My experience suggests that the overall sense of hearing extends well beyond the frequency at which a pure sine wave test tone can be heard. In other words, introduction of roll off by a filter, say at 16KHz is easily sensed by someone who can't hear higher than 12KHz in a hearing test. I observed this in my own case and of course I wanted an explanation. I think that the reason is that the sense of hearing perceves not just the change of air pressure, but also the rate of change, and an irregular waveform, like music, has steep wavefronts. A tweeter with extended frequency response can generate these steep wavefronts, and sounds better than a tweeter with frequency response that only corresponds to the "official" audio frequency range.
Also note that the difference between 22 KHz and 33 KHz is not as much as you might think...only one half an octive.
Also note that the difference between 22 KHz and 33 KHz is not as much as you might think...only one half an octive.