Sidebar 4: TJN's In-Room Measurements
Although I took all of these in-room measurements after I'd written the rest of this review, they shouldn't be compared to the in-room responses measured by John Atkinson that accompany almost all reviews published in Stereophile. This is not only because they were taken in a room very different from his, but also because John uses a superior microphone and bases his averaged results on more data points. My measurements were made with OmniMic v2 from Parts Express, and while that system employs a calibrated mike, I suspect that, on the basis of price alone, it's less accurate than JA's. This time, I took five readings in and around the main listening position, then averaged them.
Above 200Hz, the response of the pair of Thiel TT1s is respectably smooth (fig.9). Below 200Hz, the usual room issues crop up. My room appears to provide some reinforcement in the deep bass, but my measurements of the Monitor Audio Silver 10s (fig.10) show them to have about 5dB more output below 50Hz than the Thiels. While the Monitors' and Thiels' responses agree surprisingly well above 200Hz, they indicate that the Silver 10s have a little less energy from 1.5 to 4kHz, and a bit more from 4 to 12kHz—not by a lot, but by enough to be audible.—Thomas J. Norton
Fig.9 Thiel TT1, left, spatially averaged, 1/6-octave response in TJN's listening room.
Fig.10 Thiel TT1, right, spatially averaged, 1/6-octave response in TJN's listening room.
Fig.11 Monitor Audio Silver 10, left, spatially averaged, 1/6-octave response in TJN's listening room.
Fig.12 Monitor Audio Silver 10, right, spatially averaged, 1/6-octave response in TJN's listening room.
