Distortion measurements ?

[steveo1234]

I notice how there are no distortion measurements to be found anywhere on IB drivers. AE claims "low distortion" on their homepage, but, then again, so does most driver manufacturers. Some DIY design with high quality drivers has been put through the test at hometheatershack and avforum but no measurements can be found anywhere on IB-drivers.

Is there any specific reason for this or is it just something that hasnt been done? I believe it would be of great help for people trying to chose between the different offerings on the market...

[ThomasW]

There's no great conspiracy to keep distortion measurements a secret, it's just that no one has taken the time to do them. And realistically how audible is distortion going to be at these very low frequencies?

When Tom Nousaine tests subwoofers for magazines articles he uses 10% distortion as the threshold. Seems a bit high to me but.........

Anyone wanting distortion measurements needs nothing more that a several hundred $$$ to buy a calibrated test mic, mic pre-amp with phantom power, audio-computer interface (aka internal or external sound card) and a Mac or PC with the appropriate software. Then make test baffles and have plenty of spare cash to buy all the drivers one wants to test.

My personal opinion is that there are certainly lower distortion drivers available, but any benefit they might provide has little significance given their passband and other variables in the system (listening room).

In addition we address the distortion issue by using huge amounts of Vd so the workload on any single driver is minimized.