• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Why don't manufacturers provide frequency response data to consumers?

Beershaun

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Oct 3, 2019
Messages
1,864
Likes
1,910
I recently emailed customer service for the manufacturer of my speakers (polk) requesting the frequency response data. I explained I wanted to use it so I could apply equalization to get my preferred response. I provided the speaker serial numbers as well.

Their polite response was:
"Unfortunately, the frequency response graph data, the spinorama data, and the anechoic chamber data is not something that we can give out to consumers. We apologize for the inconvenience."

my question is why? Is it intellectual property or trade secret that could be used by competitors? Anyone have any insight as to why this is not freely available to customers?
 

Jimbob54

Grand Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Oct 25, 2019
Messages
11,066
Likes
14,697
I recently emailed customer service for the manufacturer of my speakers (polk) requesting the frequency response data. I explained I wanted to use it so I could apply equalization to get my preferred response. I provided the speaker serial numbers as well.

Their polite response was:
"Unfortunately, the frequency response graph data, the spinorama data, and the anechoic chamber data is not something that we can give out to consumers. We apologize for the inconvenience."

my question is why? Is it intellectual property or trade secret that could be used by competitors? Anyone have any insight as to why this is not freely available to customers?

Not many reasons why they wouldnt.

1. (most obvious)- they dont have it, either for your pair or, such wide spread between units that an averaged graph wont apply to anyone. Even worse, they dont measure.
2. They have it but it looks ugly (and/or is outside spec)
3. Left hand doesnt talk to right hand.
 

Delysid

Member
Joined
May 11, 2020
Messages
8
Likes
11
4. It's way easier to sell a speaker with a nice story behind it, full of praise and adjectives, rather than with it's performance data.
First is less expensive and easier to do, second is more expensive and harder to achieve.
 

SIY

Grand Contributor
Technical Expert
Joined
Apr 6, 2018
Messages
10,383
Likes
24,749
Location
Alfred, NY
99% of their target customers don't know or care about this data.

The remainder will take up a lot of time with careful explanations of their inevitable numerous questions, and then start posting critical (and likely half-baked) stuff on internet forums, even if the results, in context, are good. Why enable that?

I suspect that's their rationale.
 

sigbergaudio

Major Contributor
Audio Company
Forum Donor
Joined
Aug 21, 2020
Messages
2,639
Likes
5,397
Location
Norway
Your topic aside, actually measuring the response in your room would be a better baseline for applying EQ. Your in-room response will be nowhere near the anechoic response of the speakers.
 

Kvalsvoll

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Audio Company
Joined
Apr 25, 2019
Messages
878
Likes
1,643
Location
Norway
99% of their target customers don't know or care about this data.

The remainder will take up a lot of time with careful explanations of their inevitable numerous questions, and then start posting critical (and likely half-baked) stuff on internet forums, even if the results, in context, are good. Why enable that?

I suspect that's their rationale.

I was going to reply, but your excellent post saved me the work. So it is.

(I have tried this, to see whether graphs and tech are something that customers want to see - and.. ZERO - NULL - 0 - interest. Since I am an engineer living in my own made-up world, I probably will continue to post graphs and measurements that no one understands.)
 

dmac6419

Major Contributor
Joined
Feb 16, 2019
Messages
1,246
Likes
770
Location
USofA
I recently emailed customer service for the manufacturer of my speakers (polk) requesting the frequency response data. I explained I wanted to use it so I could apply equalization to get my preferred response. I provided the speaker serial numbers as well.

Their polite response was:
"Unfortunately, the frequency response graph data, the spinorama data, and the anechoic chamber data is not something that we can give out to consumers. We apologize for the inconvenience."

my question is why? Is it intellectual property or trade secret that could be used by competitors? Anyone have any insight as to why this is not freely available to customers?
"Unfortunately, the frequency response graph data, the spinorama data, and the anechoic chamber data is not something that we can give out to consumers. We apologize for the inconvenience."
 

