Food for thought...

[alancohen]

I found this image while surfing through some old Altec brochures. Of course it's an Altec graph so you have to take that into consideration, but if you believe what it indicates, then I think it illustrates why not much is missed musically with Altec HF CDs that roll off at 14-15K or so.

[valhallax]

...and why flat to 40 hz has never been enough for me

[bowtie427ss]

I don't agree with the chart. Maybe, it would be better to say that the chart is "dated" and limited by the analysis equipment available at the time it was drafted.

Fundamental attack of a hit on many snare drums, and smaller toms goes out beyond 14khz with harmonics out beyond 20khz. Cymbals produce harmonics out beyond 20k, as do many brass and smaller wind instruments, probably acoustic guitar as well.

Synthesizers can play fundamentals out to 20k and beyond.

[GM]

Of course it's an Altec graph so you have to take that into consideration, but if you believe what it indicates, then I think it illustrates why not much is missed musically with Altec HF CDs that roll off at 14-15K or so.

It's an abbreviated version of an old, very outdated Klark Teknik chart, so not 'tweaked' to suit Altec products. You're right though in that if you only listen to vinyl, AM, FM, most old RTR tapes, 'brick-walled' CDs or similar you're not missing anything BW wise.

GM

[martyh45]

My old ears don’t work much above 15K anyway. I cannot hear a thing at 20K. I discovered that all of the females in the house are quite sensitive to it though. Now, I am not advocating this in any way and I certainly would never do such a thing. But… if an older gentlemen such as myself is experiencing annoying female traffic near the bench when trying to get very important electronic work done. Well, he might just construct a simple ultrasonic repellent using his signal generator, test amplifier and a spare tweeter. I have it on good authority that some of the younger ones can be repelled with frequencies in the 21~22 kHz range but 19~20 is effective with all of them young enough to have the energy to come drag you away from your bench.

[LowOhms]

I don't agree with the chart. Maybe, it would be better to say that the chart is "dated" and limited by the analysis equipment available at the time it was drafted.

Fundamental attack of a hit on many snare drums, and smaller toms goes out beyond 14khz with harmonics out beyond 20khz. Cymbals produce harmonics out beyond 20k, as do many brass and smaller wind instruments, probably acoustic guitar as well.

Synthesizers can play fundamentals out to 20k and beyond.

Agree. Bob Fulton ( 1925-1988 ) measured trumpets with good energy at 60 KHZ, and the widest bandwidth instrument he measured was a harp, at 110 KHZ.

We older audiophile guys will sense the resultants, in the midrange where we can hear !!

Jeff

[VolvoHeretic]

Sorry guys, but my hearing is also shot, but adding those damned piezos sure makes a difference. I love em.