Re: Love the Picture @ Gordon 10
"Yes, they do sound better than a basic speaker setup, or the junk build into TVs. But they can't form a proper sound stage, they can't do proper frequency response."
Thus neatly illustrating my point about pre-formed prejudice. If you had bothered to check the thorough test of the HomePod speakers I linked to, there is this section:
"2.a Frequency Response
I had to re-measure the frequency response at 100% volume, using a -24 db (rather than a -12 db) sine wave, in order to better see the true frequency response of the speaker. This is because Apple uses Fletcher Munson Loudness Compensation on the HomePod (which we'll get into in a bit)
Keeping the volume at 100% let us tricking the Fletcher Munson curve by locking it into place. Then, we could measure the speaker more directly by sending sine waves generated at different SPL’s, to generate a frequency response curve at various volume levels. This was the only way to measure the HomePod without the Fletcher Munson Curve compensating for the sound. The resultant graph shows the near-perfectly flat frequency response of the HomePod. Another testament to this incredible speaker’s ability to be true to any recording.
Here is that graph, note that it's had 1/12 smoothing applied to it, in order to make it easier to read. As far we can tell, this is the true frequency response of the HomePod.
At 100% volume, 5 feet away from the HomePod, at a 0º angle (right in front) with a -24db Sine Wave. For this measurement the HomePod was on a makeshift stand that’s approximately 5 inches high. The reason for doing this is that when it was left on the desk, there is a 1.5Khz spike in the frequency response due to reflections off the wood. Like any other speaker, The HomePod is susceptible to nearby reflections if placed on a surface, as they happen far too close to the initial sound for any room compensation to take place.
Here's a Graph of Frequency Response with ⅓ smoothing decompensated for Fletcher Munson correction, at 100% volume, from -12 db sine waves, to -36 db.
And here's a look at the Deviation from Linearity between -12 and -24db.
What we can immediately see is that the HomePod has an incredibly flat frequency response at multiple volumes. It doesn’t try to over emphasize the lows, mids, or highs. This is both ideal, and impressive because it allows the HomePod to accurately reproduce audio that’s sent to it. All the way from 40Hz to 20,000Hz it's ±3dB, and from 60Hz to 13.5Khz, it's less than ±1dB... Hold on while I pick my jaw up off the floor."