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
William53, I think the definition is rather arbitrary. What is important is how speakers perform in reality in a normal room at normal distances. You can not rely on specs particularly when it comes down to low frequencies. There are painfully few "full range" speakers that make it down to 20 Hz gracefully particularly if you try to run room control. Read the article I just posted in this section. Low bass is a problem that is best handled in isolation. IMHO as moon-audio defines it there is no such thing as a full range loudspeaker. Good performance certainly under 80 Hz requires entirely different parameters than the rest of the audio range particularly when it comes to positioning the drivers. You might want to use totally different types of amplification such as a tube amp above and a SS bruiser below. Not that it isn't impossible but I have never heard a "full range" speaker produce adequate bass. 
Check out the upright bass in the article I posted. I never knew they made one like that! It is tuned to A0 which is 27.5 Hz. 
I have no control over what people do with their listening rooms, so that point is moot to me. The sordid details of their listening room are theirs alone to solve.


This is strictly asking people that reply to the post to make a statement as to what hz on the lower end makes a speaker, not a particular driver, but the finished product, full range to them.

My number used to be 40 hz, now it is 32 hz. Whether I add a sub or not is up to me, and not relevant to the question.