HiFi vs Home Theater Speakers. What's the difference?

[ErinH]

If you're like me, you like both music and home theater. But I see this topic discussed from time to time and the answer is really simple: there should be no difference. But thanks to the real world, sometimes you have to make compromises.

In this video I discuss the general attributes to look for when shopping for speakers. Using data from past reviews, I break down the aspects of what makes one speaker potentially more suited for one activity or another if you find yourself confused as to what to buy.

I don't cover every aspect but I've only got so much time. If necessary, based on questions and feedback, I can do a follow up later.

FWIW, I made this video twice before I finally felt good about it. I'm sure the legwork and editing that went into won't show but I really did put a good bit of time into this one. And I had a bit of fun, too.

I really hope it helps with understanding a topic I see misrepresented (IMHO) but also helps people understand the usefulness of having data to make more informed purchase decisions.

Thanks,
Erin

 

[3db]

Hello Erin. Thankyou for putting the time into your video and explaining speaker responses and listening windows. I'm listening and pause the video when I see points I would like to make as my memory is short. I put equal weight for 2 channel and HT application on my speakers.

1) I do agree with your premise that HT generally prefer to play louder than 2 channel guys.
2) I disagree with the premise that HT people do not require as smooth a listening window as 2 channel guys because we fall back to room correction facilities on AVRs. Like the name says, its a room correction facility and these correction schemes try to give the speakers a smooth flat in room response with respect to the LP (listener position). The better the directivity of a speaker, the more successful the correction facility has to overcome some weird anomalies. Nothing ruins a good movie faster than a poor quality soundtrack being delivered. Maybe its because I put equal weight for both HT and music.
3) Subwoofers are slowly making inroads into the 2 channel crowd and those who have incorporated sub will never go back without one. You already see the value in subs.
4) I would not purchase the speaker in your last example because it has a poor on axis response even though its off axes response is fairly linear. One may be able to EQ it but I listen to my music with no EQ.

Maybe I'm missing your points because of my listening criteria but to me a good speaker should excel in both applications. Thanks again.

 

[ryanosaur]

Super cool, Erin. Thank you!

 

[TLS Guy]

We would not be having this debate if there were not so many lousy speakers around.

Good speakers are good for all program

I think the issue really boils down to speech integrity and intelligibility.

There are quite a few speakers that will sound acceptable for music but have relatively poor speech intelligibility. Those speakers are still defective.
By the same token there are speakers that have good speech intelligibility but are poor for music. Those speakers are still defective.

The above is the crux of the issue.

A good speaker has both natural AND intelligible speech. That speaker will also be a good music reproducer.

Natural and intelligible speech is in fact one of the best guides to the quality of a speaker.

This is a must pass test for all of my speakers.

The next issue is subs, which are generally not critically damped, or at least don't sound it to me.

Lastly thinking you can put this right equalizing using a cheap plastic mic and a software program is the ultimate in fools gold.

 

[ErinH]

Hello Erin. Thankyou for putting the time into your video and explaining speaker responses and listening windows. I'm listening and pause the video when I see points I would like to make as my memory is short. I put equal weight for 2 channel and HT application on my speakers.

1) I do agree with your premise that HT generally prefer to play louder than 2 channel guys.
2) I disagree with the premise that HT people do not require as smooth a listening window as 2 channel guys because we fall back to room correction facilities on AVRs. Like the name says, its a room correction facility and these correction schemes try to give the speakers a smooth flat in room response with respect to the LP (listener position). The better the directivity of a speaker, the more successful the correction facility has to overcome some weird anomalies. Nothing ruins a good movie faster than a poor quality soundtrack being delivered. Maybe its because I put equal weight for both HT and music.
3) Subwoofers are slowly making inroads into the 2 channel crowd and those who have incorporated sub will never go back without one. You already see the value in subs.
4) I would not purchase the speaker in your last example because it has a poor on axis response even though its off axes response is fairly linear. One may be able to EQ it but I listen to my music with no EQ.

