When I had the opportunity to visit Axiom I had an opportunity to compare a number of products. One of the biggest surprises was how different the M80 and M22 sounded, particularly in the midrange. After all, here were two speakers with a very flat frequency response, shouldn't the sound almost the same?

I have seen both the Rocket 850 and M80s compared to the Paradigm Studio 100, with lots of folks saying they both sound very close to the 100. Yet, the few direct comparisons of the 850 and the M80 describe them as having very different sounds.

Fast forward to the sub conversations and the same issue pops up. It was amazing how similar the frequency response of the PB13 and EP600 were from 20-100+Hz, yet they sound different.

So, what accounts for those differences?

I have a list of suspects:

1. Distortion. At lower levels, can it have a more subtle affect on the overall sound?

2. We are more sensative than commonly aknowledged to small differences in spls. 1 or 2 db up here and down there and you have different sounding speakers?

The pedant in me wants to know.

Not exactly sure but I think there are several variables involved.

Type of drivers, internal crossover between drivers, shape of speaker box... I would image the list that effects sound goes on and on.

Hopefully someone else will chime in.

I would agree with Terzaghi, the speaker as a whole affects its sound, change one component and it will sound different.

You must not forget about spatial dispertion (both horizontal and vertical). Those data sheets are only infrequently made available, but they are very much responsible on how a speaker sounds in a particular environment. The M80s are particularly impressive at both.

Simpy move in front of a speaker and also go up and down while pink noise is playing. You will immediately notice a difference in tone that is both a factor of speaker dispertion and slight differences in the way your ears are facing the speaker.

I think Fred wants to know about differences in the sound - not differences in the speaker. Obviously, one causes the other, but I believe he's wondering why speakers that measure up very similarly (with very similar frequency response graphs, etc.,) would sound quite different. I think Eric has a good point - off-axis performance is often overlooked.

And if that isn't what he means...well, it's what I mean.

This should be minimal but I wonder how much the visual aspect of speakers effects our subliminal judgment. For instance, if you could bio-engineer chocolate cake to look like a slab of redfish, would they both taste the same to us if eaten one after the other?

I think there are three things to consider:

1) The idiosyncratic, and mysterious intricacies of the human mind. I see it all the time in my medical work. Why should two drugs, working ostensibly through the same mechanism of action, have different effects on the same person - or for that matter opposite effects from one person to the other? We may all be of the same species - but no two individuals in a population are identical.

2) The cables.

3) The power conditioner.

Great! A medic8r in idboy clothing.

Actually, the power conditioner with only work in you rinse and repeat!

You have it exactly right zhimbo.

I wonder how much if it is due to the drivers ability to produce complex wave forms. If I understand correctly, what we hear as notes from an instrument is a whole bunch of sine waves that have interacted with each other to form a complex wave form (or multiples thereof).

Here is an analogy. A pure tone is like a lake on a dead calm day. a single note is like that lake with first morning ripples. From there we can go up to an orchestra which would be like the lake during a major storm.

So, what I wonder is if some driver designs are just better at being able to reproduce all that complexity. If that is the case, you could have two speakers with identical frequency response graphs that sound quite different.

Enough babling for now.

No, no, no, Rinse and repeat is to make your cables sparkle and dance, you just need to use the power conditioner once to help them lay flat and and prevent split electrons.

Ahh Yes, the new Monster, quasiparticle free speaker cable. Coming soon to a Big Box store near you.

Did I miss the anouncement for opposite day?