A non-intrusive system and method for tuning the speaker (50) is performed by applying a reference signal and a control signal to the input of the programmable speaker (50). A microphone (54) detects a sound corresponding to the input reference signal at the output (53) of the speaker and feeds it back to a tester (55) which analyzes the frequency response of the speaker (50) by comparing the input reference signal to the audible output signal (53) from the speaker (50). Depending on the results of the comparison, the tester provides to the speaker (50) an updated digital control signal with new characterization data which is then stored in the speaker memory (52) and used to again perform transform functions on the input reference signal. The tuning feedback cycle continues until the input reference signal and the audible output signal (53) from the speaker (50) exhibit the desired frequency response as determined by the tester.