Two things I've been thinking about:
1. What is the ethos of this site? I've not come across a mission statement as such for this website (maybe there is one and I've missed it). Is it a repository of technical information for people who already understand FR, dispersion, distortion graphs and so on, so that they can see the measurements and immediately know what they're looking at, no extra guidance needed; or, is it also here to educate people who either do not understand or have a minimal understanding of these things, so that they may cut through the mystery/snake-oil/salesmanship when purchasing audio products and make purchases based on scientific understanding (measurements), translated by those that do understand it, into something the layman can digest.
2. Presuming the latter from above, is enough emphasis given to speaker (and mid-bass driver) size in reviews?
There are speakers that measure very well and are much lauded, but their bass reproduction (frequency and SPL) are very limited, some of the most favoured speakers under $1500 are so limited in SPL and particularly bass reproduction that they would struggle to fill a room 4x4m with sound that could provide a modest party for two people.
My layman experience (so far) is that I have not yet come across a 5" or 6" driver, however expensive or low in distortion, that can do what an 8" (or larger) can do in the bass department. This does not apply to all speakers with 8"+ drivers, of course, but there is, except in extremis, a much greater ease with which bass frequencies are played through larger drivers. Smaller speakers just tend to sound like they are struggling sooner, whether this shows in the measurements or not.
I can't explain why this is. I suppose it could have to do with many things, including distortion arising from playing midrange frequencies from a cone making large excursions (compared to one with a greater area), more noise from ports/non-linearity elsewhere, smaller baffle/cone size e.t.c.
Yes, smaller speakers can be supplemented by a subwoofer, but which subwoofer in what configuration? If the speakers don't come as a package (satellites + sub) then how can we know what benefit comes from a sub; if they cannot be purchased and tested as a set on the Klippel NFS, we cannot say in any scientific way what benefit will be gained from any hypothetical subwoofer.
TL;DR for question 2:
Small speakers with limited SPL/bass are being given precedence over larger speakers with somewhat greater non-linearity (in FR, for example), but much greater bass and SPL capabilities. Save the very smallest rooms, the larger speakers will often present as audibly better speakers, because they produce more of the lower frequency range and at louder levels. Smaller speakers are being 'saved' by the addition of a hypothetical subwoofer, but this is not a given and is artificially (unscientifically?) boosting speakers that are limited in their capabilities (but more linear within said limits) above their true position, when used as standalone speakers.
Without a sub and outside of the smallest rooms, these speakers are not so impressive. Does the typical ASR reader understand this and is enough emphasis being put on this in reviews?
1. What is the ethos of this site? I've not come across a mission statement as such for this website (maybe there is one and I've missed it). Is it a repository of technical information for people who already understand FR, dispersion, distortion graphs and so on, so that they can see the measurements and immediately know what they're looking at, no extra guidance needed; or, is it also here to educate people who either do not understand or have a minimal understanding of these things, so that they may cut through the mystery/snake-oil/salesmanship when purchasing audio products and make purchases based on scientific understanding (measurements), translated by those that do understand it, into something the layman can digest.
2. Presuming the latter from above, is enough emphasis given to speaker (and mid-bass driver) size in reviews?
There are speakers that measure very well and are much lauded, but their bass reproduction (frequency and SPL) are very limited, some of the most favoured speakers under $1500 are so limited in SPL and particularly bass reproduction that they would struggle to fill a room 4x4m with sound that could provide a modest party for two people.
My layman experience (so far) is that I have not yet come across a 5" or 6" driver, however expensive or low in distortion, that can do what an 8" (or larger) can do in the bass department. This does not apply to all speakers with 8"+ drivers, of course, but there is, except in extremis, a much greater ease with which bass frequencies are played through larger drivers. Smaller speakers just tend to sound like they are struggling sooner, whether this shows in the measurements or not.
I can't explain why this is. I suppose it could have to do with many things, including distortion arising from playing midrange frequencies from a cone making large excursions (compared to one with a greater area), more noise from ports/non-linearity elsewhere, smaller baffle/cone size e.t.c.
Yes, smaller speakers can be supplemented by a subwoofer, but which subwoofer in what configuration? If the speakers don't come as a package (satellites + sub) then how can we know what benefit comes from a sub; if they cannot be purchased and tested as a set on the Klippel NFS, we cannot say in any scientific way what benefit will be gained from any hypothetical subwoofer.
TL;DR for question 2:
Small speakers with limited SPL/bass are being given precedence over larger speakers with somewhat greater non-linearity (in FR, for example), but much greater bass and SPL capabilities. Save the very smallest rooms, the larger speakers will often present as audibly better speakers, because they produce more of the lower frequency range and at louder levels. Smaller speakers are being 'saved' by the addition of a hypothetical subwoofer, but this is not a given and is artificially (unscientifically?) boosting speakers that are limited in their capabilities (but more linear within said limits) above their true position, when used as standalone speakers.
Without a sub and outside of the smallest rooms, these speakers are not so impressive. Does the typical ASR reader understand this and is enough emphasis being put on this in reviews?
Last edited:
