No only the frequency response on and off-axis are from anechoic data. The distortion measurements are not anechoic and as you can see the SPL reading of the fundamental for the distortion measurements is completely different from the anechoic measurements in this case.
And no, it's not a valid...
Had a look at the bass distortion again and I think I see the problems.
First of all the woofers are in a much too small internal enclosure, they have less than 9 liter per woofer. And the woofers themselves have a weak motor.
But still mostly the high distortion in the bass is because of...
I'm guessing it's due to a combination of factors.
1. Closed box.
2. Small magnets on the woofers (cheap woofers).
3. Small internal space giving high Q and undersized magnets will have to push against the higher pressure inside.
4. Measurements say 86dB but since there's a bass boost it's...
If it were truly omni in both the horizontal and vertical plane, then yes.
But as I wrote, the Axiom speakers are not truly omni. They're regular drivers on a regular baffle, the only difference is that there's mid and tweeter drivers on the back as well making it a bipole speaker which has its...
Read the graph you posted. It says "Listening Window". Not on-axis frequency response which I assume is fairly flat (other than some errors due to their design of using too narrow a baffle and too deep).
That speaker is not fully omnidirectional, it is a near-omnidirectional bipole.
Btw a wide...
It would not in most rooms.
The early direct reflections would sound bright if from an untreated surface (like a bare floor or wall, best to absorb early reflections anyhow) but the later reflections / reverb would naturally get a downward slope. It's the nature of reverb.
I've been...
Yes you're right in thinking wider dispersion designs are more "diffuse" as they radiate more sound into the room.
I personally prefer wide dispersion speakers in a good room. And there has been a slight preference for wide dispersion speakers found in blind testing as well. (and the opposite is...
But when we use actual music and start talking about subjective qualities of this music through a certain speaker, then it seems to me that listening in mono may well push music slightly to the 'bright' side while this would not be so when listening to that same music through a stereo setup...
It is true that mono testing will allow you to hear things that are less easy to hear in stereo testing.
But.. tonality IS CHANGED to a large degree!
I think it's important to be aware of this.
And it is something that is easy to test. Simply hold a measurement mic near one's left ear and then...
I strongly suspect this is present in the HD800(s) as well. It has very reflective earcups inside and I find the effect audible.
It seems to me this is a fairly new 'trick' by some headphone manufacturers to add artificial 'space' to dry recordings.
Any chance of updating the HD800s review with...
Yes that is what I meant.
This CBT has a very narrow vertical dispersion yet a very wide horizontal dispersion.
So it appears to me that Amir's listening preference (for his preference of sounding "tonally correct") is not for a narrow or sloping overall off-axis but more specifically for a...
This is somewhat surprising to me that you find it tonally correct since this speaker has no waveguide and a very wide horizontal directivity (only starts to slope in the top treble after you eq the resonance).
Usually when a speaker has a wide off-axis including treble you report that it sounds...
The HD800S has a few things going on that the HD650 does not.
First of all, the drivers are angled a bit so the sound comes more from the front and hits the ears differently than with the HD650 which comes from pure left-right. Some experimentation would be needed to see how this affect the...
My new reference for commercial mix. Enough warm timbres yet extended treble, deep bass, depth, etc it's all there in a very well balanced way.
If this doesn't sound great (though very compressed of course) then your system/room is off.