A full range speaker?


Many claim to be, but how many can handle a full orchestra’s range?

That range is from 26hz to around 12khz including harmonics, but the speakers that can go that low are few and far between. That is a shame, since the grand piano, one of the center points of many orchestral and symphonic performances, needs that lower range to produce a low A fully, however little that key is used.

I used to think it was 32hz, which would handle a Hammond B-3’s full keyboard, so cover most of the musical instruments range, but since having subs have realized how much I am missing without those going down to 25hz with no db’s down.

What would you set as the lower limit of music reproduction for a speaker to be called full range?

 I’m asking you to consider that point where that measurement is -0db’s, which is always different from published spec's.
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Showing 3 responses by ggc

The entire audible environment for Humans measure at 15Hz - 150kHz.
As pointed out - the ear drum cannot pick up those frequencies. Humans process sound utilizing more of the 30+K hair cells located within the ear which relay information to an extraordinary amount of nerve fibers within our nervous system that provide this info to the brain - which processes things like frequency, waveform, pressure rate, time and location - to what we actually hear. Everything counts, everything matters.

The only Speaker I know of that covers this range is The Lansche 8.2
15Hz - 150kHz.

a couple of other manufactures that measure in in the fuller range are
Marteen and Verity.
Since Asked.. For those that care...

Inaudible High-Frequency Sounds Affect Brain Activity: Hypersonic Effect
https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/jn.2000.83.6.3548

There are two factors that may have some bearing on this issue.
First, it has been suggested that infrasonic exposure may possibly have an adverse effect on human health suggesting that the biological sensitivity of human beings may not be parallel with the “conscious” audibility of air vibration.

Second, the natural environment, such as tropical rain forests, usually contains sounds that are extremely rich in HFCs over 100 kHz. From an anthropogenetic point of view, the sensory system of human beings exposed to a natural environment would stand a good chance of developing some physiological sensitivity to HFCs. It is premature to conclude that consciously inaudible high-frequency sounds have no effect on the physiological state of listeners.

To measure human physiological responses to HFCs, we selected two noninvasive techniques: analysis of electroencephalogram (EEG) and positron emission tomography (PET) measurements of the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF).  EEG has excellent time resolution, is sensitive to the state of human brain functioning, and places fewer physical and mental constraints on subjects...On the other hand, PET provides us with detailed spatial information on the neuroanatomical substrates of brain activity. Combining these two techniques with psychological assessments, we provide evidence herein that inaudible high-frequency sounds have a significant effect on humans.

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/manufacture/0114/the_world_beyond_20khz.htm

To fully meet the requirements of human auditory perception I believe that a sound system must cover the frequency range of about 15Hz to at least 40kHz (some say 80kHz or more)...

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/290557870_Design_and_Evaluation_of_Electronic_Circuit_for_P...
  A plasma speaker produces sound through an electrical arc.  It works by heating air, causing nearby air molecules to vibrate and expand. This releases a pressure wave, which is heard as sound...  The primary advantage of a plasma speaker for sound reproduction is that there is no diaphragm and therefore no mechanical mass. This means a plasma speaker has the potential to reproduce sound with high fidelity up to 150 kHz.
Just to be perfectly Clear - I am not disputing that normal human hearing range of a healthy individual ears is usually in-between 20Hz and 20kHz.

My take away from the info/ reports/articles, by various different sources
(there are several more) is that research has shown that in environments where Humans live the total frequency range at which soundwaves travel safe enough to have an affect on the Human condition is at the 15Hz - 150kHz.

Millercarbon is absolutely correct that at this level this would be at an unconscious condition at best.  So the argument then becomes - if this is true should it even be considered sound?

I have been convinced that it does. For the most basic fundamental reason that researchers know that frequency at this level  has a direct affect on the part Human brain that is specifically responsible for emotion.
Even in the unconscious condition.
 
What is music if not the greatest Human emotional expression.
What I also find interesting is the manufactures who embrace the science and incorporate it in their products - even if I can't afford it....