frequency range for instrument vs speaker

I have had speakers with a flat frequency response down to 20Hz and my current speakers are flat to 27 or 28Hz. I haven't missed those bottom 7Hz. I occasionally heard thumps in recordings like in the first Cowboy Junkies Album with my old speakers that I don't hear now, but that wasn't really music or part of the music. It was like someone's foot banged into the mic. More just ambiance that was not really adding to the music. I think speakers have a full sound or a nice robust fullness if they can get down to the low 30s. Monitors that start to fall off in the 40s sound good and musical to me, just a little light in the bass and missing that kick or punch in the bass. Maybe it depends on the amplifier and cables too. I can play Fresh Aire III on vinyl and the drums go right through the floor with my current speakers/amp- much deeper feeling as I remember vs. my old speakers/amp combo that went down to 20Hz.

06-18-12: Suteetat
Johnnyb, thanks for your information. That's exactly the kind of info I am looking for. Any idea how low those bigger kick drum can go down to? I also have not been able to find much information about the big bass drum that are used in some classical music such as Verdi's Requiem, Stravinsky's Firebird as far as their frequency is concerned.

Yeah, I noticed that the concert bass drum isn't included on that musical frequency chart. I've heard the large concert bass played many times and have played them several times in orchestras. The big ones have to be making an honest 30 Hz and maybe lower. The difference between the big bass drum and the low A0 on a piano is that even on a 9' grand, most of what you hear live on the lowest key is overtones, but with the concert bass drum you're hearing primarily a very strong 30 Hz (or thereabouts) fundamental with a very strong initial transient. The effect is dramatic.

I'll be hearing one plenty this Thursday as I'm going to the Seattle Symphony performance of Berlioz's "Damnation of Faust."

I have spectral analysis software on my laptop (the OmniMic from Parts Express), and a surprising number of recording show sub-30Hz energy, especially Telarc CDs. If you're into contemporary jazz I think the 20-40Hz octave is critical for really hearing what's on the recording.

Over the past year I've become a huge fan of subwoofers, and not because I want to blow myself out of the room with bass, but because you can sometimes get much smoother bass by placing one or more subs in appropriate locations than you can with just a pair of stereo speakers. It is really the smoothness of the in-room response between 20Hz and 100Hz that determines bass quality.

If you get an OmniMic or a similar set-up and measure your in-room response you might be very surprised at the number peaks and dips you see, often exceeding +/- 10db. Every room has different modes, and moving your speakers even an inch one way or the other can often make a big difference.

I tend to think similar to Drew_eckhardt.

A speaker that is flat and can perform without breakup nor compression at real life volumes best will tend to extend similarly below the frequency range where the lowest and most common fundamentals occur even if not much really occurs down there. Not only does this best cover pretty muchanything we might hear that is there but it also is an insurance policy that the speaker has the bandwidth to deliver as needed where it is most likely to matter.

For lower volume listening, at levels safer to the human ear, this will all tend to matter much less or not at all.

FWIW, Squeezebox touch has a frequency spectrum display mode that can be switched to by touching the display area where album art is displayed by default I believe. Dunno how accurate, but it appears to be somewhat useful to get an idea of what the frequency content of what is playing is. A nice bonus feature! Also has a VU meter display for those that miss those on our modern gear. Very pretty!