Frequency Response Variables

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The +/- figure tells us how much the frequency response varies across the stated range, that is, how flat the curve is across the range. The typical reference is +/- 3dB, which is reasonably flat. (Without a tolerance, the frequency-response rating would tell us almost nothing.)


In this case, the JM Labs speaker is down 3 dB from flat at 65 Hz. The Wharfedale rating goes "lower," but it's down 6 dB at 50 Hz (and certainly down at 65 Hz as well), so it's hard to directly compare the two specs. If the Wharfedale spec also had a tolerance of +/- 3 dB, then its low-end cutoff would almost certainly have to be raised, or, conversely, the JM Labs' rating would go lower with a wider tolerance.


Anyway, frequency-response specs don't actually tell us a lot about how speakers sound (certainly when they're this similar), so you need to listen and decide what you like. I'm not familiar with these particular speakers, but I wouldn't be surprised if they sounded very different.

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I agree in general, but there's an important distinction to be made here -- the frequency-response tolerance tells us about relative loudness, not loudness per se. Loudness is a measure of sensitivity.


If a speaker's response is down 3 dB at, say, 40 Hz, then its output at that frequency is 3 dB less than it is at other frequencies that fall on the baseline (and 6 dB less than a +3 dB peak that may occur elsewhere). Depending on a speaker's sensitivity, all the frequencies may be loud or quiet at a given input wattage. The +/- figure simply tells us the relative output levels across the stated range.