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RE: Smaller But Higher Quality Speakers

Posted by AudioIT on August 12, 2015 at 19:58:50

In Reply to: RE: Smaller But Higher Quality Speakers posted by hahax@verizon.net on August 12, 2015 at 19:28:00:

I just spent some time looking at the Stereophile frequency measurements for the Alpha B1's, the Imagine Minis and the Minuets:

http://www.stereophile.com/content/psb-alpha-b1-loudspeaker-measurements#dfHCVor10u7cifd4.97

http://www.stereophile.com/content/psb-imagine-mini-loudspeaker-measurements#XqHhbHrx8UFh4v7d.97

http://www.stereophile.com/content/silverline-audio-minuet-loudspeaker-measurements#hsRuPRTbC2emHT4i.97

Very interesting read. You can really see how the port frequency/design impacts the overall bass response, and I can see now why people might get the sense of good, tight bass in the Minuets (small woofer notwithstanding). Looks like the Minuets have an effective port design at a low enough frequency that it produces a little deeper/smoother roll-off than the Imagine Mini. Yes, it drops off a bit before the Alpha B1 -- but not really by much if you look at the overall bass response (woofer and port combined). It looks like the port acts as a helper for the Alpha B1 to eke out a little deeper bass, whereas with the Minuets the port extends the bass just a little more actively. The Mini port also extends the bass even more actively than the Minuets, but since the port frequency is higher, it doesn't extend the bass quite as much/smoothly as the Minuet port. Makes me wonder if the Mini's sound "porty" at the mid-bass level. So yeah, it appears the overall bass response of the Minuets is more refined/lower than the Minis even with a smaller woofer in this case, and very close to the Alpha B1's (according to these measurements).

Another thing I noticed is that the PSB tweeters (in both the Alpha B1's and Mini's) have a sharp drop-off just about 20kHz, then a *surge* above that point. While I wouldn't be able to detect that myself, it's just interesting to note. Some kind of artifact? Dogs probably hate PSB speakers. Ha

Both the Mini's and the Minuets are flat within 2.5 dB during most of the frequency range, but the Minuets have a full 2.5 dB emphasis from about the 2-5kHz range. The author remarks that this might be what gives them their midrange detail (or "that midrange" -- as mentioned in another thread).

The Alpha B1's have nearly a 5 dB dip and about a 3 dB surge in the frequency range. There's also about a 2 dB rise in the 100+ Hz range before the bass begins to roll off, so that gives them a little bit of a bass emphasis but might cause them to sound less defined in that range.

A very interesting comparison, albeit not the same as a listening test within one's environment.

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