[size=10pt]Crosstalk of the jack, transient response (especially ringing), and distortion harmonics all can give you information on the limitations of imaging. Additional phasing tests, such as done by that Japanese dude, are also helpful. In the end, it’s mostly whether a headphone is open or closed once the placement is accurate & undistorted enough and the drivers have been closely match (through a number of criteria) as to how big it gets. Imaging is the least of my concerns, though. Headphone imaging "size" is varying types of inferior. [/size]
[size=10pt]The Beyerdynamic T1 seems to repeatedly measure in a way that pretty closely matches what people are hearing when you compare its measurements to other headphones. Have you looked at them? Slightly exaggerated impulse response. Larger peak in the 9khz range than normal. Little bit of a spike on the leading edges of the square waves. The low-end performance does not test amazingly, though it's o.k. and above average, and that could contribute to a lack of “balance” against the treble peak. That’s consistent with some people saying it’s a little bright. Several units have also tested significantly different, and that lack of consistency could also be contributing to varying & seemingly conflicting opinions on this headphone.[/size]
[size=10pt]I'm not denying there is more to sound than what can be currently (and probably ever) measured. But good measurements show the bare minimum and limitations of a design. I'm taking them as the first step and threshold that should be passed, especially considering the brain's ability to compensate or blur over certain inaccuracies as you adapt to headphones. Any amount of *that* you can prevent, the better. If your brain's filtering out the headphone errors, then it's probably filtering out some of the "music", too.[/size]
[size=10pt]And the more measurements, by the more people, with a larger number of comparisons to other headphones (within each tester/measuring gear group), the better. So we have Tyll, that Rat sound guy, and the Japanese guy who are all putting useful information out there. I suspect if more companies designing headphones did this sort of thing, there’d be better headphones being sold. [/size]