Very well answered, Chris. Thanks for the explanation. I’ve often wondered the same myself, as my speakers supposedly go from 20Hz - 30kHz. All I know is that I love how they sound, and that’s all that really matters.

I am a drummer. You can take a drum and play it in one room of your house. It will sound a certain way. Take that same drum and play it in a different room? It can sound entirely different. Take it into a hall? Different, again. Speakers are no different.

I was hoping for Chris's thoughts on the SHAPE of the frequency response curve(s), possibly including off-axis response. From Bruel & Kjaer's research in the 1970's through Toole and Olive's more recent published work, and including Arnie Nudell's in-house work, non-flat curves have been found to be subjectively preferable.

Compliments for your presentation! You've stepped up quite a lot since the first video, almost a good as Paul ;-)) So much to learn about speakers, even after watching almost every video from Paul.

I think also the popular use of subwoofers changes this a bit too. Even with larger full size speaker setups it seems like you can roll off at around 100hz and let the subs take the bottom end.

I like to think of a system as four parts. The source, the electronics, the speakers and then you. Sure I can include the room, but I find that systems can move from time to time and rooms can be tweaked like other parts in the system. Chris I'm sure and as we all know Paul believe you start with the speakers. I just finished building my first pair 3 months ago. The work that goes into making a speaker...Yikes. That's why my next pair will be bought. But saying all that, I have the frequency response I wanted, the dynamics, the size... They fit me. Now, are they awesome and EVERYTHING I was hoping for? No. So I'll continue to work on that, but I know these things so well. So It's kinda a journey as Chris was saying looking and listening for speakers that speak to you.

Every wave handling device with finite range is by definition is a filter. All filters have phase aberrations in the slope. So you want the slope to be outside of the band of interest.

He will become Paul II, trust me.

After many years of auditioned many different speaker brands i have noticed (more in the bass frequency response) that a lower specified frequency response doesnt always indicate "better bass" as this also depends on your system, listening environment and specific speaker cabinet construction and driver materials used.

I have a woofer with a Frequency response between 25hz-2.5khz. Following the manufacture ported volume spec, the speaker with dual woofers would come in at 35hz at 8.5cuft. And 39.5hz with 6cuft volume. My question is, can i still play music at a low 25hz even if the box is tuned to 39hz?

