A Weekend with the Linkwitz Orion

[AcuDefTechGuy]

The Amphion Argon2 seems to have the BEST 5-point avg FR on Soundstage: 80Hz -14kHz +/- 1dB!

http://www.soundstagemagazine.com/measurements/amphion_argon_2/

 

[Calvin Hobbes]

So which graph do you guys look at, the 5-point average since it gives an "overall" picture of the on-axis and +/- 15 degrees off-axis?

All the measurements provide pertinent information. They can be used to narrow down what speakers you have on you list.

 

[Docks]

Depends what matters to you. I try be on axis as much as possible. 15 or 30 deg is nice if u have a sig other to listen to music with.
This Binary Universe is a great album for tweaking speaker positions. It has a very large soundstage.

 

[KEW]

I think the reflected sounds are very important to the final experience regardless of where you sit.
I'm pretty sure this was one of the significant findings of Floyd Tool and Sean Olive - that flat off axis FR was important to perceived SQ.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I think the reflected sounds are very important to the final experience regardless of where you sit.
I'm pretty sure this was one of the significant findings of Floyd Tool and Sean Olive - that flat off axis FR was important to perceived SQ.

Exactly my thinking.

We know both on-axis and off-axis responses are important, so is there a consensus on whether the 5-point "average" of on-and-off-axis is the "best"?

 

[GranteedEV]

IMO the speaker is important, but you still need a room and speaker placement that measures well. So while off axis response will prevent coloration, it doesn't mean it's not worthwhile to build a large, live, but controlled and diffuse room first which measures ideally, and then place the speakers inside that room.

 

[Docks]

Why is the Orion around 3db up around 500 hz? It seems pretty lumpy around that freq. Is this a true full range speaker? What about cabinet resonance?
That speaker scares me for some reason.

 

[digicidal]

Exactly my thinking.

We know both on-axis and off-axis responses are important, so is there a consensus on whether the 5-point "average" of on-and-off-axis is the "best"?

Well, I don't know if anything other than a complete collection of independent graphs all taken in the room you will actually listen to them in could ever be described with the superlative "best" - but it certainly provides a pretty good one-graph solution for us to use as a starting point.

That's part of why the graphs and even salesfloor auditions can only tell part of the story. Say you have a speaker that is relatively flat on-axis and decent at 60 degrees off-axis but with a -5db dip at a certain frequency. That chart wouldn't look great... and if you listened to them in a room that had problems with cancellation at that same frequency - they would sound horrible.

However, if say your room allowed direct sound to reach you "un-tainted" but the first reflections to have a boost at that point of 5db (or more accurately to reduce every frequency except the area of the dip by 5db). In this admittedly completely fictional room - those speakers would beat anything else in the world in theory. On the other hand a speaker that was nearly totally flat at 0,15,30,45,and 60 degrees but had a 1db peak at the same frequency the first speaker had the 5db suckout at.... it wouldn't sound nearly as good (in that room) but it would graph significantly better (in-chamber).

On a side note I now see that the Revel's have replaced the KEF's in your sig. I wonder how many more times that will change before they are physically present next to your Orions. (Which I'm extremely jealous of BTW... congrats again!)