It seems like one way to integrate "sounds good to me" with the ASR approach would be to learn what deviations from neutrality sound good to you and select components (probably speakers) with those deviations. Although it still seems like EQ from neutral baseline would be easier.
Aside from that, I don't know why one would invest so much in a scientific process only to throw it out the window and buy something of unknown fidelity. Maybe
@MattHooper can describe his process?
I’m not gonna be much help answering your question unfortunately.
I am good with EQ (I use it all the time of my work), but when it comes to loudspeakers things get more complex and I’ve never been able to confidently predict that I would like a loudspeaker just from the measurements.
Despite the fact that I always look at the speaker measurements when they’re available.
I’m not saying that’s a failing of measurements… it must be a failing on my end.
I know that I can rule out certain loudspeakers from measurements that I would never buy. For instance, the recent Borresen x3/x6 speakers that have a deep chunk out of the midrange. So I can see plenty of loudspeakers that measure bad enough in a way that I can predict, that I would not want to purchase.
But when it comes to the loudspeakers that I really like, I can’t say there’s anything I can pin down just from this measurements that make them sound special to me. I just like a speaker or I don’t. And the thing is I like different sounding loudspeakers, so I don’t think there’s one single set of measurements that I would be seeking.
But on that note, here’s a comparison of some loudspeakers that I’m familiar with:
Paradigm Persona
Joseph Audio Perspective 2
(Anechoic frequency response plotted in red):
In both speakers, you can see a bit of a rise in the upper frequencies around the same area peaking at 10k.
However, I found the Paradigm to sound obviously bright and definitely fatiguing for me to listen to. I really wanted to just leave after a while listening to them.
On the other hand my listening sessions of the Joseph speakers, both in the store and in my home, were distinguished by a distinct lack of listening fatigue. They were so smooth I could listen all day, which is what I found once I owned them.
So what’s the difference? I do like “airy highs” but I guess the peak on the Paradigms was just touch too aggressive for me.
On the other hand, I spent quite a while, listening to these at my friends house when he had them for a month or two:
Vivid Kaya
I didn’t ultimately care for them. They were amazingly open, sounding and airy and detailed. But I found them too anti-septic, too mechanical, spot lighting things like vocal sibilance, and they lacked the richness I preferred.
I guess we can see the bass is flatter than the other two speakers so that probably plays into my impression.
And on the other hand, one of my favourite speakers are the Devore O/96, an old-school design.
Devore O/96
I found those sounded both rich, thick, yet airy in the highs. That was consistent the many times I heard them in two different rooms.
I also listened to the Kii Audio Three speakers a number of times. And if ever a speaker sounded to me like it’s frequency response, it’s that one:
Kii Audio Three
They sounded just like the above… which to my ears translated as generally very evenly balanced, if even slightly on the rich side, with a top end that sounded just a bit darker than life to me. Of course you can always EQ those speakers as you want. But I think the settings I heard would have matched the above.
In the end, I just find some intangibles that I cannot predict. I don’t necessarily see in the measurements of the Devore speakers that they would present the surprising sheer scale and heft of sound that they did from relatively small speakers. Nor the (to my ear) “organic” tonality that made voices and instruments sound authentic to me and not electronic.
Likewise, from the moment I heard them, the Joseph speakers grabbed me with a sound that was as pure and grain/hash free as I’ve ever heard. It was to me their distinguishing feature. And this feature has been noted over and over in reviews and among owners. And yet, except for perhaps a clean waterfall plot, I’m not sure what to attribute that to.
And then there’s all the issues of whatever biases I am bringing to listening.
So in the end, I can get certain ideas about speakers sound from the measurements, and even rule out certain speakers, but I can never predict for sure what speaker will absolutely grab me or leave me cold.
LOL.
