Does the enduring mystery behind the superior tones of Stradivarius violins lie in their “stronger acoustic response in the lower octaves” than that of more ordinary violins?

After spending ten years painstakingly measuring the acoustics of violins rated from “bad” to “excellent” by professional musicians, George Bissinger of East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, says that the ‘excellent’ old Italian violins in his sample show a significantly stronger acoustic response in the lower octaves than do the ‘bad’ violins, whereas those rated merely ‘good’ have intermediate values. The high-quality tone is caused by a single mode of vibration of air inside the body, which radiates sound strongly through the violin’s f-holes.

(Thanks Eda.)