[Bghead8che]

I'm learning to read Frequency charts on speakers. I was wondering (w/out identifying the speaker) what you guys think of the following chart? By looking at the chart only, what (if anything) can you tell about the sound of the speaker?


-Brian

http://www.soundstagemagazine.com/me...ningwindow.gif

 

[bigwally]

I'm no guru but I'll take a stab at it.


Is that on-axis or listening window? For the sake of discussion I'll assume it's for the listening window. I've heard speakers that sounded great to me despite having less a less flat measurement than that, and I've heard speakers that measured flatter that didn't sound very special to me.


That aside, what I'm noticing most is a peak in the midrange that should deliver a bit of a forward "front row" depth presentation, and a very high end rolloff that I might like if it uses a particularly zippy metal dome tweeter. If it had other nice attributes to go along with it like good dynamics, power handling, off-axis response, midbass slam, etc. I wouldn't throw it out of my living room. I'd want a good sub with them for sure.

 

[Bghead8che]

Interesting Big Wally. I'll give one hint, they are bookshelves.


What do you think of the treble response as a whole? And you would expect a forward midrange, right?


-Brian

 

[bigwally]

Slightly forward maybe, but some of that depends on the dispersion qualities of the mid-range as well. Overall it looks like a fairly well balanced speaker on paper. How the treble sounds will depend on the mid to tweeter integration and the tweeter itself, but I don't see anything there that obviously screams "this speaker sucks".


I'd need more info to make any kind of judgement about them as a freq. response chart can only tell you so much. You have to remember, Bose and Cerwin Vegas measure among the flattest on-axis (according to Consumer Reports anyway) and the frequency graphs for Wilson Watt/Puppies look like something Geraldo Rivera might scribble in the sand.

 

[Bghead8che]

Really? I owned some Watt/Puppys 5.1 a while back. I thought Stereophile and others thought they had a relatively flat response.


Guess I was wrong.

 

[bigwally]

Well, I've seen flatter responses but I'm sure they're fantastic speakers. I've never had a chance to hear them.


Watt/Puppy

http://www.soundstagemagazine.com/me...ningwindow.gif


Talon Audio Khorus..what $14,000 gets you.

http://www.soundstagemagazine.com/me...ningwindow.gif

 

[sushi]

I would say one of the most conspicuous feature of this curve is the 3-4dB dip in the 3-5kHz region. This, combined with a slight roll off in the upper-most octave, will probably give you an impression of slightly "laid back" mid-high. This may also translate to a "smooth" sounding character. It seems to have a usable bass response down to 60Hz or so. All in all, very nice, relatively flat frequency response.


But, as bigwally eluded, in order to accurately infer the sound quality, you really need the group of response curves depicting the speaker's lateral dispersion characteristics.

 

[Bghead8che]

Here are a few more w/ the tester's notes.

http://www.soundstagemagazine.com/me...ncy_on1530.gif


Top curve: on-axis response

Middle curve: 15 degrees off-axis response

Bottom curve: 30 degrees off-axis response

Sensitivity: 87.0dB

http://www.soundstagemagazine.com/me...ncy_456075.gif


Top curve: 45 degrees off-axis response

Middle curve: 60 degrees off-axis response

Bottom curve: 75 degrees off-axis response



I don't want to tell which speaker it is because then it will be hard to evaluate the chart objectively.

 

[sushi]

Yes, very nice dispersion in the top octave, which should provide an "airy" character. Again, a slight and notable dip in the 1.5kHz-5kHz region overall, most likely resulting in a "laid back" mid-high, and smooth, relaxed sound. For a bookshelf, a very respectable bass response.

 

[hwc]

That dip in the midrange has been a trick used by high-end speaker designers for decades. It is a prime contributor to the "smooth midrange" and "musicality" so valued by audiophiles!


Frequency response curves are useful to an extent. But, slavish devotion to straight lines doesn't necessarily get you a better sounding system. Ruler flat response from DC to LIGHT isn't really necessary for good sound.

 

[Steve Dodds]

Yep, it looks like the classic 'BBC Dip' that many British monitors have.


Steve

 

[bigwally]

I might respectfully disagree a little bit. The BBC dip for laid back aka recessed "musical" midrange is usually centered between 220Hz and 1500Hz, however the speaker shown in the first graph has a peak there hence my comment about it possibly being a bit "forward" if the dispersion were narrow as well (which it apparently is not according to the subsequent graphs). The dip shown in the 3-4kHz area is above the midrange frequencies and is instead where treble begins. It looks to me like it's right at the tweeter crossover point and could be an issue from how that was done. Overall I'd suspect the speaker of having a natural balance (depending on the character of the tweeter itself) and a fairly neutral imaging depth vs. exceedingly laid back or forward.

 

[nutt]

"Is this a good response?"


No.


Tim

 

[Bghead8che]

Nut,


Show me a good one, please. I'm looking for a chart/speaker that measures well.


-Brian

 

[nutt]

The best measuring speakers I have seen are Dunlavy. I will go look for a chart in a minute.


Tim

 

[nutt]

OK, there is some pretty good information here:

http://www.audio-logic.com/html/dunlavymeas.html


Tim

 

[bigwally]

When compared to Dunlavy on paper, very few (if any) loudspeakers "measure up".

 

[DigitalGriffin]

Hi big wally,


I'll throw in my two cents. There is a slight peak around 700 Hz right in the middle of the vocal noise band. (100->3000Hz for men, and 200->3000Hz for women) If this is the effect of resonance mode, then you will get a slight nasal sound and simbilance. I would have to know the composition and size of the midrange/woofer driver to be able to confirm that. A drop off below 100 Hz indicates this is a bookshelf (as previously stated) I will concure the cross over for the tweeter is in the 3kHz range.


If I didn't know any better I would say these were British speakers.


BTW: Very nice off axis response. Good dispersion. Could these be B&W's?


~TooBadSpecsDon'tTellUsEverything

~Don

 

[Bghead8che]

I have no clue how Dunlavys sound but there isn't a deviation past 1.5DB on the entire chart. That's good!


I'd be interested to see how Rockets measure as I found them to have a very thick midrange and recessed treble.

 

[Mad Dog]

here's a reponse graph of the RS750s...