Well, $3,500/pair
I think the frequency response plots tell you whether there's an audible problem in the upper midrange. There definitely is. And from the nearfield of the woofer, it looks like it's due to the port. I certainly picked up on the tell-tale murky quality in that frequency range when I listened to the first generation B1. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have bothered with the mod.
Please elaborate how you can determine by the measurements that the port resonance is a major impact. Since this is a science forum, one should be able to look at the measurements, find the root cause and apply remediation. In this case, how does the audio scientist know the identify the problem and know when his solution was sufficient?
A while back, the forum chased a “resonance” In the Buchhardt S400 and later boiled it down to a (likely inaudible) directivity error. This was before Amir was doing nearfield measurements. While I can respect your listening experience, should be able to look at the measurements without listening and justify why the port resonance was worth fixing.
This is a comparable standard that happens all the time in a workplace setting. Whether Pioneer or Emotiva or JBL, if someone found a comparable port resonance issue, when does management say it is bad enough to justify a redesign? IME, it would not be sufficient that one experienced listener claimed it was audible. You would need measurements and some other proof that most people would find the sound objectionable. As
@amirm pointed out, port resonances are fairly common. I doubt that every manufacturer was ignorant of their product’s port resonance, so this tells me a judgement call was made to ship with it anyway.
When would a reputable manufacturer, make the call to address a port resonance?