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Why the obsession with the lowest octave

From what is written in these forums and elsewhere see the following for instance.

Scroll down to the chart showing the even lowest instruments in this example recording rolling off very steeply at 40 Hz.

http://www.homerecordingconnection.com/news.php?action=view_story&id=154

It would appear that there is really very little to be heard between 20 and 40 Hz. Yet having true "full range" speakers is often the test of a great speaker. Does anyone beside me think that there is little to be gained by stretching the speakers bass performance below 30-40 cycles?
My own speakers make no apologies for going down to only 28 Hz and they are big floor standers JM Lab Electra 936s.
mechans

Showing 2 responses by audiokinesis

audiokinesis
2,722 posts
 
I'd choose quality bass down to 40 Hz ballpark over somewhat muddy extension down into the bottom octave. An honest 40 Hz is pretty darn deep anyway.

That being said, recently I built a semi-custom four-piece subwoofer system for a customer, and this set is theoretically -3 dB at 16 Hz after room gain. Yes, it does add something that was missing before, and my wife wants me to build us a set. How cool is that - she's actually encouraging me to put BIGGER subs in the living room!

Duke
audiokinesis
2,722 posts
 
"a THERORETICAL -3db, who cares what you guess a system will do." - Acoustat6

Theory is not the same as guessing; it's what designers use in the design stage.

Duke
speaker designer
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