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From: hijab@cad.UUCP (Raif Hijab)
Newsgroups: net.audio,net.auto
Subject: Re: Inexpensive car stereos
Message-ID: <354@cad.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 15-May-86 23:52:06 EDT
Article-I.D.: cad.354
Posted: Thu May 15 23:52:06 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 19-May-86 02:49:49 EDT
References: <2808@jhunix.UUCP> <285@batcomputer.TN.CORNELL.EDU>
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Summary: Frequency Range is a Red Herring

In article <285@batcomputer.TN.CORNELL.EDU>, jimn@batcomputer.TN.CORNELL.EDU (Jim Nesheim) writes:
> I was looking for a new car stereo system last fall, and virtually all
> of the cheaper decks had a tape response of something like 100hz-14000hz,
> or worse. Blech! Play any tape on that and it will sound "hollow, tingy".

*Fidelity* of sound reproduction matters. That means a good dynamic range
and low noise in the useful frequency range, except when you talk about
speakers, where less quantifiable qualities enter. In  "Speech and 
Hearing Science" [Prentice-Hall, New Jersey, 1968] Prof. Willard Zemlin
of the University of Illinois states,

	"The range of audibility is often stated to be from 
	15 to 16 cycles per second (Hz) to about 20,000 Hz.
	In most adults, however, the upper limit of the
	frequency range is in the vicinity of 14,000 to
	15,000 Hz, while in some young children the upper
	limit of hearing is somewhere in the neighborhood of
	30,000 Hz."

So, except for pre-teen listeners, any output much above 14,000 will
have no effect on fidelity. Of course, if you listen to music at high
volume levels, then what you should look for is the *power bandwidth*.
Still, good hi-fi equipment does not require a response much above
14,000 Hz [There is nothing wrong with a higher frequency response if
there is no penalty, in price or otherwise].