Speaker Spend Estimator Tool (Beta)

XEagleDriver

XEagleDriver

Audioholic Chief
MAJOR REVISION: NOW INCLUDES MINIMUM SUB BUDGETS, WITH WARNING HIGHLIGHTS BASED ON ROOM VOLUME CATEGORIES. ALSO SPEND FACTORS BETTER ALIGNED WITH IMPORTANCE PERCENTAGES.

PROBLEM STATEMENT:

The forum fields many questions along the lines of;
"What speakers should I buy for a $X,XXX budget to build a 5.x.x (or 7.x.x) system."
- In many cases, our advice begins with allocating the specified budget to optimize the desired configuration.

PROPOSED SOLUTION:
To help us more consistently answer the above question across different budgets and configurations, I offer a
Speaker Spend Estimator Tool
for your review and comment.
Here is the link to the spreadsheet on Google Drive.
- For access, PM an email address and I will add you to the permissions list.

REQUEST:
1)
Review the Speaker Spending Estimator Tool result examples (screenshots) for Small, Medium and Large rooms across three budgets ( $1k, $2k and $4k ) for two system types (Music centric and HT centric) shown in paragraph A) below.
2) Provide feedback on the revised Spend Factors and Sub Minimums by Room Size shown below in B) below.
Cheers,
XEagleDriver

A) EXAMPLES: Since I can not post a Google Sheet program to the Forum, I am providing six program results screenshots using three room sizes (Small, Medium and Large) across three Total Speaker Budgets ($1,000, $2,000, and $4,000) for two system types (Music centric and Movie (HT) centric).
- Low sub budget Warning Highlights are provided when the Room Size derived minimum sub budget is not met (light red highlights for music systems and orange highlights for Movie (HT) systems.

Of course, the exact calculated values are meant to be used as a general benchmark for speaker type purchase and not as an exact value.
- For example, in the $1k, Small Room, Music system table shown immediately below, under the 3.1.0 configuration, the guidance is not to buy a $333 subwoofer, but rather to indicate a sub around the $325 price point is appropriate for purchasing a 3.1.0 configuration with a $1k total speaker budget for a music centric system. To continue this example, the results also indicate the FL/FR budget would be around $400 and the Center budget around $270.

1) Music system, SMALL Room, $1K Total Speaker Budget
$1K, Small Room, Music.jpg

NOTE: For a SMALL room the low music sub minimum (e.g. $200) does not cause any warning highlights.

2) HT system, SMALL Room, $1K Total Speaker Budget
$1K, Small Room, HT.jpg

NOTE: For a Small room the higher HT sub minimum of $500 causes warning highlights above a 2.1.0 configuration on a $1k total speaker budget.

3) Music system, MEDIUM Room, $1K Total Speaker Budget
$1K, Medium Room, Music.jpg

NOTE: For a Medium room even the modest Music sub minimum of $400 causes warning highlights above 2.1.0 configuration on a $1K total speaker budget.

4) Music system, MEDIUM Room, $2K Total Speaker Budget
$2K, Medium Room, Music.jpg

NOTE: For a Medium room the increase to a $2K Total Budget clears any warning highlights for a Music system due to the modest $400 sub minimum.

5) HT system, MEDIUM Room, $2K Total Speaker Budget
$2K, Medium Room, HT.jpg

NOTE: For a MEDIUM room the HT sub minimum increase to $1000 causes warning highlights above a 2.1.0 configuration for a $2k total speaker budget.

6) Music system, MEDIUM Room, $4K Total Speaker Budget - NOT SHOWN DUE TO NO ISSUES
7) HT system, MEDIUM Room, $4K Total Speaker Budget - NOT SHOWNS DUE TO NO ISSUES
8) Music system, LARGE Room, $4K Total Speaker Budget - NOT SHOWNS DUE TO NO ISSUES

9) HT system, LARGE Room, $4K Total Speaker Budget
$4K, Large Room, HT.jpg

NOTE: For a LARGE room, even with a healthy $4k budget, the increased HT sub minimum of $2000 causes warning highlights above a 2.1.0 configuration.


B) METHODOLOGY:
Assigned each speaker type (FL/FR, Sub, Center, Surround L/R and Atmos) a Spend Factor value based on my own experience, years of forum reading and participation, and member feedback to this thread.

