Who makes the lowest distortion speaker drivers

Polar response is another small piece in the puzzle but perfect polars do not a perfect speaker make. It is much more complicated than that


There is much more to a good speaker than just polar response but it is absolutely the key to good imaging in a real room. If you haven't heard a good
constant directivity speaker you don't know what you are missing!


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There is much more to a good speaker than just polar response but it is absolutely the key to good imaging in a real room. If you haven't heard a good
constant directivity speaker you don't know what you are missing!


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I have been lucky enough to listen to many CD systems including synergy horns and dipole. My own setup uses a dipole midwoofer and SEOS horn. So my preference is for CD

However, the most important upgrade for me was broadband absorption

As I said CD is just one piece of the puzzle
 
Its quite shocking looking at some loudspeaker response graphs.
We have an amp that puts out 0.0001% distortion and a speaker that is all over the place.
All we can do is buy better drivers or tolerate cheaper ones.
A speaker is pretty complex device with resistance, inductance and capacitance, so its not surprising it isn't a precision device.

I have a feeling that the mechanical distortion and electronic distortion can't be compared on the same table. My ears seem to be much more forgiving for the mechanical distortion.

Edit: And digital distortion is the ugliest distortion to my ears...
 
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Its quite shocking looking at some loudspeaker response graphs.
We have an amp that puts out 0.0001% distortion and a speaker that is all over the place.
All we can do is buy better drivers or tolerate cheaper ones.
A speaker is pretty complex device with resistance, inductance and capacitance, so its not surprising it isn't a precision device.

Why do you need a speaker with 0.0001% distortion?
 
Ive heard many pro audio drivers with super low HD and reasonably clean impedance plots that sound honky and resonant

Then you have good ribbons with poor HD in the lower frequencies but performance in the higher frequency that make you never want to use a dome again

HD is the red herring of speaker design.

The sheep have been led astray!

If you listened pro audio drivers that sound honky and resonant but measured good, i would attribute that to very lousy executed xover.

THD may be the red herring, HD not quite.
 
If you listened pro audio drivers that sound honky and resonant but measured good, i would attribute that to very lousy executed xover.

THD may be the red herring, HD not quite.


moguće

Crossovers were mine but ive also heard in a $$$ jbl speaker

But i can hear that spider/ cone/ surround resonance on many pro drivers when others cant. Others say it sounds "dynamic"

HD is a red herring when people argue between 0.001% vs 0.1%
 
moguće

Crossovers were mine but ive also heard in a $$$ jbl speaker

But i can hear that spider/ cone/ surround resonance on many pro drivers when others cant. Others say it sounds "dynamic"

HD is a red herring when people argue between 0.001% vs 0.1%

If the woofer itself measures good (frequency response, csd and HD) i wouldn't expect honkynes from it. May it be the resonance from cabinets ?

About JBL - i had different experiences with their products. Od sjaja do očaja.

Which model did you listen to ? For me JBL 4355 and JBL 4345 worked great. JBL 240Ti and JBL L100mk2 not so much. Friend of mine bought JBL 2216nd and JBL 2430 compression driver with M2 waveguide about a month ago. He is building M2 clone so i will have the opportunity to hear the new generation of JBL monitors. JBL 2216nd is pro woofer that works up to 700Hz so i'll report back about the sound of pro woofer going that high.

I agree about HD in that context.
 
I don't know if this has been brought up here before, but the nature of the perception of nonlinear distortion has been well studied before (see my website below). In our study we found that THD levels of .01% and 10% could be perceived equally, while some distortions at 15% were inaudible. This test had dozens of participants in a blind study. The THD levels were found to be not correlated to perception, with an ever so slight preference for MORE distortion!

Basically any discussion of THD in loudspeakers or amps or anything is pointless as these numbers do not mean anything.

The bottom line is that it is the nature of the nonlinearity that matters NOT the THD level. Electronics crossover distortion can be audible at .01%, while loudspeakers can be inaudible at 15% - it all matters on the nature of the nonlinearity. Basically distortion in a loudspeaker can easily be made inaudible while in an amp it takes some work.

This is all well know in the Pro-audio world, but somehow here it seems to not be understood at all.
 
I don't know if this has been brought up here before, but the nature of the perception of nonlinear distortion has been well studied before (see my website below). In our study we found that THD levels of .01% and 10% could be perceived equally, while some distortions at 15% were inaudible. This test had dozens of participants in a blind study. The THD levels were found to be not correlated to perception, with an ever so slight preference for MORE distortion!

Basically any discussion of THD in loudspeakers or amps or anything is pointless as these numbers do not mean anything.

The bottom line is that it is the nature of the nonlinearity that matters NOT the THD level. Electronics crossover distortion can be audible at .01%, while loudspeakers can be inaudible at 15% - it all matters on the nature of the nonlinearity. Basically distortion in a loudspeaker can easily be made inaudible while in an amp it takes some work.

This is all well know in the Pro-audio world, but somehow here it seems to not be understood at all.

Sure, but we guys just enjoy buying sophisticated Junk with flawless unusefull pristine specs, Summas included...:D

We fine asnes would only use the very best!:mischiev: