How do you choose the right speakers?
The all-too-seductive urge here, of course, would be to head over to our Awards section, research the most expensive Award-winner you can afford, and buy them. After all, if it’s the best we think you can buy at that price, doesn’t it follow that it’s the best for you?
Some of you might strike gold. Some of you will be able to do exactly that and the speakers will slot straight into your system without any problems. But it’s always worth doing plenty of research before you buy, and considering certain things while you’re auditioning pairs. Even when you’ve decided on your next pair of speakers, there’s still plenty of food for thought when it comes to setting them up properly.
Decide on a budget
Well, perhaps. But take care. After all, take that approach to house or car buying, for example, and you could find yourself commuting from your 10-bed mansion in the Highlands of Scotland to London every day, in your McLaren Speedtail. Not an ideal scenario for most people.
There’s a distinction to be made between the most and, in a more personal sense, the best you can get for your money.
Measure your room
The next crucial task is to measure your listening room. The space available to you may require or restrict you to a certain type of speaker, and it should narrow your search in terms of positioning.
Most speakers require a degree of free space to perform at their best, so if you can fit them in only close to the wall, you’ll need to consider that during your search.
Floorstanders or standmounters?
You’re going to be looking at either floorstanders or standmounters, sometimes referred to as bookshelf speakers – names that are generally descriptive of their stature – or possibly a subwoofer/satellite combination, pushing the lower frequencies through a sub in coalition with a more easily accommodated pair of main speakers.
Biwired or single-wired?
Many speakers sport four terminals for you to connect your speaker cables, giving you the option of biwiring.
With a single set of cables, all frequencies are propelled toward your speakers together. If you biwire using two sets of cables, your amp can drive upper and middle/low frequency signals separately, with the aim of a purer sound with superior precision.
Passive, active or powered?
You also have the option of passive, powered or active speakers.
Most speakers are passive – all the power used to make them work comes from your amplifier, with the speakers directing the signal to their separate drivers via a crossover.
In a powered speaker, on the other hand, the signal is amplified inside the speaker cabinet, which means the speaker itself requires a separate mains feed.
Protect your investment
As well as making sure you like the way they look in your room, you might want to think further about the environment you will be keeping your speakers in.
Tweeter protection, in particular, is an important consideration, especially if you have small children, or a particularly inquisitive cat, say. Metal domes, especially, tend to attract small fingers and paws, and dent easily.
So here you are, home again, in the doghouse for spending twice your original budget and facing six months of beans on toast in order to be able to pay for it – but with an exquisite new pair of best audio solution you already feel more strongly about than you do most of your extended family.
Unfortunately, just like your extended family, they aren’t going to do anything for you unless you do something for them first.
It’s extremely important for speakers to be properly run in before you judge them, so don’t subject them to an extended testing session as soon as you’ve lifted them from their box and linked them to the rest of your system.