For each speaker configuration (up to 7.1.4) used the ratio of "Spend Factor / Type" to "Configuration Total Spend Factor" (now set to a max total of 6.0 for 5.1.4 or 7.1.4) to allocate the set budget according to the Importance Percentages.
NOTE: Importance Percentages are substantially different for Music centric and Movie (HT) centric systems, shown separately below.

Spend Factors for Multi-Channel Music (MC Music) centric systems:
Factors for MC Music.jpg

(Updated this graphic as of 15 AUG 2021, 7PM EST)
NOTE: Please pay particular attention to MC Music and Home Theater Sub budget minimums at bottom of screenshot. This is new and ripe for constructive feedback.

Spend Factors for Movie (HT) centric systems:
Factors for Movies HT.jpg

(Added this graphic on 15 AUG 2021, 7PM EST)

NOTE: Based on member feedback, strong emphasis on higher budgets for Sub(s) and Center, achieved by decreasing budgets for FL/FR and SL/SR speakers.
 
Last edited:
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
Interesting tool. I would say those proportions of both importance and budget are about right. It could stand to be expanded out to 7.1.4 as well. In my own view, you could lessen the importance of the SL and SR even more. None of the surrounds should be cutting into the budget of a good front stage set. The front left, right, center, and subwoofers are 90 to 95 percent of the sound of the system, but that is just my opinion.
 
XEagleDriver

XEagleDriver

Audioholic Chief
Interesting tool. I would say those proportions of both importance and budget are about right.
1) It could stand to be expanded out to 7.1.4 as well.
2) In my own view, you could lessen the importance of the SL and SR even more. None of the surrounds should be cutting into the budget of a good front stage set.
3) The front left, right, center, and subwoofers are 90 to 95 percent of the sound of the system, but that is just my opinion.
Shady,
Thanks for the review.
1) Expansion to 7.1.4 is on the To-Do list. DONE.

2) Agree with you.
A goal for this tool is to help a new-AV-enthusiast, with a limited budget and a large wish list, to understand that their going-in plan (i.e. 5.1.2 or 7.1.4) so deeply cuts into the LCR / sub budgets they should choose a smaller beginning configuration (i.e. 2.1.0, 3.1.0, 5.1.0).
- I am toying with the idea of putting in Conditional Formatting to highlight when a Speaker Type's value is approaching and becomes so low as to be NOT recommended.

3) Will see what others say, and may very well increase the Spend Factors for LCR and Sub.
- Cost of entry to add surround, rear surround, and/or Atmos necessitates a budget allocation of around 5% and goes above 10% when done in combination (e.g. Surround+Rear Surround, Surround+Atmos, or the Whole 7.1.4 enchilada.).
Aka the "no free lunch" aspect of more complex configurations.

Cheers,
XEagleDriver
 
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XEagleDriver

XEagleDriver

Audioholic Chief
Original post now updated to include 7.1.x configurations and spend factors.
Cheers,
XEagleDriver
 
BMXTRIX

BMXTRIX

Audioholic Warlord
Probably my only disagreement is that the subwoofer is considerably more money than other speakers to get good sound from it. You can buy a really solid front speaker for $400, but you get a pretty weak sub for that money. The real difference being that a subwoofer includes both the amplifier and the speaker in an enclosure which needs to be well built. So, it costs significantly more than any other speaker, or even speaker pair in the system.

Arguably, to get a good theater, the subwoofer may be near the top in terms of importance to add presence to movies. But, it will depend a lot on the type of films being watched.

Some people come into it with a music-first mentality, which will dictate the mains to be the most important speakers by far. In a theater, the center and the subs are what I would consider the most important. Dialog and presence. Granted, I dropped $1,000 for my 5.0 setup, and $1,400 more to just get my subwoofer. So, I may be biased.
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
Yeah boy, it does kinda highlight the need for a pretty substantial budget to go beyond 2.1.
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
Probably my only disagreement is that the subwoofer is considerably more money than other speakers to get good sound from it. You can buy a really solid front speaker for $400, but you get a pretty weak sub for that money. The real difference being that a subwoofer includes both the amplifier and the speaker in an enclosure which needs to be well built. So, it costs significantly more than any other speaker, or even speaker pair in the system.

Arguably, to get a good theater, the subwoofer may be near the top in terms of importance to add presence to movies. But, it will depend a lot on the type of films being watched.

