I should think that it doesn't matter one way or the other. The bass shelf is not caused by a limitation of the speaker, but is rather deliberately implemented. The amount of headroom available in the speaker at those frequencies hasn't changed, so you should be able to achieve the same result post-room equalization.
Master Yoda throwing in some "knowledge" where it matters
You're definitely not a classical listener, right?
Master Yoda avoids to answer if he even tried to setup speaker parameters via LS1 Software Control? If he did why there are no measurements of different setups? Like in that snake-oil catalog Stereophile? Why are ASR measurements of LS1 so different then every other published LS1 measurement, but other loudspeakers have similar measurements?Master Yoda throwing in some "knowledge" where it matters
You don't say! It would never enter my mind that I could find it on the web?
Well, we don't really know what the headroom is of the "subwoofer" section, because the dB levels that Amir measured are based around 1kHz dB levels and the bass is rolled off below that point at lower SPL's therefore the distortion measurements in the bass aren't representative of if you EQ'd up the bass to make it linear with the rest of the response. I suppose you could try to extrapolate it, I'll try:
) rather than the 86dB distortion results, which means at 30Hz you have distortion at nearly the same level as the fundamental which is rubbish performance. Looking at another point 40Hz is 6dB down, so you'd have to EQ 40Hz up by 6dB, so looking at the distortion percentage results you'd probably be taking the 86dB performance graph and forcing the distortion off the scale of the following graph at 86dB: 
) and again outperforming re distortion, so the Grimm Audio speaker is not doing much right in the bass and certainly not for the price!Look, @amirm (Master Yoda) and I don’t exactly see eye to eye, so this isn’t about loyalty or friendship and I also didn't follow up the matter in discussion in detail but I have zero reason to doubt his integrity or the way he runs his measurements. He’s consistently challenged the biggest names in audio without fear in the past, and that kind of courage speaks volumes IMO.
In this case they must be the greatest liars in the history of HiFi:
Didn't I read a post earlier that said they haven't done anechoic measurements of their speaker, or at least the specs are based on an in room estimate (don't quote me), but that sounds like a shady way of doing it, either way if we take Amir's anechoic measurements to be accurate then it's not looking great for this speaker re it's bass performance, and would indeed shed doubt on the manufacturer's quoted specs.
That must be with room reinforcement right though, re the -3dB @17Hz? So that part can be ignored, but the distortion measurement should be valid at that point albeit you wouldn't expect it to be just -3dB at 17Hz. Looks like Amir got somewhat worse distortion measurements, I've not quantified it exactly.
Not necessarily true for a ported configuration like that Revel. A flat response would require a higher tuning frequency (assuming the same drivers). Since it's generally a very bad idea to apply boost below the port tuning frequency, a lower tuning with a somewhat shelved response may result in better in-room bass extension while keeping excursion (and distortion) under control.
Well, I'm not talking about speaker design choices, I'm talking about the actual distortion measurement results when you compare different speakers at any given frequency in the bass, so I don't care how the designer designs their speakers, I'm just talking about the comparative results, it's the results that matter.
I'm not gonna start saying that Amir measured the speaker wrong, or that there was something wrong with the unit of that speaker that he measured - I just can't know that. I think I've seen Amir challenging various rebuttals on this topic in this thread, and he's confident with the validity of his measurement. The differences are curious, but I can't obviously see what could be wrong if anything with Amir's measurement or speaker unit. But yeah, judging by Amir's measurements, this speaker doesn't perform great in the bass, and certainly not for the money.