Purité Audio

Master Contributor
Industry Insider
Barrowmaster
Forum Donor
Joined
Feb 29, 2016
Messages
9,051
Likes
12,150
Location
London
I believe it is even simpler, many manufacturers do not measure, or if they do they are the most rudimentary.
Keith
 

abdo123

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Nov 15, 2020
Messages
7,423
Likes
7,940
Location
Brussels, Belgium
Your topic aside, actually measuring the response in your room would be a better baseline for applying EQ. Your in-room response will be nowhere near the anechoic response of the speakers.

that is if there are no directivity errors and the on-axis and off-axis responses are consistent with each other. Otherwise the EQ will not translate to the in-room response.

we should stop with this 'EQ can fix it all' attitude, a shit speaker will still be a shit speaker.
 

Wes

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Dec 5, 2019
Messages
3,843
Likes
3,788
It would interfere with Polk's marketing campaign of showing a random dude in a white lab coat.
 

sigbergaudio

Major Contributor
Audio Company
Forum Donor
Joined
Aug 21, 2020
Messages
2,639
Likes
5,397
Location
Norway
that is if there are no directivity errors and the on-axis and off-axis responses are consistent with each other. Otherwise the EQ will not translate to the in-room response.

we should stop with this 'EQ can fix it all' attitude, a shit speaker will still be a shit speaker.

I do not have an "EQ can fix it all" attitude. So your take here is that the OP didn't need the frequency response to use it as a baseline for EQ, he wanted to see if his speaker was shit or not, so that he knew wether it was any use to try EQ at all?
 

abdo123

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Nov 15, 2020
Messages
7,423
Likes
7,940
Location
Brussels, Belgium
99% of audiophiles give zero fucks about the degree of exactness with which music is reproduced, they just want whatever sounds subjectively good to them.

anechoicly flat speakers are bland, and don't really stand out in an audio show.

I think both of these points makes it so that outside of brands focused on music production, it's difficult to find brands with consistently flat speakers or measurments focused designs.
 

Spkrdctr

Major Contributor
Joined
Apr 22, 2021
Messages
2,212
Likes
2,934
99% of their target customers don't know or care about this data.

The remainder will take up a lot of time with careful explanations of their inevitable numerous questions, and then start posting critical (and likely half-baked) stuff on internet forums, even if the results, in context, are good. Why enable that?

I suspect that's their rationale.

VERY common problem on the Internet.
 

abdo123

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Nov 15, 2020
Messages
7,423
Likes
7,940
Location
Brussels, Belgium
I do not have an "EQ can fix it all" attitude.

That was my way of politely saying you're wrong. He should not do full range EQ based on an in room measurement. unless it's low Q 'tone control-ish' filters to adjust overall tonality.

You can't do Speaker correction based on in room measurments, otherwise there would be no need for anechoic measurments to begin with.
 

Spkrdctr

Major Contributor
Joined
Apr 22, 2021
Messages
2,212
Likes
2,934
It would interfere with Polk's marketing campaign of showing a random dude in a white lab coat.

That is NOT a random guy in a white lab coat. He is the very well regarded janitor. He takes his job seriously and keeps the place clean. Thumbs up to him! :)
 
OP
B

Beershaun

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Oct 3, 2019
Messages
1,864
Likes
1,910
Hey all. Let's set my motivations aside for a minute. The question is why not provide the data upon request?

My speaker has a published frequency response spec. So someone took a measurement to determine the published spec.
36hz-27khz +/-3db
90db 1w1m
8ohm
 

sigbergaudio

Major Contributor
Audio Company
Forum Donor
Joined
Aug 21, 2020
Messages
2,639
Likes
5,397
Location
Norway
That was my way of politely saying you're wrong. He should not do full range EQ based on an in room measurement. unless it's low Q 'tone control-ish' filters to adjust overall tonality.

You can't do Speaker correction based on in room measurments, otherwise there would be no need for anechoic measurments to begin with.

I'm not sure why you are assuming I don't know how any of this works. I have never recommended to the OP or anyone else that they should do full range EQ based on an in-room measurement (or at all).

With regards to speaker correction based on in-room measurements: Since OP is an end-user who has purchased a speaker, my assumption was that it was more likely that his use case was to listen to the speaker in his room than to try to alter the initial design of his speakers. So in that case, what he is really looking for is room correction, not speaker correction. Since OP didn't explicitly say one or the other, I don't know what is the case, perhaps @Beershaun can shed a light on what his intentions were.
 
Top Bottom