The main thing about speaker specs, (or ANY kind of specs, for any equipment, for that matter), is that you have to look for specs that have a good *reference* to compare to, rather than just an arbitrary, meaningless number, otherwise they really don't mean anything useful... For example, a really good, well designed, and properly rated speaker will have a rating that's something similar to the following: Frequency Response from 25Hz to 25KHz +/-3dB @90dB Average SPL @1W (or 2.83V into 8 ohms) /1M Anechoic Response (or "in-room" response)... The point here is that ALL of this stuff has to be referenced and stated in order for a spec. to mean anything significant, (and even then it may not be completely accurate, depending on the manufacturer's measuring equipment and setup, but we won't go into that here, trusting that really good companies try their best to rate their products accurately IF they are publishing this complete list of numbers), so having ALL of that info, and being able to understand what it all means, is really the only way to *pre-judge* a speaker, (pre- to actual listening to see how it sounds to your ears, which is essential regardless of specs.!), and really, in general, with all other things as stated above being equal, the *wider* the frequency response of any given speaker the better, because you want a speaker to be able to reproduce as FULL of the *total* musical range as possible, (which theoretically is between about 1Hz and about 100KHz), but the basic laws of physics place various limits on what is *actually* possible in the real world, that's why it's *very* important to have a good frame of reference to compare stuff with!... And the same thing applies to amplifier specs. also!... Just go back and look at how equipment was (more properly) rated back in the 70's and 80's especially, (with all associated & necessary references listed), compared to the overly inflated, often total bullshit ratings of equipment and speakers nowadays, in order for everything to be made cheaper and to lesser quality levels, but still appear at first glance, and to the "untrained eye", to be even "better" than before... In most cases it really *isn't* "better"... In SOME ways electronics *have* gotten better than in the past, with better technologies being available now, etc., but without using proper ratings and *complete* references, the "specs" or numbers you see associated with such new equipment may not actually be any better, you just can't tell without proper, complete numbers available to you... Because, for example, a speaker that just simply says it has a "frequency response" of say "20-30Khz" without stating anything else, *doesn't mean shit* , (or actually it does mean SHIT, as in total BULLSHIT! LOL!), (and it may, but most likely will NOT have that actual response), because it doesn't give you ANY references as to how *flat* of a response it is, (the +/-dB spec.), NOR how loud it is on average at a given input power, (the XdB @ 1W/1M, 8 ohms or @2.83V/1M spec.) The companies nowadays, especially the cheaper quality, "Made in China" brands, are taking total advantage of the average person not knowing how to read AND understand (proper, true meaning), equipment specs, and so it has become pretty much nothing but a "numbers game" now, where they just throw continually larger, "more impressive looking" numbers out there for you to see when shopping, in order to get the *uninformed masses* to buy their shitty products!... So do your homework and study up on what is important and essential to know about a product before buying something! Ask a few knowledgeable experts in the field, learn how to read and understand specs for yourself, and most importantly, find a way to audition equipment and especially speakers for yourself, and with your own ears, to make sure it works well and sounds good to YOU, before buying anything electronic/audio/video related... If buying online, look for a company that preferably allows for in-home trials and has a great return policy and reputation for carrying high quality brands!... Crutchfield comes to mind, but there are many other places to get good stuff online too... Of course it's still better to be able to audition equipment and speakers first at an actual, "brick and mortar" physical store where you can go in and listen to stuff yourself, with your preferred music, but unfortunately that's getting more and more difficult to do nowadays, so cherish the opportunity to experience that whenever and wherever possible, and try to support those businesses when you can so they don't disappear completely in the future! Because if that happens it will make it a "free for all" for all of the "lesser quality" bullshit rated, crappy quality brands to take over the world!... We can't allow that to happen!! (And BTW, NO, you can't just rely on the sound from a "KZfaq" video review of any speaker either, because the actual sound from that that actually reaches your ears is *severely and majorly* changed by the uploader's camera/mic, the compression involved in the feed through the internet and definitely KZfaq itself, AND definitely by your relatively crappy sounding computer speakers, headphones, &/or your cellphone or tablet!... Remember, sound is ONLY as good as the *weakest, most compromised link* in the chain, from actual equipment and media to your ears themselves, and the more devices you add into that chain, the more "colored", limited and distorted the sound that you actually hear is, that's why it's essential to audition speakers in person, in the same room as they are, NOT over the internet by watching a video!... But since you are already a person who is watching Paul's videos here on this channel, I will suppose that you already know that much at least!... I know this was a long comment, but maybe someone out there got some useful knowledge from it... All I can do is try to help others by offering some of my knowledge and expertise about audio stuff, as these videos on this channel also try to do! :)

What I expect loudspeaker manufacturers to show is 1. PULSE 2. STEP response 3. DISTORTION 1 and 2 in a graph with a timeline of 5 ms. Like mentioned in the video as presented by i.e Stereophile. Most speakers suck big time at that point. And a good pulse says much more about how it will sound/perform than a frequency response without information about the smoothing applied.

i want to buy component speakers for my car. I already have a woofer so i expect a good clarity speakers for my front speakers. i prefer to hear more details sounds and go for more clarity. I have 2 speakers in my mind. 1) Alpine S-S65C 2) Db drive es9 6C i just want to know which frequency response should i go for? One is 30hz to 50khz another one is 65hz to 50khz

They say you can't hear below 20hz but I built a sound system with a 90cm×50cm×50cm box & a single mid port 15cm×5cm powered by ×2 400RMS Pioneer car subwoofers & a NAD 2 Channel amp lol & they would perform below 20hz , as low as 7hz 😅 you can actually feel the air & room around you & your body shaking real slow 😳 but it made my kitchen roof fall twice so I disassembled it 😑 , sound is amazing man .. but dangerous 😕

