I did some measurements and notes on mic positions and other things. I posted them somewhere on this site but can't find it so will post here. I was attempting to measure my speakers plus room and measured the speakers individually.
What Difference does a Person Sitting in the Chair Make?
View attachment 126819
1/24 smoothing, full range, purple being with me in the chair.
Oh! The right speaker had broadly the same effect, notably the increase from 600-1500Hz
What Difference Where You Stand When Taking Measurements?
I always stand behind my equipment in the back left hand corner so I compared that with standing on the right back corner, and standing behind the chair.
View attachment 126823
No smoothing. Purple is left, green is centre, brown is right.
It doesn’t seem to make a massive amount of difference
What Difference Where You Point the Microphone?
View attachment 126824
View attachment 126825
Brown - at my ear pointing to speaker
Green - in the middle pointing at speaker
Purple - in the middle pointing down the middle of the room
Red - in the middle pointing upwards
Turquoise - in the middle pointing downwards
The first FR is up to 500Hz, no smoothing. The second is full range at 1/24 smoothing.
The makers of my Earthworks microphone say to point it to the source, but I’ve seen other recommendations to point mics up or down. It seems to make a bit of difference in actual measurements.
I suppose all we can do is be consistent.
What I do now
I place the microphone at my ear level and central position pointing it at the phantom image. I listen on my own so aim for a good image at my listening position (LP). I understand that if you are measuring for a number of LPs you might find it better to use Moving Mic Measurements (MMM) - I've never done this but there are discussions on here somewhere.
If you want to measure an individual speaker the ideal would be to take it outside as DEQX used to suggest for their speaker calibration method. That is to avoid the influence of the room. I understand though that both DEQX and MiniDSP now use some sort of algorithm to try and compensate for reflections etc. but how accurate that is to individual circumstances I don't know. Maybe REW has something like this too.
I wouldn't get to stuck on measurements. Use a consistent measuring method, use the measurements as a guide to get the best sound but in the end your ears listening to music must be the judge.