Frequency Response?

"I read somewhere where you are not gonna get anything below 40Hz in a live performance, except maybe a movie."

Possibly, if all piano performances don't use the lower 7 keys (27.5 - 38.9 Hz), and all the string basses don't use the 5th string (30.9 Hz), etc, etc.

Lowest bass string E=41.2Hz With 5 or 6 string basses lowest frequency is still 41.2Hz because it is only for the ease of playing (music is typically written for 4 string bass). The issue here is not only extension but quality of the bass. My new Hyperions HPS-938 don't have extension of previous speakers but have better bass - more natural string attack and decay, better dynamics, less resonances etc. Tuning of the port, in addition to better woofers, plays role. With popular mass market speakers bass extension is what sells the speaker, no matter how distorted or poorly defined it is.

Yes piano goes lower, some special pianos even down to 16Hz but I don't know how often lowest A=27.5Hz is played. Perhaps not very often but in either case I can live without it.

this is a neat frequency chart that shows instruments range

http://www.independentrecording.net/irn/resources/freqchart/main_display.htm

It's an interesting question, and while I'm not an EE, here's my understandiing of how it works (for a dynamic/cone woofer):

The woofer is a system composed of 4 main parts; a cone, an electric motor attached to that cone, a box housing that cone, and a suspension connecting that cone to that box. The motor applies force that causes the cone to move and create sound. (I'll avoid the "push air" vs "pressurize" question because I don't think it's relevant to answering the question from the OP). The other 3 components in the system all constrain the movement of the cone to one degree or another.

Assume for a second that the motor system is large enough to move the cone an infinite distance if the motor has enough "fuel" (LF signal) from the amplifier. In this case, your question goes to the behavior of the cone. If the cone is sufficiently large and/or capable of moving infinitely far, it will (theoretically) have infinite low frequency capability. But it doesn't - the combination of cone/suspension/box always limits the max movement of the cone.

So, the size of the cone and it's maximum travel limit the entire bass system's low frequency capability. Once the cone reaches its maximum travel, further "push" from the motor will fail to move it further. As more LF signal is converted to force by the motor and the cone approaches its maximum excursion, the cone starts to resist and dynamics are compressed. Once maximum excursion is reached, excess signal is largely dissipated as heat.

Conceptually - at the extreme - one of 2 things eventually happens:

Overdriving the motor by sending it too much LF "fuel" will melt the voice coil element in the motor. If the motor is sufficiently robust that the voice coil survives the heat build-up, the cone would eventually deform/crush itself.

It's also possible that the LF capability will be limited by an undersized amp (not enough LF fuel).

That's my understanding, anyway (hope it's accurate, but I'm interested in hearing if some of the tech types here have a better answer.)

Marty

Yes, they will go deeper. Sometimes I think the advertised frequency response of some speakers is just creative license. Saw an advertised rating of 40 Hz - 3dB for a sealed monitor with a 6.5" woofer. Don't think so. 60 or 70 maybe, but that doesn't sell speakers. Doesn't mean that speaker has poor bass, just a gradual roll-off and I would expect good transient response (tight bass). Some driver/box combinations have a steep roll-off and impedance curves going into the lowest frequencies.