6 Loudspeaker cabinets
6.4 Frequency response
The frequency response of a cabinet is the range where it supplies an almost even loudness. The roll-off points are those frequencies where the loudness drops considerably. However, "considerably" is a relative term. Most reputable cabinet manufacturers will specify their limits at -3 dB, a clearly noticable drop in volume, which also equals half the acoustical output power (but not half apparent volume 
. Others may use -6, -8 or even -10 dB. This rather specifies the "usable range" of a cabinet: the range at which it produces significant output. Neither way is good or bad, it's just ways to measure. Just like amplifier output power . As an end user, however, you will have to constantly pay attention to how specifications are obtained, because different measuring methods lead to incompatible specifications between brands. Obviously, a more lenient method of measurement (like the -10 dB mentioned earlier) leads to better looking specifications over a more conservative one.
It is close to impossible to design a cabinet that meets the requirements of a performing bass guitar player regarding size and output volume as well as reproduce the entire frequency range a bass guitar puts out. This is especially true for bass guitars that are equipped with a low B string, let alone even lower tuned strings. As was explained before , our brains counteract part of this. Reproducing the very lowest frequencies is not as important as it might seem.
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