Thumbed up - already subscribed. Can you try and advise me? I'm looking for an answer to this - but taking into consideration that it was the same company (Tannoy), giving specs for 2 of their speakers. One is the Tannoy Reveal 802, which says Freq. Rang is 42 Hz - 43 kHz. Vs their Gold 8, which says it's Frequency range is 54 hz - 20,000 Hz. Granted, the low rolloff and high rolloff are subject to being measured differently by different manufactureres and engineering teams, but it's frustrating when a company releases one product, and then it's followup product uses a different standard - I say that because I can't imagine these speakers have such varying ranges in actuality. Most likely, the team that measured the Gold 8 was just being conservative, whereas the team that did the Tannoy Reveal was giving the absolute measurable range (which is uninfluential even by the most liberal standards) versus energy in the upper band, for example, that may impact the harmonic content in an audible way. Am I making sense? Is that likely what happened? And what website should I go to for a true evaluation between these 2 speakers. (I need to replace a Tannoy Reveal 802 (not purely for mixing decisions, but also as a musical instrument amplification in a home composers studio.)

still depends on your room

Does a line array of dual 10 inch with 60Hz-20KHz (±3dB) a good speaker? I want to hear from professionals before i place an order

So if the frequency response of a particular speaker is NOT necessarily indicative of the speaker's performance then 1) why is it listed? 2) what is the specs one should be focusing on the spec sheet to get an idea of the speaker's performance? I've always tended to think people with their crossover adjustment (LPF) tend to set or have their subwoofers set too low. Loke around 80 Hz. I don't understand this as most bass drums in a drumset are around 100 Hz to 120 Hz but can be up to 140-150 Hz. And maybe on a lucky day can they reach as low as 80 Hz but doubtful unless augmented with samples. So the sub then is not playing the sound of the bass drum when people have their sub set too low. And I would think that is the whole point of a subwoofer. It's the bass drum that gets your foot tapping, and people off their butt and dancing to the music. And regarding the sub, I think it's frequency response would be important. So to have your crossover or LPF setr so it can play the full range the sunwoofer is capable of playing? Like 30 Hz - 250 Hz. Or even 500 Hz. Why set a crossover below the subs capabilities? My sub is designed for 18 Hz - 800 Hz, and sounds fantastic and much better than my old sub that was rated to 250 Hz.

Title says, "Best frequency response for speakers" but he didn't talk about the best frequency response for speakers.

This is why I stick to my speakers, which are not perfect, but very musical and have, to me, a foundation that I have endeavored to DIY improve over the years . . . still do. I realize that there may be speakers that would knock my socks off, but I know that they will NEVER be in my price range, so why go there? If I want the true essence of live music -- I can and have gone to live performances. From there I can evaluate my speakers and carefully tweak and experiment to my heart's content; and with the help of research, which is freely at my disposal -- why not? I realize that individuals, who have the equipment and have the education, also have the bigger edge -- but I still have enough knowledge to work with this stuff and not blow-up my amplifiers. I think it is inherent in this field, to want to improve and tinker, but let's face it, the majority cannot set up a second mortgage to ever buy this stuff, without making ourselves miserable trying to payback and maintain the rest of our budget. I figure that if a speaker gives the owner a basic listening satisfaction, but may be weak in obvious areas, that those areas, if the person is inclined, can be improved over time and still fit within a doable range of the hobby; after all, it is your ears, your life, your budget, etc. which is the criteria -- not other people's opinions, which are not paying the bills, nor have your set of ears. It is time for people to THINK for themselves, rather than develop a herd mentality that defines your thinking and opinions for you, which is basically what is wrong with our country today.

Great video!

A “full set” of measurements will tell you a lot about how a speaker will sound.

Books have been written on this. All ears hear differently we design speakers to lab specifications and then personal data to the responce we want and can afford.

