"Forward Voicing"

[MikeBrewster77]

I hooked up my Control 10's this evening for S&G's, and because I've never actually played them through my reference electronics before; I thought it would be a fun experiment. Nice speaker, and for the price that I see them go for these days (and with some judicious use of the L-pads) they represent what I would say is a good bang for the buck.

In the product literature JBL describes them as "forward voiced." I would tend to agree. What confuses is me is that they are also advertised with frequency response of +/- 3dB from 35-27 (in line with stats I've seem on some studio monitors) and as possessing "musical accuracy."

Maybe a stupid question, but if they have frequency response that "flat" what actually makes them forward voiced? I looked at their frequency response graph in comparison to a few studio monitors and home speakers, and the Control 10's are a bit less smooth, but not what I would call notably so. Then again, I'm not an engineer, so maybe it's just my untrained eye.

Just curious... :confused:

[Beowulf57]

From the frequency sweep graph:

1. Roll off about 12dB/octave below 90Hz...down 15dB from the mid-range around 35Hz...certainly not +/-3dB to 35Hz.

2. Hump between 200Hz and 1500Hz.

These characteristics will give an upward tilt in the perceived frequency response and bring the sound forward.

[BMWCCA]

With that graph, plus-or-minus 3dB might as well be looked at as a 6dB difference between almost-adjacent frequencies. That sharp a shift is far from flat. FWIW, the 4400-series is rated ±2dB and appears to do it without quite as-dramatic drops. :dont-know