Can a Quality Full Range Speaker be the Limiting Component in a system?

Can a quality full range speaker be the limiting component in a system?

Hi David,

It seems to me that a "yes" answer to your question must follow from the fact that different "quality full range speakers," regardless of how those terms are defined, will almost invariably sound different. And so from a subjective standpoint, at least, there will inevitably be some and probably many "quality full range speakers" that will be less appealing to a given listener than what he or she presently has, and others that will be more appealing than what he or she presently has, with the rest of the system kept the same.

When does one know? How does one know?

One thing that can often be particularly helpful in identifying a weak link, IMO/IME, in addition to the obvious approaches of listening to as broad a range of equipment as possible and researching what others report, is to have a good pair of headphones in the system. Obviously the sonic presentations of headphones and speakers are inherently different in some ways, but nevertheless I have found that comparing results between the two can often be helpful in determining the cause of a perceived issue or shortcoming. Or in providing confidence that a possible issue is actually the fault of the recording, and not the system.

Best regards,
-- Al

Well, certainly, if the speakers match the room poorly. (I am assuming, for purposes of your question that the “quality speakers” are not dynamically limited, are capable of undistorted low bass to 30 Hz and have a treble response to 20 kHz.) Every residential room has room gain in the Bass between 40 and 50 Hz. The trick is to have the room gain complement the speaker’s anechoic bass roll-off the achieve flat response in the room. To some extent, these problems can be ameliorated by placement (in or any from corners), and of course there’s always active equalization. There is no one universal solution that the speaker builder can design for, because rooms are different. Likewise, at the top end, a flat treble power response will sound unbelievably bright in all but the most heavily damped rooms (heavy drapes, thick carpets, lots of upholstered furniture). Again, because rooms vary in reflectivity, there’s no single perfect solution that the speaker designer can employ that will work everywhere.As with bass, there are possible adjustments to the room that can make the speaker “fit,” but that begs the question as to which is subordinate, the room as its decorated, or the speaker. If we listened to stero outside in an anechoic environment, then this would be simple. However, since we listen to speakers in rooms of varying characteristics (not just size and shape), a quality speaker in the wrong room can be a limiting factor in system performance.

You have received some very thoughtful answers through which I have learned some things here.   In my experience, outside of differences in speaker quality, amp/speaker compatibility issues, and sonic preferences of the listener, the bass response is the most difficult to get exactly right and (for a given speaker) is the parameter most influenced by the room.  Therefore, depending on the speaker and the room, I can envision conditions where a quality full-range speaker could indeed limit performance of a system.
I recently improved the sound of my system by switching from near full-range speakers to large stand-mounted speakers (two 9-inch woofers in each sealed box) along with two high-quality powered subwoofers.  This set-up provides a more consistent bass roll-off above 40 Hz (due to the sealed box), better overall integration of bass in the room (due to the superior control of the dual powered subs), improved bass definition, and overall lower frequency extension to below 20 Hz.  The ancillary benefit is slightly better clarity through the midrange.