Which one is better?

[Arindal]

Higher frequencies can easily be tamed with basic treble tone control.

Agreed, if we are solely talking about frequencies >7K, as the chance for our brain to distinguish between direct and reflected sound, is pretty low in the upper treble region. There is rarely a necessity to ´tame´ this, as most of speaker+room combinations lead to a decrease in SPL above 7K anyways.

In this particular case, the most obvious difference seems to be located between 3K and 7K (along with lower midrange and deep bass), and I would presume this is also the most audible one. I doubt the imbalance of the solid line speaker would be correctible by just a simple treble control. Risk is pretty high that the lower frequencies of this band (3-5K) will not be sufficiently boosted by such a control, and even if so, the result might be the direct soundfield showing dominant treble (which translates to bright sibilantsand overly brillant timbre) while the reverb still lacks treble. Under the assumption, of course, that a good fraction of the decreasing level towards higher frequencies is caused by directivity and absorption.

 

[Vladimir Filevski]

I doubt the imbalance of the solid line speaker would be correctible by just a simple treble control.

I was referring to the dotted line. Typical Baxandall treble tone control starts at 1 kHz, so there is plenty of change in the 3 kHz - 7 kHz region (even more above 7 kHz, of course). Turning point at 1 KHz Baxandall is de-facto standard, although it is not optimal.

 

[Ellebob]

These are the measurement data from the room. I don't have a subwoofer. This is a small room but I also have the need to watch movies, so I'm thinking about which one would be better to choose.

Without using a sub I would go with the dashed line speaker. Bass is such a big part of our listening enjoyment, it will give a richer, fuller sound.

 

[Ropeburn]

I've heard that some extraordinary audiophiles can identify the brand and model of the speaker, as well as even the model of the amplifier, just by listening to it with their ears. ha ha!
I wonder if there are any enthusiasts who can scientifically determine the brand of the speaker just by analyzing the sound curve?

I'll go on a limp and bet those are Wharfedale Linton and Super Linton. That bass shelf is one of the characteristic changes.

 

[Arindal]

I was referring to the dotted line.

Okay. I don´t see much necessity to correct anything here, at least not from the point of knowing just an averaged in-room FR graph.

Typical Baxandall treble tone control starts at 1 kHz, so there is plenty of change in the 3 kHz - 7 kHz region (even more above 7 kHz, of course).

Have indeed seen such tone control characteristics, particularly in older amplifiers. Don't think these are useful at all, if an imbalanced reverb ist at play (as typically induced by the speaker´s directivity or the room´s absorption properties). You boost one band, you automatically boost the neighboring one too much.

 

[jayapple]

The gap at 40 and 50 hz is probably the biggest perceptual difference, just from eyeballing it. I would definitely choose the dashed line, all else being equal

I went to have a dedicated audition. The low frequencies of the virtual line are indeed powerful, but the overall sound is not as clear and bright as that of KEF.

From the curve, the high frequencies of the virtual line are overly bright, but the listening experience is completely different. Of course, it was listened to in the audition room and possibly some processing was done.

As a result, the virtual line's other mid and high frequencies became dull. KEF's listening experience was obviously much better, but its low frequencies were indeed too bad, chaotic and unpleasant.

 

[jayapple]

I went to have a dedicated audition. The low frequencies of the virtual line are indeed powerful, but the overall sound is not as clear and bright as that of KEF.

From the curve, the high frequencies of the virtual line are overly bright, but the listening experience is completely different. Of course, it was listened to in the audition room and possibly some processing was done.

As a result, the virtual line's other mid and high frequencies became dull. KEF's listening experience was obviously much better, but its low frequencies were indeed too bad, chaotic and unpleasant.

I suspect that the dotted-line speaker system is only processing the mid and high frequencies in their room. It might also be that the low frequencies were not handled properly, resulting in the low frequencies being overly prominent while the mid and high frequencies are dim and lack luster, giving a poor listening experience.

This seems to be a problem. The biggest issue with KEF is that the low frequencies are really poor, while the mid and high frequencies are excellent. This greatly limits its application range. If a subwoofer is added, the matching becomes a headache.