What possibly might work would be to plot output level in dB vs input power and look to see if there are any discontinuities in that curve. Ideally it should be linear. But I bet it isn't...
A new measurement specification for speakers?
I am a dedicated low volume listener as my ears have become sensitive with age and past youthful abuse. I have been through a number of speakers with mixed results, trying to find one that sounds good at low volumes. Note that this is not my only criteria for speaker choice, but it ranks high. Frequently it is stated that high sensitivity speakers are good for low volume listening, but I feel there is no connection between the sensitivity rating of a speaker and how it plays at low volumes.
Speaker sensitivity is typically measured in decibels produced with one watt of input using a 1 kHz tone with a microphone positioned at one meter from the speaker. Roughly useful for determining the kind of amplifier that might be required to drive the speaker, but not an indication of of how it will perform across the audible spectrum with one watt of input.
For those who have owned or demo'ed a number of speakers, I think we are all aware that each speaker "opens up" at a certain level. By open up, I mean the sound becomes fuller across the spectrum. Good low volume listening speakers obviously open up at lower dB levels.
What would be a proper means of measuring the level at which a speaker a speaker "opens up"? Technically, in my mind, this would be the dB level at which it delivers roughly linear sound across the audible spectrum, or some reasonable sub-range like 40-10,000 Hz. Call it Spectral Sensitivity. If we send a white noise signal using a select range or spectrum, at what dB level does the sound become linear, i.e. a (roughly) flat line on the graph.
I am aware of Fletcher-Munson curves, but this does not apply, as we are not talking about human perception, only about the dB level at which the speaker produces the full spectrum of sound presented to it.
I am not a speaker designer, and there are greater minds in this forum. Does something like this make sense?
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@jtucker Yes, that is pretty much what I have in mind. @kennyc Yes, but we can dream. One other stray thought I had on this subject regarding why speakers may vary so much at lower levels. The differences in the pliability and control level of the surrounds and the spiders may prevent some drivers from opening up at lower levels. This is the Q factor in driver design, and figures into the overall sound of the speaker. |
I was going to retire. I've been on Agon for many years, got aggravated with it and had not posted for a long time. Many of you may remember me, I worked at Marcof Electronics/SpeakerCraft back in the early 80's. I've been doing speaker repairs and upgrades over the years as a hobby. Well rather than retiring. I've started a speaker upgrade and repair service. Over time. I've had several guys that like to listen at lower volume levels. In my time with them, I've modified a few speakers to meet their taste, across the board, I tuned the speaker to have a warmer bass, a few liked them with a bit more bass rather than just tuning for a bit of warmth. We found that the bit of low end warmth with a balanced mid and top end is what made listening at lower levels easier on the ears. Not sure that this is exactly what you are looking for but felt it was worth sharing the information. Tim |
I don't think you'll find a single answer because it could be a multitude of things.
I'm sure this is how most used to do things but before room correction, I used to jack up the bass and treble regardless of the room, speakers, etc.
Just to reiterate the issue of the room and speakers; now with room correction, I correct it as flat as possible, THEN I jack up the bass and treble. There is HUGE improvement in sound stage and clarity in the mid-range regardless of the volume. It sounds a tad thinner than I was used to, but the improvements far outweighed it. |
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