What is "Tonal Quality" in Speakers?

[Vallenato]

After reading some manuals receivers information I found that is recommended to have the speakers from the same manufacturer or speakers (Mainly Fronts and center) with the same "Tonal quality". What is "tonal quality"?. I need that My Mains speakers match with my center and rears in : Frequency response(HZ- KHZ)? Efficiency(DB)?,Crossover Frequency (KHZ)?..
Is Important to match in: Watts, Impedance, size of Drivers also?
Thanks in advance

 

[j_garcia]

There is timbre, which would mean the actual sound characteristics of a speaker, while tonal quality would suggest to me that a speaker more accurately produces a sound to the original. It is a bit vague, though I would tend to equate that with a more accurate or "flat" speaker. Wattage rating means litte. Driver size can influence timbre - using the exact same drivers will give you a closer timbre. x-over frequency shouldn't matter as long as the speakers are designed properly.

 

[Davemcc]

Almost everything affects tonal quality: cabinet design, materials and construction; crossover design and components; and speaker design and materials. Speakers made for the same product line of the same brand are timber matched as a set. Center speakers often have a different configuration than L/R speakers (horizontal/vertical) but use the same drivers and construction method. The designer will compensate for the configuration differences to keep the timbre as similar as possible.

 

[The acoustic 1]

Matching speakers...

In a simplilied explanation...They need to all sound as close to the same as you can achive, and have relatively the same volume with the same power run to them. I might suggest 3 of the same speaker for L-C-R.


Remember rule #1: "There are no rules to good sound...make stuff up"

Have fun!

 

[TLS Guy]

After reading some manuals receivers information I found that is recommended to have the speakers from the same manufacturer or speakers (Mainly Fronts and center) with the same "Tonal quality". What is "tonal quality"?. I need that My Mains speakers match with my center and rears in : Frequency response(HZ- KHZ)? Efficiency(DB)?,Crossover Frequency (KHZ)?..
Is Important to match in: Watts, Impedance, size of Drivers also?
Thanks in advance

Timbre or tonal matching is in essence error matching. In a perfect world a speaker would no more have to be timbre matched than an amplifier.

 

[TLS Guy]

Timbre or tonal matching is in essence error matching. In a perfect world a speaker would no more have to be timbre matched than an amplifier.

Someone gave me a red star for that response, so I'm going to expound on this important point.

Timbre is character imposed upon the sound by a speakers imperfections. Really good speakers have little character, a perfect speaker would have none. However the state of the art is light years away from that goal at present.

Timbre or character imposed by speakers has a number of sources. Misbehavior of driver cones is a big item. This is especially true of cone break up modes. Different materials break up in different ways. Character imposed by different material has to be dealt with by appropriate crossover points, slopes and notch filters. In many instances this is not done properly and hence character or timbre rear its ugly head. Crossover errors are another potent source of problems. Even when done correctly lobing errors between fronts and mains can be a big source of discontinuity in the front sound stage. Finally we have the problems that cabinet resonances imparting coloration or character the sound.

So yes, it is these errors that give rise to the benign word of timbre. But any way you slice it any sonic footprint of a speaker is an error or deviation. So yes I'm well aware of what timbre matching is, but prefer as usual to call a spade a spade, lest we forget that speakers are still far inferior to the rest of the equipment in our systems.

 

[lsiberian]

Someone gave me a red star for that response, so I'm going to expound on this important point.

Timbre is character imposed upon the sound by a speakers imperfections. Really good speakers have little character, a perfect speaker would have none. However the state of the art is light years away from that goal at present.

Timbre or character imposed by speakers has a number of sources. Misbehavior of driver cones is a big item. This is especially true of cone break up modes. Different materials break up in different ways. Character imposed by different material has to be dealt with by appropriate crossover points, slopes and notch filters. In many instances this is not done properly and hence character or timbre rear its ugly head. Crossover errors are another potent source of problems. Even when done correctly lobing errors between fronts and mains can be a big source of discontinuity in the front sound stage. Finally we have the problems that cabinet resonances imparting coloration or character the sound.

So yes, it is these errors that give rise to the benign word of timbre. But any way you slice it any sonic footprint of a speaker is an error or deviation. So yes I'm well aware of what timbre matching is, but prefer as usual to call a spade a spade, lest we forget that speakers are still far inferior to the rest of the equipment in our systems.

This is exactly what I was thinking too. Some people don't like hearing their speakers aren't perfect though. I don't have that problem I know mine are because I put too much effort in them to care what someone else thinks.

your best bet to timbre match is to use an identical speaker in the center. Even laid on it's side it's usually a better match than the center speakers. of course Aesthetics dictate a different approach.