Speakers, Part 2: Applications

Now that you know some of the limitations that speakers have (see part 1 of this series) you should be educated enough to plan what characteristics might be important for your specific application. There is no one speaker that does everything well, so when you’re working on an audio system you’ll have to decide what aspects you want to compromise on, and what aspects need to be prioritized.

Below are the typical applications for home speaker systems, and what aspects I think need to be prioritized for each one. Note that cost is not listed on any of them since that’s just something that you’ll have to determine based on your budget.

Hi-fi Stereo System for Music

The classic audiophile stereo system usually just has 2 large speakers. Newer systems sometimes come in a 2.1 configuration that includes a subwoofer. Be wary if you’re buying a 2.1 system; manufacturers sometimes use a subwoofer as a marketing gimmick to make up for small speakers that are focused on aesthetic looks instead of sound quality.

If listening to music is your preferred use of a sound system then this application is for you. Typical media includes CDs, SACDs, DVD-Audio discs, and digital playback from a PC or iPod (preferably with lossless audio files). Getting a couple of nice stereo speakers can also be a good stepping-stone to a surround-sound system, just make sure that when you want to upgrade you’ll be able to get speakers from the same manufacturer and model-lineup so that the tone will match.

The priorities for a Hi-fi Stereo System are:

Very linear frequency response - You don’t want any distracting peaks or valleys in the response and you want the general tone to be accurate
Good imaging – When you’re carefully listening to beautiful music you want be able to pick out each instrument and have a very clear “picture” of what you’re hearing. It’s actually a lot of fun to experience this on a high-quality system!
Decent extension – Music often has detail below 80Hz that can easily be lost if your speaker system can’t reproduce audio that low. You want to be able to hear the low B on the 5th string of a bass guitar, the lowest pipe organ notes, and you want to be able to feel the kick drum hit you in the chest. To get that kind of bass extension you will either need speakers with large woofers (preferred), or a subwoofer.

Surround Sound Home Theater System

Whether it’s 5.1, 7.1, or even the new Dolby Pro Logic IIz with 10 freakin’ speakers, a surround sound system is the way to do home theater audio. A surround system should minimally have individual speakers for the left, center, right, surround right, surround left, and subwoofer channels (that’s a 5.1 system). 7.1 surround adds a back surround right and back surround left. The new Pro Logic IIz further adds left and right “height” speakers placed above the front left and front right speakers.

Since a surround system always needs a subwoofer most of the other speakers tend to be smaller, thus handing their bass duties off to the subwoofer. This idea of bass-management is only good if not taken too far. Buy speakers that can produce usable output down to at least 80Hz, otherwise you’ll be sacrificing sound quality.

The best media for a surround system is the Blu-ray. HD-DVD’s also work well, but they lost the “format war”, so don’t invest in them. DVD’s are good (and cheaper), but if you’re planning to use a high-def display you’ll want to buy Blu-ray compatible gear. Media played over the internet or off of a PC can vary widely in quality, so keep that in mind if you want to get the most from your system. I suggest having a high-quality media source AND an internet or PC-based media source, so you can pick and choose at will.

The priorities for a Surround Sound System are:

Low-frequency extension – If you can rattle the walls with the sound of explosions the movies will seem much more real. Make sure your system has a good subwoofer that’s got plenty of power. The crossover should be set no higher than 80Hz.
Volume – Part of the movie-theater experience is cranking it up so that the gunshots seem real. Most movies have a large dynamic range (the difference between the quiet parts and the loud parts). To take advantage of that dynamic range your speakers need to be able to get LOUD without breaking apart. They also need to sound smooth while doing it, which is why priority #3 should actually be more like #2.1
Smooth frequency response – Surround speakers don’t have to be used for critical music listening, they just need to sound good. Make sure that there are no harsh peaks in the sound when you crank them up loud. They should reproduce the whole range without anything that will stick out and make you cringe during the movie. You also want a good degree of accuracy so that what you hear correlates with what you see on-screen.
Size and looks – Yes, many of us have spouses that will cringe if we have gigantic speakers taking over the living room. You will have to carefully weigh the better performance of larger speakers with the visual appeal of smaller ones. Go big when you can.

Whole-House Audio System

If you have the funds you can wire your whole home with speakers. People usually use these systems for music playback, although you could really pipe anything through them. They are normally mounted in-wall or in-ceiling so they are visually unobtrusive. Some systems have individual volume controls in each room so your teenage kid can turn off the Steely Dan that you play every Saturday.

Media is often from a computer-based media-center system. You might also connect the system to your standard receiver so you can hear radio, TV, CD playback, or other audio from it.

The priorities for a Whole-House Audio System are:

Looks – If the speakers are ugly and they’re in every room then how are you going to sell the house later?
Frequency response – They should sound decent so that you can enjoy the music.
Frequency extension – It doesn’t have to be great, but you want to be able to hear the bass lines and have a crisp upper-end as well.

Bookshelf System

The type of bookshelf system that I’m referring to is used to playback music at lower levels and in non-critical listening situations. These systems are best used in a bedroom or computer room, somewhere that precise imaging and accuracy isn’t needed.

Typical media is iPod playback, CDs, or computer-based audio. If you’re going to use MP3s then this would be the type of environment where their limitations would be less noticeable.

The priorities for a Bookshelf System are:

Size – They’ve got to fit on your bookshelf.
Smooth frequency response – You don’t want harshness or muddiness. They should be as accurate as is reasonable for the cash you spend.
Frequency extension – You want to hear everything that’s there when possible. Get at least a 2-way system, preferably with 6″ or larger woofers (we’ll cover these terms in Part 3).

Next Time

If you have any other applications that you’re wondering about just leave a comment and I would be glad to address it. On Tuesday we’re going to get a bit more technical. We’ll discuss Frequency Bands and Drivers in part 3 of this series on speakers.

This entry was posted on October 11, 2009, 5:05 am and is filed under Speakers. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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