Article: Review | KANTO TUK vs. AIRPULSE A100, Part 2

[Mike48]

Thanks for this informative article.

 

There is only one word for a rise like that around 4000 Hz: ouch! The Tuk is off my list of small powered speakers to consider.

 

Try using a log scale for the frequency axis next time. It matches what we hear better, which is why everyone else uses it.

[Mike48]

I keep looking at this and wondering . . . could this speaker really be operating as designed? A huge peak at 4 kHz and huge dip at 10 kHz? It seems so bad, it's hard to imagine it's operating at spec.

 

I can't remember, did you measure only one speaker at a time? If so, did you measure both speakers of the pair, and did they really both measure like this? Did you try repeating the measurements with different amounts of toe-in and different vertical axis? Sometimes, speakers develop such anomalies when measured strongly off axis.

 

Just curious if there's any explanation (other than a poorly designed product).

[Mike48]

Tom, Thanks!! --Both for reviewing all that and for doing the review in the first place. It is quite shocking just how bad the FR of these speakers is. In audio, one cannot depend entirely on measurements, but they are useful to know whether competent engineering underlies a product one might buy. With speakers as with people, "little quirks" can become unbearable over time.

 

Perhaps even more shocking are the favorable reviews by subjective reviewers, even while noting the need to turn down the treble. I would imagine that getting 4 kHz down enough with the treble control would bring other frequencies down far too much and, e.g., have a severe loss of air in the result. Maybe also take down the mid-mid (1-2 kHz) so much as to make the sound recessed. A general tone control can never be the solution to a huge peak in FR.

 

I have always been wary of speaker reviews without measurements, and this has cemented that.

 

And yes, you have given a great example of the importance of scale in presenting data. Because we hear on a log scale (octaves being a doubling of frequency), a log scale is universally used in presenting FR data.

 

Mike

 

 

 

[Mike48]

10 minutes ago, WAM said:

There is a review (Kanto TUK) on hifichoice.com now.

 

Yes. It says nothing about the frequency response issue found here. How could it? No measurement were made, and the reviewer apparently listened to only a few pop tracks. It's a poor excuse for a review, a heap of regurgitated manufacturer's claims and entirely subjective audiophile assertions, some of which say even less than they appear to.

 

Even worse than an entirely subjective review, it's an unsigned entirely subjective review.