In short, it’s complicated. Look at the range of solutions out there. The speaker is a system of transducers set up to simulate sounds that we recognise, in a way that makes sense to us. But look at the range of variables that come under the umbrella of achieving that goal and you find a nest of compromises that serves up a presentation that someone might choose to buy. We want accurate dynamics, intelligibility, imaging and phase coherence. Then we put it with amplification in a room, both of which will change what is possible. In short... a loudspeaker system is the point where the electrical signal does its work on the physical environment, through the collection of compromises it represents. It has to get out of the way of the signal enough for the listener to accept those compromises to listen to what’s left of the signal as if it is the real sound. The question is not mad, it just highlights how much work the human brain is prepared to do whilst listening to loudspeaker systems and that technical design and taste are the odd bedfellows in hi fi systems.

Thanks great information

Unfortunately, specs consumers see in audio are usually the ones marketing folks want to promote to sell more stuff. Too often they mean nothing.

Any books about speaker or amplifier design people recommend? I'm an engineer interested in learning more about the subject.

Very nice! More more more

there are many factors of course when designing sound system, but you said everything except the answer about question

Yes, specs are often misleading. -3 dB and - 12 dB

People usually like a flat frequency response (20hz to 20khz) with a downward slope i.e. more bass than treble. But it's all a matter of preference. Some like boosted bass, others boosted treble, etc. ✌️

as a speaker designer this video didnt say anything meaningful.

A nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse

So I heard my favorite christmas cd on a friend's very expensive soundbar, and didn't even recognize it - it sounded so dull and uninteresting. Back home on my 30 yr. old Sony desktop stereo it sounds FABULOUS! Why?

i know frequency response only measure volume, not quality. in fine that he mention that point somewhat, but i hopes for some frequency numbers as an answer. like 15hz to 40khz, +-1db

Your voice sounds exactly like Kevin Smith aka Silent Bob.

Technically he didn't answer the question at the end he didn't even know what to say

He seems to say that the frequency range doesn't tell much about the quality of the speakers. He could have been more specific.

Oh come on it was an easy question for door speakers do you want 30 Hz to 22 khz or 110 Hz to 40 khz.....its pretty clear to me if you want bass in your door speakers you would get 30 to 22 if you want more highs 110 to 40 or get some thing in between that 60 hz to 20 khz....i know there's way more to speakers than frequency range but i think his answer was way more complicated then it had to be

What I hate is speakers dont say how low the bass extention is. Why isn't there an industry standard to give us this information.

use graphs, charts. show the changes in output as frequency changes. show how much current a speaker draws when it's at two ohms, 4 ohms, 8 ohms.....don't just talk show.

You didn't answer half of the question, he asked about the frequency response graph, I don't see any graphs...

Just because the human ear can't hear certain sounds doesn't mean the body can't feel them.

Ya might not hear stuff below 20Hz but you can Feel the difference if it’s missing... I like when my car feels like a massage chair on high.. any thoughts on less subwoofer and more tactical transducer mounted to the seat? (I understand the imaging gets skewed but I’m not as concerned in my car)

Paul's got that super experienced air about him....and he name drops like he was buddies with Saul , Stu and Gorden. You don't have that yet cause your a short in tooth, so you need to find some type of angle. I'm thinking you need to change the hair style and consider getting a mohawk. In any case, I'm glad that you are being given a little leash room at PS Audio. Nice vid, bud.

Down at 80 hz unless you are a full range with built in *subwoofers*

Short answer: listed specs are an inconsistent mess.

Senior design engineer..but we didn't get any answers..you can even give us a number..maybe if he say good FR for speaker is 30hz- 20khz but their design is not met that requirement..play safe.. 😂😂

Chris knowledgeable as he is should study the links in the attached video that show that although our ears can't hear above 20 KHZ we are able to perceive frequencies way above 20 KHZ , that is why some audiophiles are using ultra tweeters , It may be wise to make sure his new designs do reproduce these ultrahigh frequencies. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/eNqeaJpjv6-naJ8.html

Each person has different frequency response characteristics in their ears..no two people hear exactly the same..and in many people there is a difference between left and right ear. So it becomes hard to use speaker frequency response as a be-all-end-all... Speaker sound is subjective and this is why we have so many makes, sizes, and styles.

