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A full range speaker?

Many claim to be, but how many can handle a full orchestra’s range?

That range is from 26hz to around 12khz including harmonics, but the speakers that can go that low are few and far between. That is a shame, since the grand piano, one of the center points of many orchestral and symphonic performances, needs that lower range to produce a low A fully, however little that key is used.

I used to think it was 32hz, which would handle a Hammond B-3’s full keyboard, so cover most of the musical instruments range, but since having subs have realized how much I am missing without those going down to 25hz with no db’s down.

What would you set as the lower limit of music reproduction for a speaker to be called full range?

 I’m asking you to consider that point where that measurement is -0db’s, which is always different from published spec's.
128x128william53b
djones51
4,947 posts
 
Your in room response is what matters not the anechoic. Revel Salon 2 are
close-mic down 4db at 20hz but UP 3db at 20hz in room response.
https://www.stereophile.com/content/revel-ultima-salon2-loudspeaker-measurements

The JTR Noesis 215RT is another passive that can do full range. You don’t want flat down or below 20hz it sounds like crap unless you like exaggerated boomy bass in music or have a dead room without boundary reinforcement.
william53b's avatar
william53b OP
211 posts
 
I have my full range for the moment, thanks. What I'm wondering is what you define that as, and why, and speaker mentions are optional. 

In opposition to speaker manufacturers saying anything below 60hz, depending on manufacturer, can be full range. Looking for personal statements so that we can see what people think that is.

When I was younger, the first full Range speakers I heard were K-Horns, and after that I started to realize that a lot of floor standing full range speakers were just really large bookshelf speakers…
djones51
4,947 posts
 
I’ve always understood full range to be 20hz - 20khz very few passives unless they are pretty large can do full range. I don't know of any that will do full range with an FR that looks decent without PEQ preferably DSP. 
william53b's avatar
william53b OP
211 posts
 
I think the the 20's are the domain of plate amps. Some manufacturers are now including them in their full range speakers to drive the big woofers.

Something I have seen that seems like a good idea is a built in high pass filter on a preamp. This is something that should be a given, as all that comes from passing tones lower than your speakers can reproduce is distortion, and wasted power. What's the point of your amp receiving that info and wasting energy trying to reproduce it if your speaker can’t reproduce it? I think the Parasound Halo has that, although some people may frown on that as being marginally worthy of being lumped in with audiophile equipment. But I’m more like Steve Gutenberg and Herb Richert in my inclusiveness of trying to find a decent system for people that can only afford say a grand on their system.

But I digress…
william53b's avatar
william53b OP
211 posts
 
Full range is a quadratic equation. If your mids and tweets are 100 watts, your subs have to have 800 watts and four times the surface area of the mid’s. 
And this is an area where class D amps don’t cut it, in my experience; so double that to 1600 watts RMS for 20- 80 hz.
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