rating to determine what speakers they would prefer.
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