Some people come into it with a music-first mentality, which will dictate the mains to be the most important speakers by far. In a theater, the center and the subs are what I would consider the most important. Dialog and presence. Granted, I dropped $1,000 for my 5.0 setup, and $1,400 more to just get my subwoofer. So, I may be biased.
You raise a couple of good points with subwoofage. I'd say minimum $4-600 for music only and closer to $1000 for ht.
 
H

Hetfield

Audioholic Samurai
I'm a little slow. Where do we find this speaker spend estimator? Is this an app on your phone?

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk
 
XEagleDriver

XEagleDriver

Audioholic Chief
I'm a little slow. Where do we find this speaker spend estimator? Is this an app on your phone?

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk
Not slow at all.

Currently it is on Ggle Sheets while developing and tweaking.

Haven't really decided how best to deploy once finished.

I can post on Ggle Drive and share with anyone interested in playing around with it (STS). Probably best to PM your email for any takers.

Cheers,
XEagleDriver

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
 
MR.MAGOO

MR.MAGOO

Audioholic Field Marshall
would be nice to have a tool that would tell me which speakers / turntable / receiver / whatever, would be the best fit for my room size! ;)
 
Audiosaur

Audiosaur

Audioholic
Recommendation for simplification: user enters a budget figure in one cell and it propagates, via the appropriate cell calculations, to show the recommended spend levels, regardless of budget? That way you'd need only one spreadsheet.
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
I don't have a solution, but I don't think the subwoofer budget should ever go down as the number of channels increases. If you have the room for 7.1.4, likely you are going to need more subwoofage, not less.

Don't get me wrong, I applaud your efforts thus far and think you're on to something pretty neat here, but it's tougher in practice than in concept because there's so much to consider. Maybe if there were a way to include room volume and minimum recommended subwoofage, no matter the budget.
 
XEagleDriver

XEagleDriver

Audioholic Chief
Pogre,
Good comments, let me think on that.
Might be possible and helpful.
XEagleDriver

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
 
XEagleDriver

XEagleDriver

Audioholic Chief
Recommendation for simplification: user enters a budget figure in one cell and it propagates, via the appropriate cell calculations, to show the recommended spend levels, regardless of budget? That way you'd need only one spreadsheet.
That is exactly what it does.
The screenshots are just to provide budget examples since I can not post a program to the Forum AFAIK.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
 
Audiosaur

Audiosaur

Audioholic
That is exactly what it does.
The screenshots are just to provide budget examples since I can not post a program to the Forum AFAIK.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
Sorry - you're right. My recommendation was off-the-cuff, without adequate research. Good work.
 
XEagleDriver

XEagleDriver

Audioholic Chief
The cable figure is obtained by adding up all the columns, double it, pay in cash, and no receipt, LOL

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
The cable figure is obtained by adding up all the columns, double it, pay in cash, and no receipt, LOL

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
LOL while some here get that, unfortunately I can also envision some one thinking from all the bullshit out there in both fora and supposedly reliable audio blogs that a heavy investment in cabling might yield some benefits. So much bullshit out there....
 
XEagleDriver

XEagleDriver

Audioholic Chief
MAJOR REVISION: PLEASE RE-VISIT POST #1
All screenshots are updated and results now include Warning Highlights when sub budgets fall below Room Size sub minimum budget recommendations.

Re-worked the Recommended Minimum Subwoofer Spend Amounts by Room Size (see Post #1):

3) For Music centric systems:
SMALL $200 (aka: enough to get started)
MEDIUM $400 (aka: one capable, such as RSL 10S or equivalent)
LARGE $800 (aka: one very capable or two capable subs)
EXTREME $1,600 (aka: one serious or two very capable subs)

4) For HT centric systems:
SMALL $500 (aka: one capable, such as SVS PB-1000 or equivalent)
MEDIUM $1,000 (aka: one very capable or two capable subs)
LARGE $2,000 (aka: one monster or two very capable subs)
EXTREME $3,000 (aka: one monster+ or two serious subs)

NOTE: Above descriptors of "capable, very capable, serious, monster, and monster+" are my way to translate raw spend numbers into a mental picture of real world sub(s).

Appreciate feedback on above sub budget recommended minimums?
 
XEagleDriver

XEagleDriver

Audioholic Chief
Estimator Tool put to first use over on AVS Forum in this thread post.

Waiting to see what kind of reception it gets over there.
 

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