Maybe I'm missing your points because of my listening criteria but to me a good speaker should excel in both applications. Thanks again.

That's fine. I stand by what I stated. With proper equalization you can remedy non-linearity in the response as long as the directivity indicates so. Room correction never treats the room. It treats the speaker and the room. By itself, "room correction" is a misnomer. The only caveat might be if you apply EQ below the transition frequency only. But few do that. Furthermore, you'll notice I mentioned miniDSP as one of the options; thus meaning the ability to manually equalize. Something I do often which may cause me to take for granted that others know how to do this as well. But, that's part of the learning process for me as someone who provides content. Things for me to keep in mind for future discussions. So, I appreciate your feedback.

 

[ErinH]

There are quite a few speakers that will sound acceptable for music but have relatively poor speech intelligibility.

I agree. I think this is really true of:
1) Most center channel speakers of the MTM variety
2) Cheap bookshelf speakers with the V-curve

 

[3db]

That's fine. I stand by what I stated. With proper equalization you can remedy non-linearity in the response as long as the directivity indicates so. Room correction never treats the room. It treats the speaker and the room. By itself, "room correction" is a misnomer. The only caveat might be if you apply EQ below the transition frequency only. But few do that. Furthermore, you'll notice I mentioned miniDSP as one of the options; thus meaning the ability to manually equalize. Something I do often which may cause me to take for granted that others know how to do this as well. But, that's part of the learning process for me as someone who provides content. Things for me to keep in mind for future discussions. So, I appreciate your feedback.

I have two systems that pull double duty as HT and music and excel at both. Each system use multiple subs EQd by a miniDSP below the transition frequency and a 3rd in the bedroom that does good for music and HT but bass could be improved upon with the addition of a 3rd MiniDSP and a 2nd sub. Its a bedroom and I'm not going to invest more money there. I agree with you that room correction is a huge misnomer as it does EQ the speakers at the LP for the LP based on speaker room interaction measuremed at the LP. My disagreement only stems from my belief that a good speaker should have good linearity regardless of the application its used in. Thanks again for the video. It was a very good presentation.

 

[ErinH]

My disagreement only stems from my belief that a good speaker should have good linearity regardless of the application its used in.

To be clear, I don't believe I said a speaker shouldn't have good linearity. My slide says that nonlinearity is OK for most HT setups since, with equalization and good DI, that you can take care of the majority of the nonlinearity issues. In a perfect world you wouldn't have to make these kind of choices but in the complex world of loudspeakers (especially on a budget) then it's good to know what to look for. I gave the DIYSG HTM-12v2 as an option for a speaker that wouldn't work well for 2-channel listening due to the nonlinear FR but it would be a great option for the DIY/HT enthusiast who has EQ on hand due to the superb ERDI.

 

[MalVeauX]

We would not be having this debate if there were not so many lousy speakers around.

This really is key. Cheap mass produced stuff, regardless of the name.

A good speaker is good for any application. Beyond that it mostly is listener bias and just what you prefer. I'm not one to subscribe to the idea of "musical" speakers and "movie" speakers. A big cheap sub is just as common for music as it is for movies, probably more so, there were more people with cheap loud subs for music the past few decades than people with subs in their homes for movies. But a poor speaker is a poor speaker no matter the application.

Very best,

 

[ErinH]

This really is key. Cheap mass produced stuff, regardless of the name.

A good speaker is good for any application. Beyond that it mostly is listener bias and just what you prefer. I'm not one to subscribe to the idea of "musical" speakers and "movie" speakers. A big cheap sub is just as common for music as it is for movies, probably more so, there were more people with cheap loud subs for music the past few decades than people with subs in their homes for movies. But a poor speaker is a poor speaker no matter the application.

Very best,

Curious if you watched the video. Because I do agree. But in the real world, there are compromises made (particularly wrt spl vs linearity). And that's where the key difference can be drawn. Which is what I discuss in the video.