Clearly this video is not for people like me...I’m lost as fuck...I have no idea what he is talking about... I suppose in relative to the topic I’m at the bottom of the frequency range...say 20hz? Some of the comments I’ve seen below are people that are either lying or pretending to understand this topic.

Which subwoofer frequency is best 35hz-85hz or 120hz-20,000hz

If Floyd E Toole said that about tires, its obviously not true. It wouldn't be the first time.

Unfortunately , the spec's on a speaker or the manual of a pair of speaker are almost meaningless. Without understanding ohms law at a minimum, Freq response, and a number of other factors , the states soect simply do not add up or really mean anything to the normal human who is not a tech. Power handling (in wattage) Resistance. (in ohms) Are the two main factors to match up to compatible power sources (Amos or Receivers) this is a very simple way to look at it , but the very basic spec's are so as not to mismatch components.

More importantly, why doesn't any speaker companies show any distortion figures?

I'm beginning to understand why the an3 is taking so long.

He's learning...looking in the camera! That said i was bored in a minute...

The highest harmonics from music instruments hit max 16khz...so it's useless , our ear is most sensitif between around 600 to 8000 he then it drops off, the best reproduction I heated from recording was life through fm radio, Queen Elisabeth Belgium concours, not one instrument goes in harmonics beyond 16khz nor dus fm or tv , it's long time ago I heard the pilottone of tv of 16khz....

So the information is so complex that it becomes totally useless.

Sorry, so is there an answer here? 😳 🤷🏻‍♂️ We already know what it’s not.

"Frickency!" 😅

Human hearing range is not limited to 20HZ to 20Khz. That's just the average. There are people that can hear 12 hz and some young people that can hear up to 28,000hz. There's more to how a speaker sounds than Frequency Response. Transient Response, for example is a much better unit of measure and is more important than FR.

Specs are dumb. 99.9999% of the time the specs are embellished to the point of dishonesty and will do more to confuse you than anything else. Having gone to plenty of audio shows, stores, and everything else in between, I can't tell you how many times I have been shown all sorts of miraculous specs just to turn around and have the speaker sound like shit. Specs are one of those things where it makes complete logical sense, but in the real world where you are dealing with the human element of salesmanship, you are better off just spending the time/money/effort to go listen to the speaker yourself.

Speakers will sound different with different components and, different sources. Look at it like food, take two pigs from the same litter. Two different farmers buy them, and they are raised in vastly different areas, and fed different foods. If bread then slaughtered, the 1st pigs will taste different, and each generation will taste more different than the previous. Along with the pork, the other food and preparation of the pork will change the flavor. So, with audio, simply changing 1 component or recording, will change the sound anywhere from a little to a lot. Switching a speaker to the newer model may not be night and day, but will be different. As for the upper and lower frequencies, bellow 20 is good for home theater or a car show. Above 20, not really sure.

He should be a politician he's a pro talking around the question smh

flat response , constant perfect directivity

The fellow didnt give the right answer. The perfect response is flat from 20hz to 20khz.

@ 3:14 Engineer - I like to look at measured results. ALL that matters are LISTENING results. Perhaps the Engineer will get 'round to that step. Don't hold yer breath!

Thunderous bass and soaring highs are exciting, but the soul of music lies in the midrange. This is what you really need to get right. The rest is gravy, but it's not the meat and potatoes (sorry for the omnivore metaphor, Paul the vegetarian).

...numbers add up to nothing... Neil Young, Powderfinger. In that context, just listen to the music...

Uhm Uhm Uhm Uhm Uhm Please stop saying Uhm

For gods sake umm is not a word. Wtf where is paul

Hey everybody notice there are NO comments responses from Chris to his videos IOW he does not read comments to his videos, probably does not watch them back to hear how bad the continuous umms and arrs sound. Chris you are bringing down the video content of PS Audio, it's time to lift your on camera game.

*****Best frequency response for speakers***** < - - The frequencies you can hear. Cuz NONE other matter. Yer Welcome. Sh*t gets nuttier and nuttier as the years go passing by, si?

STOP SAYING UMM AND ARR OVER AND OVER AND OVER.