Consumer loudspeaker distortion is masked at normal listening levels.

Evidence

In loudspeakers it is fortunate that distortion is something that normally does not become obvious until devices are driven close to or into some limiting condition. In large-venue professional devices this is a situation that can occur frequently. In the general population of consumer loudspeakers, it has been very rare for distortion to be identified as a factor in the overall subjective ratings. This is not because distortion is not there, or not measurable, but it is low enough that it is not an obvious factor in judgments of sound quality at normal foreground listening levels—it is masked. — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 993

Categorization

• XREF: Directly builds on the reader’s psychoacoustic interest in auditory masking — distortion escaping notice because it is masked by the signal itself, echoing earlier material on masking thresholds.