For the record, my ears can't hear past 13K. (going on 64 years old)
That's true. I can't hear past 15KHz. But I am pretty sensitive to speakers with high frequency issues. Why? (Read below)
If you get yours tested, you'd be surprised how little you can hear on the upper end. Not to mention most guys don't have a flat response curve!But not to worry. Most of meaningful music lies much below that. My speaker has a rising freq. from about 7KHz. At 15KHz it's 5db above the rest! and I swear it doesn't sound bright at all. And I am listening almost on-axis with toe-in.
But IF that 5db was around 3KHz, you'll or I'll be running for cover.
Treble starts at much lower frequencies than people think.
People hearing is very sensitive around 1KHz - 3KHz. A slight bump in this freq. range will be very audible. It's like running fingers on chalk board.
In general, 6KHz - 8KHz is sibilance if the speaker is excessive at this freq range. A bit high will make the neutral ssssshhhhh to ssssssshhh. If too high will be like sssssssssh. When you hear actual people talk, you don't hear sibilance unless they talk straight into your ear.
8KHz or above, we call "air" or whatever that is. After 10KHz, unless it's very excessive, most people probably can't hear. I guess young people could. And I am sure some people are more sensitive than others, but in general, most people especially old are not very sensitive above 10K.
Some tweeters are designed intentionally to have a bit lift above around 13Khz to artificially give an extra "air" to the sound. I actually hate that they do that. I prefer a more neutral freq. response. If I need more air, I can do that myself thank you.