How do you all know which speakers produce a "colored" sound and which ones do not?

[Steve81]

What you say makes sense, but I really don't know enough about the recent Klipsch speakers to comment further.

I've got examples of both in my collection, although they're older models at this point.

The RF-5's horn is not an integral piece, it's just screwed on to the motorboard, which is a piece of painted MDF. The front baffle of my RC-35 center on the other hand is a solid piece of cast plastic which feels reasonably solid/inert, at least to my rudimentary examinations.

Some time back, I once listened to some Klipsch tower in a store, and I couldn't get past the very bright sound that sometimes sounded a little like a megaphone. I didn't listen long.

I'm horrible in describing what I hear, but I felt the RF-5s were a bit empty when compared with the more full bodied sound of the bookshelf speakers in my bedroom, at least in terms of their native response. The shelfed down FR in the midrange I'd expect corresponds with this. I do think Audyssey goes a long ways towards balancing them out; I've never had problems with fatigue listening to them in any event. Of course, their prime use in my home is movies where their high output capabilities and low power demands are appreciated.

 

[JerryLove]

Floyd Toole and others have shown that a speaker which measures flat in an anechoic chamber will probably sound very nice in a real room. This is not the same as measuring flat in that real room.

You aren't measuring a speaker in that case. You are measuring a speaker-room combination.

Again. Speakers which measured flatter, particularly in off-axis response, were widely preferred in blind testing than those that did not.

A flat anechoic speaker will tend to have a higher bass level and rolled off treble when placed in a real room. This is what sounds correct, and what people like.

I listen to live (generally unamplified) music. I also play some instruments. What sounds "correct" is live music. Accentuated bass and rolled off treble sound accentuated and rolled of.

 

[Calvin Hobbes]

Extensive testing by the likes of Toole and Olive have shown that flat responses are preferred by listeners.

I do not play an instrument, but I do have access and attend regularly two highly regarded music centers. each of the venues have there own distinct sound, and I definitely prefer the less famous of the two. I also have a preferred seating position for the orchestral concerts I attend. Within the first seven rows of seating the music does not sum together nearly as well as the fifteenth row. If a piano concerto is being performed, the piano overwhelms the music in the closer seating positions.

This all brings to mind what sound I am trying to emulate at home in my listening enviroment. If I have my sound system measuring flat at the listening position it does not come close to matching what I hear at the music centers. It has no impact, the bass is thin and the highs are strident and very dominating.

A slight downhill slope totaling, perhaps 6 db sounds very close to what I hear and feel at concerts. This falls in line with what Sean Olive demonstrates in his study from 2009.

 

[Irvrobinson]

IIf I have my sound system measuring flat at the listening position it does not come close to matching what I hear at the music centers. It has no impact, the bass is thin and the highs are strident and very dominating.

A slight downhill slope totaling, perhaps 6 db sounds very close to what I hear and feel at concerts. This falls in line with what Sean Olive demonstrates in his study from 2009.

I agree, and that's the balance I use in my own system. One reason is that home listening rooms, even big ones, are small compared to most live venues. Second, it is very difficult to capture realistic bass balance without omnidirectional microphones, and most recordings don't use them because of other compromises they make. So, in my experience, the combination of these two factors (and probably more that I'm not mentioning or ignorant of), many recordings don't sound realistic on home systems.

 

[JerryLove]

If I have my sound system measuring flat at the listening position it does not come close to matching what I hear at the music centers. It has no impact, the bass is thin and the highs are strident and very dominating.

Then your recording is bad, or you have a problem with room acoustics. A flat speaker is reproducing exactly what it is given.

 

[mtrycrafts]

As Jerry said, you're now getting into preference. But ignoring that, it would still be coloration, what you are doing is arguing for it, not stating that a flat speaker is uncolored.

This is where it all gets complex. How were the speakers EQ'ed in the studio before the music was mixed? How was the acoustic treatment in that room affecting the speakers sound? How was the engineers hearing and what was his preference?
Then, how is your listening room is compared to the studio, your speakers, your preferences?
If there is no set standards, it is chaos, no? One reason why THX was originally created.