Flat Frequency Response

[Zilch]

Slope ~1 dB/octave like Stereophile's "exemplary" K2 (below). Full range is 10 octaves, so ~10 dB "tilt," total.

Flat HF's too "hot" for me; like Rob, I let the UHF roll off a bit, too (bottom).

[Zilch]

Of interest, in the June, 2006 issue of AES Journal:

Loudspeakers and Rooms for Sound

Reproduction—A Scientific Review*

FLOYD E. TOOLE

Harman International Industries, Inc., Northridge, CA 91329, USA






Much of our understanding of how listeners hear spatial acoustics originates from studies with large spaces, notably concert halls. While the resulting insights are frequently extended to small spaces, other phenomena weaken the validity of conclusions. Listeners may be adapting to the complexities of reflections and resonances in small spaces, thereby reducing or eliminating the perception of measured degradation. Informal evidence from the professional recording industry suggests that humans compensate and adapt to the acoustical anarchy of complex sound fields.

See, particularly, P. 468, Section 7.1.1 "Correlations between Subjective and Objective Domains," where:

"As subjectively interpreted, a smooth, flat, wide-band axial frequency response, combined with similarly well-behaved off-axis responses, up to and including sound power, appeared to be the desirable pattern."

Models based upon 1/3 octave data demonstrate a coefficient of 0.86, and newer models using 1/20 octave data achieve 0.995 - "near perfection."

"Single measures, such as the on-axis frequency response, sound-power response or steady-state in-room curves, are less reliable."

"So it seems that we truly are measuring quantities that are important to our subjective tastes. It is not an accident...."