I’ve only been on these boards for a short time, but I have already seen countless threads asking “help me choose speakers” or “how does ________ speaker compare to ________ speaker?” The truth is, there is no right or wrong answer. What sounds good to one person will not necessarily sound good to the next person, or the person looking for buying advice.
Within the typical audio chain consisting of a disc player, receiver and speakers, changing speakers will have the largest impact on changing the sound of the entire system. What most people don’t consider is – what makes a speaker sound good. Most speakers available today use technology that has been around for a long time – a cone woofer and/or midrange and a tweeter, usually shaped like a dome. While these speakers share some common designs, their “sound” can be quite different. Some manufacturers break from tradition to make their products sound very different, and thus stand out from a large crowd of other speakers. Some speakers use a bi-polar array, with drivers on the front and rear of the enclosure, Mirage employs what they call an “Omni directional” design, and companies like Magnapan and Martin Logan use a large flat di-pole transducer, all in an effort to enlarge the perceived soundstage.
Conventional or otherwise, all speakers have a clear sonic signature, but just what constitutes “good” sound?
Clean, crisp, booming, bright, warm…these and many other adjectives have been used to describe the sonic characteristics of speakers, but what appeals to one person can be a turn off for another. That’s why the number of speakers we have to choose from is as varied as the people shopping for them. So, how does someone decide what a good speaker should sound like? In a word – listen. Some people may take this as advice to audition a lot of speakers, and while that is good advice, before heading out to your local audio shop, take the time to stop and listen to everyday sounds all around you. An educated listener is one who takes real world experience into consideration when shopping for the ideal speaker. For most everyone, our speakers are called upon to re-produce music, movies and television. First, let’s consider the sounds we’re all familiar with, the kinds of sounds often recorded in movies and on TV.
We’re engaged in conversations daily, and how a persons voice sounds in a classroom is different than in our living room, or car, or workplace…each environment effects the same voice in different ways. In addition, other conversations taking place at the same time, machinery going, TV’s or radio’s and other sources of sounds can come into play, adding a layer of ambience to the “scene”. Many of us have been near a street as a car, truck or emergency vehicle speeding by. The roar of an engine, the sound of a siren, tires squealing – yep, been there, done that. Many of us know the sound of a large thunder storm with its booming thunder and rushing wind. Some of us have even been near (or in) a small plane as it’s taking off and heard the roar of the engine, or visited a firing range and experienced first hand the concussive impact of a gun being fired. All these sounds & more can be part of, or added to a soundtrack as the story dictates, and we take for granted that a police drama will have gun fire, or a scary movie will likely have a thunder storm.
How well your system is able to reproduce all of these sounds depends on having a capable amplifier and speaker combination. Of course, recording engineers know that re-producing a gun shot at full volume can be dangerous for your equipment, not to mention being bad for your hearing, but in all of these scenarios, your system, and especially your speakers should be up to the task of faithfully re-producing the sounds as they were when they were recorded, while a good surround system will immerse the listener into the scene giving them a sense they’re in a raging storm, a shoot out or a car chase.
So how does someone train themselves on what to listen for when it comes time to audition speakers? Simple – next time you’re at work, at home, on the sidewalk, caught in a storm…take a moment to close your eyes, and focus in on the sounds all around you. Listen for the cues that make a conversation inside your home, office or school sound different than outside. Listen to what makes a 2009 hybrid sound different from a 1969 GTO. Listen to the difference between a 9mm pistol and a .308 rifle. The sound of a far off storm as it gets ever closer…and the creepy feeling you get from a creaking door. All of these sounds should come through with as much realism as possible to make the most of your home theater experience.
In part two of the article, I’ll talk about what kind of music to listen to and where, a bit about the recording process, and how to audition speakers so you can make the best choice for your particular arrangement – stay tuned.
