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Klaus Heinz: Why do speakers sound different when they measure the same?

hedd audio & acoustics insider

A quick thought experiment:

Say you compare two speaker systems that go down to around 40Hz.

One is your typical 2-way with a 6" driver.

The other is a massive oldschool 4-way system with double 18" drive units, BUT high-pass filtered to 40Hz as well.

Do you think they'll sound the same?

If designed correctly, they'll both have a (more or less) flat frequency response.

And if you play both at the same volume, shouldn't that give you the same sound?

Even if you've never heard a system like the second one, I'm sure you can imagine that the answer is a big, hard:

HECK NO. Not even close.

But why is that?

How can speaker systems sound so different when they largely measure the same?

To answer this question, I've invited Klaus Heinz, former CEO of HEDD Audio and arguably the world's leading expert on Air Motion Transformers, to join me in conversation.

I think we hit the nail squarely on the head in explaining just how limited measurement data actually is when trying to understand how a speaker sounds.

Or in other words: If you've ever wondered how measurements differ from what you're hearing, this video is for you.

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