The transient distortion of loudspeakers and its evalution

The paper first briefly explains the causes of a considerable distortion of transient signals by electroacoustic transducers and reviews the methods used to investigate this type of distortion. Also discussed are certain questions of perceptibility and the importance of the transient distortion. There follows a brief description of preliminary listening tests with piano tones, carried out in order to examine certain disputable statements. Preliminary conclusions are drawn for the evaluation of transient distortion from the point of the perception of transient signals in music and speech.