How to Choose Speakers

It will be totally wrong if you ignore the importance of speakers, speakers determine the overall sound quality of your system, so it's worth the time to listen to several models before making a decision. The most important factors in choosing a speaker are personal preference, speaker type and the stereo components you will use to power your speakers.

Sound Quality is a Personal Decision

Sound quality is a very personal judgment, like cars, food or wine. Everyone’s tastes are different. There is no “best” speaker, only the one that is best for you. When you shop for speakers, listen to several models with familiar music. Take your favorite discs with you when you shop and identify speakers that sound good to you. Your experience in listening to live music is a good gauge to evaluate speakers. The speaker should sound natural to your ears, have balanced tone quality and should be easy to listen to for long periods. Don't feel rushed, listen to a speaker several times before making a final decision.

There are many types of speakers:

The basics

The basic technology behind speakers is actually quite simple — a speaker is just a device that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. More specifically, a speaker is made up of a combination of parts, including a voice coil, a speaker cone, and the cabinet that holds all the parts inside.

Sound reproduction begins when your receiver or amplifier sends audio signals to your speakers. When the electrical signal reaches the voice coil inside of the speaker, it creates a magnetic field. This electromagnetic energy causes the speaker's cone to vibrate and move the air in front of it, which our ears perceive as sound.

Today's speakers are engineered to reproduce lively and dynamic sources, and they take advantage of innovative designs to bring you detailed, powerful sound. There's also an astonishing variety of speakers to choose from — everything from large floor-standing tower speakers to great-sounding outdoor speakers that blend in with natural surroundings. Here's a quick overview of the most popular kinds of speakers

Floor-standing speakers

Floor-standing, or tower, speakers have been around for years and in many ways remain the standard against which all other speaker types are judged. Floor-standing speakers tend to be more expensive than other smaller speakers, but they're hard to beat for big, room-filling sound. They're great if you've got a larger room, or if you plan to do a lot of stereo music listening. Check out our articles on choosing speakers for home theater if you plan to integrate them into a larger system, or read about speaker placement for stereo music for helpful tips on positioning to get the best sound in a two-speaker setup

Center channel speakers

Center channel speakers are the key to getting realistic home theater sound. Center channel speakers are a must have for anyone putting together a home theater system. In fact, a center channel is so important that it should be the first speaker you choose — and where you spend the largest part of your speaker budget — when shopping.

Correctly Matching Speakers with Components

Sound reproduction begins when your receiver or amplifier sends audio signals to your speakers. When the electrical signal reaches the voice coil inside of the speaker, it creates a magnetic field. This electromagnetic energy causes the speaker's cone to vibrate and move the air in front of it, which our ears perceive as sound.

Today's speakers are engineered to reproduce lively and dynamic sources, and they take advantage of innovative designs to bring you detailed, powerful sound. There's also an astonishing variety of speakers to choose from — everything from large floor-standing tower speakers to great-sounding outdoor speakers that blend in with natural surroundings. Here's a quick overview of the most popular kinds of speakers

A speaker should be matched with an amplifier or receiver with the right amount of power for the best performance. Manufacturers usually specify a range of amplifier power necessary to properly power the speaker. For example, the speaker may require a range from 30-100 watts of output power to operate well, so use this specification as a guideline. More about amplifier power and speakers

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