The Spec-Sheet Honesty Report
Our pipeline stores a first-class “unstated” wherever a spec sheet goes quiet — which means we can count the silence. This page does exactly that across all nine categories we track, per category and per brand, recomputed from the live catalog.
Of the 481 speakers in our catalog with a published sensitivity figure, 87% record no measurement conditions. Only 169 of 562 speakers disclose minimum impedance — the number an amplifier actually fights. 5 of 47 receiver power ratings omit channels-driven, and 34% of subwoofer depth claims come without a dB tolerance. On the video side, 146 of 196 TVs state whether VRR is supported, against 11 of 188 projectors — the same question, answered at very different rates.
Why we can measure this at all
Most spec databases silently drop what a manufacturer doesn’t state. Ours can’t: every value is stored with its measurement context as an atomic pair, and a missing context is recorded as the literal value “unstated” — never guessed, never defaulted (our methodology). One honest caveat about what’s counted: “not stated” below means our normalized record carries no value for the field — either the sources we track don’t state it, or no source we track covers it. We count our records, not manufacturers’ intent; the pipeline’s refusal to guess is what makes the two line up.
Speakers: sensitivity numbers without conditions
481 of the 562 speakers we track publish a sensitivity figure, and 418 of those 481 record no measurement conditions. That matters because an in-room figure reads higher than an anechoic one for the same speaker — a “90 dB” with no conditions attached is a softer claim than an anechoic 87 (how to read sensitivity and impedance). Minimum impedance is quieter still: 169 of 562 disclose it, even though the dip — not the nominal rating — is what your receiver has to drive.
Receivers: the watts-per-channel game
47 of 64 receivers publish a power rating; 5 of those ratings omit how many channels were driven, and only 42 state distortion (THD). The conditions are the claim: a single channel driven into an easier load can read roughly double a two-channel 8Ω rating for a comparable amplifier — which is why we refuse to compare bare wattage numbers anywhere on this site (how much power you actually need).
Subwoofers: how low, at what tolerance
143 subwoofers we track claim a low-frequency extension, and 48 of those claims arrive without a dB tolerance. The tolerance is the whole claim: “20 Hz” at −10 dB and “20 Hz” at ±3 dB describe very different subwoofers (sealed vs ported, and how low is low enough).
TVs and projectors: the gaming specs, side by side
This is the comparison the catalog was always able to make and this page could not, until the report learned all nine categories. VRR and ALLM are asked the same way of both kinds of screen and stored in the same shape, so the two columns are genuinely like-for-like. Of the 196 TVs we track, 146 state whether VRR is supported and 103 state ALLM. Of the 188 projectors, 11 state VRR and 22 state ALLM. Note what “state” means here: a sheet that says “VRR: not supported” has answered the question and counts as stated. Only silence is silence.
Input lag is the one number we will not put in that head-to-head. Our schema stores a TV’s figure at 4K/120 and a projector’s at 4K/60, because those are the modes each category publishes — different measurement conditions, so the counts are not comparable and lining them up would be the exact error this report exists to expose. Separately, then: 5 of 196 TVs state a 4K/120 lag figure, and 56 of 188 projectors state one at 4K/60.
Projection screens: a gain figure with nowhere to stand
711 of the 964 screens we track publish a gain figure, and 275 of those publish no half-gain viewing angle to go with it. Gain is a directional measurement: a 2.4-gain material that halves twenty degrees off axis and one that holds to sixty are different products with the same headline number, and only the angle tells you which you bought. Acoustic transparency — whether speakers can live behind the screen — is stated on 333 of 964.
Media players: “4K” is half a spec
42 of the 42 media players we track publish a maximum video resolution, and 13 of those list no output frame rates at all. A box that does 4K but cannot output 24p will judder every film you own, and the resolution claim alone will never tell you.
Acoustic treatment: one number standing in for a curve
92 of the 242 acoustic treatment products we track publish an NRC rating, and 47 of those publish no complete 125 Hz / 500 Hz / 2 kHz set of absorption coefficients behind it. NRC is an average, and the average is precisely where a panel’s low-frequency behaviour disappears. Then there is what the price buys: 178 of 242 state whether they are sold as a single panel or a pack, and of the 62 sold as a multi-unit pack, 32 resolve to no panel count at all. Products sold as a single panel are deliberately not counted as non-disclosers — a single panel cannot omit its pack count, and scoring it as silent would be the same absence-is-not-a-no error we are measuring.
Seating: the width you can’t plan a row with
61 of the 105 seating models we track publish a total row width, and 47 of those publish no per-seat width. Total width includes the arms, so it is the number that flatters and not the number you lay out a room with. 49 of 105 state a per-seat weight capacity, and 83 of 105 state whether the recliner clears a wall.
Method, and using these numbers
Counts are recomputed from the live catalog (cached hourly), so they change as coverage grows — a brand’s row can improve the day it publishes better sheets, or the day we ingest a better source. Delisted products are excluded throughout, from the totals as well as the numerators. Brand tables require at least 3 tracked models, and exist only for speakers and receivers, where one headline number carries one companion condition and one compat-critical extra; the other seven categories are published at category level rather than given an invented third column. Per-product provenance is visible on every product page, spec by spec. Please quote us: take the number you need, note the date you retrieved it, and link back to this report — the figures moving as the catalog grows is a reason to date your quote, not a reason to skip it. Downloads, license terms and pre-written citation blocks are on our data page. Wrong somewhere? Every value traces to a source; tell us and we’ll fix the record, not the story.