KaiserSoze
Addicted to Fun and Learning
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- Jun 8, 2020
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I honestly can't fathom why it is a big deal when someone realizes the measurements are not a complete replacement for listening. Why is that?
I don't see where anyone threw the baby out with the bathwater, I only see someone realizing that the data does have limitations. I am not seeing any argument that makes a strong case against that, mearly people trying to draw a line in the sand in different spot. Well don't let that spot confuse you, you draw it where you feel comfortable but it exists, at some point the objective data must transition into the subjective experience. There are zero perfectly accurate to the "source" sound reproducers so we must choose.
I just listened to both the Infinity R162 and ELAC B6.2. They have a similar score and reasonably similar data when averaged out +'s & -'s. Both EQd closely to my house curve. Both sound pretty darn nice for the price and most buyers in the price class would be completely shocked by performance for $ and happy to have either. Done deal.
Yet they do not sound the same. I would much rather have the R162. The only way for me to find this out was to listen in my room, even with all that fun and great data.
Based on the data I predicted a tie, yet I assure you for me it is one over the other. Now additionally my money is on a tie 10-10 if twenty folks take a blind test. I can see how some will prefer the ELAC.
That (hypothetical) tie still changes nothing for me personally because I like the R162 more.
This is highly relevant. Two speakers with very similar scores sound different such that you prefer one over the other. Surely it is apparent from just this simple observation that the score is not a perfect predictor of how satisfied an individual will be with a given speaker.
By the way, I am interested in knowing why you preferred the R162 over the B6.2. Did one sound "brighter" than the other? Did the bass in one seem adequate, or possibly "boomy"? I've heard the B6.2, and I thought it sounded quite good although in need of subwoofer augmentation as I expect the R162 would be as well. But I haven't had an opportunity to hear the R162, and havn't even seen any Infinity home speakers in a store since about the time that Circuit City folded. So I'm curious to know more about how one sounded different from the other.