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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.
128x128william53b
williambf
14 posts
 
Musicians performing in a room, captured with a "stereo" microphone (Blumlein)...

Playback: If you filter 35Hz and lower...

...you take away much of the "room" (the acoustical space) that the recording did capture and is capable of presenting back to the listener over two full-range loudspeakers.
mozartfan
2,143 posts
 
You can spend more and get less.
IMHO anyone chasing after deep powerful bass, super sparkle highs,,  might end up witha  midrange 800hz-2k hz which may have coloration/distortion issues.
I don't know, Seas seems to understand these issues and attempts to achieve a  balance of the 3 fq ranges.

https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/approx-5-woofers/seas-excel-w15ch001-e0037-5.5-magnesium-cone-...

dynamiclinearity
239 posts
 
As per Millercarbon's comments on bass and harmonics I recall my late friend George Bischoff's comments. George was heavily involved in Pipedreams and Scaena speakers, both of which were definitely full range. He alsways said that to build a better woofer build a better tweeter meaning, of course, that bass quality depended as much on the bass notes harmonics as on it's fundamentals.
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,224 posts
 
daledeee1, absolutely incorrect. Specs as published mean very little. They are taken at one meter in an anechoic chamber. At 3 meters in a real room the story is entirely different. Most speakers start dying at 80-100 Hz with a peak or two below depending on room nodes which results in one note bass.
mozartfan
2,143 posts
 
both of which were definitely full range. He alsways said that to build a better woofer build a better tweeter meaning, of course, that bass quality depended as much on the bass notes harmonics as on it's fundamentals.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Your friend was on to something,, ~~Fundamentals~~
YOu see Scanspeak's beat Seas Magnesium in the deepest bass fq.s
More  punch, kick,
But what Seas gave up in the deep bass of the drum percussion, they gain in the upper bass/low midarnge.
Paper composite has its own characteristic, and Magnesium has its own particular voicing.
__bass notes harmonics**. The bass guitar on the magnesium is unreal, super sweet. 
THe Scan paper composite just won't work for  my  peculiar taste.

You see Wislon sticks a  bunch of drivers in a  cabinet offering you  true /complete full range, deep powerful bass, sweet glorious highs,,
But at the sacrifice of upper bass.low mids, quality control....
Vandersteen is guilty of this mid issues as well, but certainly  at a  lower price  tag. 
Wilson has a  speaker now, approaching close to the $1M tag, (M as in Million!!)
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