Developing Sound Measurement Standards for Early U.S. Radio Loudspeaker Technology: A Tale of Two Ears [Scanning Our Past]

This paper examines the development of radio loudspeaker technologies during US broadcasting’s initial boom period in the 1920s. Loudspeakers were crucial for expanding early radio markets, with manufacturers using them to reposition radio from an experimenter’s device to a domestic entertainment medium. These shifting markets and uses of radio favored tonal fidelity over mere volume and intelligibility, with engineers working to create corresponding standards for measuring tone quality.