The audio spectrum can be described as the audible frequency range at which humans can hear and this range spans from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. This total range can be broken down into seven different frequency bands in order to better understand the impact of each band on the total sound.
Seven Frequency Bands of Audio Spectrum
- Sub-bass: 20 – 60Hz
- Bass: 60 – 250Hz
- Lower midrange: 250 – 500 Hz
- Midrange: 500 – 2kHz
- Higher midrange: 2 – 4kHz
- Presence: 4 – 6kHz
- Brilliance: 6 – 20kHz
Knowing these bands may help you to better understand and interpret how a speaker performs in certain ranges. When you are reading a speaker review, often times you see that the reviewer simplifies and reduces the number of ranges to 3: Bass, Mids and Highs. You will also hear 'Lows' used in place of Mids, and 'Treble' used in place of Highs.
Simplified Three Frequency Bands of Audio Spectrum
- Bass(Lows): Sub-bass, Bass 20-250Hz
- Mids: Lower midrange, midrange, higher midrange 250-4000Hz
- Highs(Treble): Presence, Brilliance: 4 - 20kHz
Tone controls and Equilizers can also be used to cobtrol the frequency response of your speakers in specific frequency ranges as with this Schitt Loki+ Mini Tone Control / Equilizer:
Schitt Loki+ 4-Band Tone Control
Conclusion
Learning the audio frequency spectrum and the common used classification and terminology is useful in order to understand how your speakers work, how to set up your equipment and what the what the reviewers or experts mean when they speak about a certain speaker's frequency responses.