Learning, a Major Factor Influencing Preferences for High‐Fidelity Reproducing Systems

Frequency range preferences of 210 college students for reproduced music and speech were determined by an A‐B‐A preference test. Two groups of subjects then listened to music reproduced over a restricted frequency range and a relatively unrestricted frequency range, respectively, for six and one‐half weeks. The results of a post‐frequency range preference test indicate that: (1) learning plays an important role in determining preferences for sound reproducing systems; (2) continued contact with a particular system produces shifts in preference for this system; (3) the average college student prefers music and speech reproduced over a restricted frequency range rather than an unrestricted frequency range; and (4) the frequency range preferences of college students are in part a function of the type of music to which they are listening.