Well I think the frequency response does say a lot about the accuracy of a speaker, but yes I am aware that there are other important specifications.
If you compare the Genelec range of “studio monitors” with their equvalent range of “home speakers” you will find that their audio specifications are identical.
But how do they sound?
Well let me hazard a guess, the same!
Ah, that makes the conversation a lot more specific.
…but Kii are aiming their speaker technology equally at home and studio users: https://www.kiiaudio.com/index.php
So what does tube amps and vinyl have to do with speaker design?
Only advise I can give you is to read a bit more about the subject rather then read spec sheets and assume that it’s all a marketing ploy.
Have you actually listened to and compared genelecs and similar specced hifi speakers?
Even similar specced studio monitors can sound completely different from each other…
It depends on the speakers. Many audiophile speakers are designed for flat frequency response, especially British ones. As long as your combining them with a half decent amp that isn’t colouring the sound either then you can get a great set of speakers for home studio use. The KEF LS10 would be a good example of a Hifi speaker that is also great for use as monitors, they’re actually marketed as nearfield monitors and based on an old design the BBC used to use in their outside broadcast vans. Not cheap though at £800 plus amplifier. For that sort of money I’d probably prefer to look at high end Focal audio studio near fields. But if you happen to have the speakers already then they do a fine job.
Other hifi speakers may colour the sound with their frequency response, but so do a lot of studio monitors, especially at the lower price range. If you’re very familiar with how they sound then they could be the ideal monitors for you. Just use car stereo, headphones etc to check your mix.
Last thing. Frequency response curves don’t tell the full story. Speakers and rooms also have resonances that affect the sound over time whic can do things like muddy the sound, reduce the snap of transients, or make bass too boomy. You want to try to understand these sorts of problems in your setup so you don’t try to solve them in your mix, taking the sound the other way for other peoples systems. Or something like that, I’m no expert.
I have been reading about the subject for over 50 years now, which is probably why I can recognise marketing when I see it. Also, specification sheets are what you should be reading, not some generic verbage.
I never said that speakers from different manufacturers will sound the same, and as you yourself have pointed out, that applies to both “studio monitors” and “Hi-Fi speakers”.
I am merely stating that there is no reason for a speaker used in a studio to be any different from a speaker used in a Hi-Fi system.
Well this about sums it up.
You’re making an argument from a logical stance, while others are speaking from experience and knowledge.
This is fine if your working premises are accurate. However, your stance seems to be ‘audiophiles seek audio reproduction that is as flat and accurate to the sound source as possible [working premise], therefore audiophile speakers and studio monitors must be built with the same aim, therefore there must be little difference between the two’.
As audiophiles frequently seek to colour the sound they hear (and to answer your question at face value, go have a look how many audiophile speaker reviews use the word ‘warm’ for instance), your working premise is demonstrably incorrect (at least as a blanket statement), therefore your conclusions do not follow.
If your primary logical argument doesn’t hold true, and you’ve no empirical argument (you’ve not listened?), and others with direct experience and knowledge can present cogent arguments to the contrary, then there’s no reason to support your supposition (at least, on the grounds you present it).
Yeah, I know an ME that used B&W for years, even when he worked at Metropolis I think. There might be differences on a models here and there, but in general I would say that’s correct, but these are very high end, Focal CMS, for instance, is their version of Tesco Smart Price…these are very expensive brands, speakers that cost as much as supercars are their flagships.
So you have heard a difference between the Genelec “studio monitor” and its equivalent “home speaker”?
Just because some journalist uses the word “warm” to describe a speaker does not imply that audiophiles seek to colour the sound they hear.
If an audiophile wanted colour, the easiest solution would be to employ an FX unit or graphic equaliser in their signal chain (or use a tube amp).
Yes, but in general cheap “studio monitors” are not going to be any better than cheap “Hi-Fi speakers” and mid priced “studio monitors” are not going to be any better than mid priced “Hi-Fi speakers” .
I don’t agree with that. Cheap hifi is made to flatter the sound, not be neutral.
Would you also argue that Beats and AKG702s sound the same? Seems like you’re hugely oversimplifying.
My advice get both. 1 pair of speakers for producing, jamming: a pair that matches your own personal taste. I’m like to call this the creative process . For the mixing and mastering use Surgical perfect monitors which are able to pin out mixing issues easy, the time spend in mixing is reduced because you just get a kind of magnifying audio glass. That said, hook up Your Elektron too, say IK multimedia iloud and your Probably tapping your feed easier while in the creative mode then on €2000,- Monitor speakers. It’s all tools, use the right tool for the right job.
And you think that cheap “studio monitors” are not built to flatter the sound?
Speaker manufacturers are in a competitive market, they will do what they see fit to make their product stand out from the crowd, whether they are selling studio or home speakers or both (as is often the case).
And no I would not argue that any two headphones sound the same.
HS’s are not built to flatter the sound. They are very cheap. There’s plenty of cheap pairs these days that are pretty accurate. Seems to be your opinion against the entire music industry. 
So would you say that NS10’s hype the sound? That’s a pretty ropey argument. I think you’d need to be at least a little crazy to choose Sony Hyper Bass Speakers over Kali lp6’s…
It’s funny how people think that a budget studio monitor with its low end drivers, cheap chipboard enclosure and £20 chinese chip-amp can be classed as a decent studio monitor, just because a measuring mic measured a sinewave sweep which doesn’t go all higgledy-piggledy.
Your room adds so much distortion to your speakers flat response that it might as well not be measured in the first place.
Absolutely, and I don’t happen to have a spare £75k to upgrade my speakers.
But the same principle applies at all price points, the only thing that differs is the the cost of producing a certain quality, what the market will bear in terms of price and quality (or lack of). Everything else is marketing. The rules of physics are the same regardless of whether you’re in a multi-million dollar studio or your living room. Then the next variable is the acoustic environment, and a living room can be good and a studio can be bad.
People who want a specific colouration (e.g. artificially extended base) will always be able to find it, in both “studio monitors” and “Hi-Fi speakers”.
Yes and one of the reasons to use speakers in near field monitoring is to minimise the effect of the acoustic environment.