Wayne Parham Messages: 18788 Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)
Loudspeaker sensitivity is often times quoted at a specific frequency, and you're right that 1kHz is often chosen. But some manufacturers treat it as more of an averaged figure when specifying a single value and provide a response chart at 1W/1M (or 2.83v/M) to give an exact illustration of the SPL provided by the loudspeaker at all frequencies.
The odd versus even harmonics in distortion is pretty similar to what I was describing, yes. Both are a matter of dissonance. But distortion is always an anomalous unwanted artifact, and it's just that dissonant sounds are more obvious than harmonically-related ones. So a second harmonic isn't as ugly sounding as a fifth harmonic. You can tolerate a lot more second harmonic than you can fifth.
Chords and note progressions aren't distortions - they're notes played on an instrument, presumably by a musician - but they can be dissonant or harmonious. Harmonious chords sound more pleasant than dissonant ones.