Still trying to pull the trigger on some towers. 10,000 budget. Please help me decide.

[Rolls]

Looking at the Borresens measurements I'm pretty sure that's a speaker that would grate on me over time. But we should be wary of taking our own subjective experiences and preferences and thinking they are universal. They won't be.

Agreed regarding universality of subjective preference.

I own a pair of X3s currently. They are one of my top three most satisfying speaker purchases among dozens over the past two decades. They are not “perfect,” but neither were the perfect-measuring speakers I’ve owned.

The non-linearities in their response would lead some to think the designer is clueless, however, they do make the X3s more enjoyable at moderate volumes relative to flatter speakers. The bass hump also compensates for the range where most rooms have a null when the speakers are positioned for optimal soundstaging (away from the walls).

Ironically, had Erin published that review before I acquired them, I probably wouldn’t have given the X3s a chance. I was quite firmly in the good graphs = good speaker camp.

 

[Mart68]

Agreed regarding universality of subjective preference.

I own a pair of X3s currently. They are one of my top three most satisfying speaker purchases among dozens over the past two decades. They are not “perfect,” but neither were the perfect-measuring speakers I’ve owned.

The non-linearities in their response would lead some to think the designer is clueless, however, they do make the X3s more enjoyable at moderate volumes relative to flatter speakers. The bass hump also compensates for the range where most rooms have a null when the speakers are positioned for optimal soundstaging (away from the walls).

Ironically, had Erin published that review before I acquired them, I probably wouldn’t have given the X3s a chance. I was quite firmly in the good graphs = good speaker camp.

If you're happy with your choice then you chose wisely. FWIW I don't think the designer is clueless but he designs by ear so he is designing a speaker he likes and which inevitably at least some others will like. But based on the research they're not going to have mass appeal.

The bloke who built my speakers was, I think, less than impressed with my choice of design. But if I'd wanted the world's most accurate, most revealing studio monitors, that's what I would have got.

Regardless, speaker choice is always going to be a personal one, and that does make it hard to recommend speakers to others without a lot of information about what they like. That's why it's safer to recommend the textbook solutions

But a lot of people have not figured out yet what they like. It's sometimes not the textbook solution.