How to Buy / Purchase / Choose Audio, Stereo Speakers for a Hi-Fi, 2-Channel
Stereo System.
(A primer in the works)
While much of the following can apply to the purchase of surround-sound / home
theater speaker systems as well as car-mobile audio,
that is not the focus of this writing. I am a fan of 2 channel (also applicable
to classic “Quad / 4-channel” audio), “Old School”, Stereo / Audio / Hi-Fi
systems for listening to music. While I have a 6 channel, Surround Sound
home theater system, it generally falls VERY SHORT sonically
when trying to listen to stereo audio recordings through it. I
have sold and owned many different system combinations as an
audio dealer over the past 25 years, from most price levels and have yet
to hear a dedicated A/V (home theater) system that is
“listenable” simply for stereo audio--sorry.
The following is from a 1978 AR brochure.
(I left the grammar mistakes in, but the content rings
true for the most part. I have also inserted additional, and in my opinion necessary,
though sometimes opposing information. Within the article, the sections I have
written are highlighted in
teal.
It is a work in progress and I will be adding to it as time allows. 4/06)
”A pair
(or pairs)
of speakers may be the most difficult choice one has to make in selecting audio
components. Price is certainly one of the factors that must guide a buyer.
--- I would say put
price at the bottom of your list of important points. I’m not implying that it’s
necessary to have an “unlimited” price ceiling to purchase speakers. I have
heard many speakers on the “lower end” of the price spectrum that were very
impressive. I don’t know about you, but many times I’ve gone to acquire an item
with a predetermined price in mind, only to have my “eye’s opened” at what a
quality version actually costs. I usually see the limitations of my preconceived
price point and adjust it accordingly. Quality items or services
usually cost more than inadequate, shoddy goods and
are generally
worth the extra resources. Choosing to purchase something to accomplish a task
based solely on it’s lower cost, relative to competing
products is usually nothing but “false economy”, and
something that usually takes many years of experience and mistakes to bear
itself out to the average consumer. Just look at all the folks buying cheap $6,
flea market sunglasses and $11, 40-piece tool sets from China. Heck, I’ve bought
both as well.” ---
Outside of price and particular points of styling which distinguish one make
from another, all speakers look pretty much the same.
To make matters more confusing, the differences in design,
engineering, and quality control among speakers, even
though they can be significant, are either difficult to see or buried inside an
enclosure, out of sight. Probably some of
THE most important aspects in my opinion.
It’s not surprising, then, that speakers have become the component
most shrouded in mystery and invested with magical powers. It’s also not
surprising that subjective judgment has become more important in choosing
speakers than in other components.
The logic goes something like this;
“Your ears differ from other people’s ears and so does your
listening room. So you, and only you, can choose which speakers are right for
your system.”
While this sounds reasonable, it isn’t much help to the person faced
with a difficult decision. It’s also not true. Because there is an objective
standard by which speakers can be judged and that is how accurately they
reproduce the information they receive from the amplifier.
Call it fidelity or call it accuracy.
At AR we simply call it truth.
It’s something that can be measured and controlled. It’s a function
of design, care in manufacture, cost and uniform quality control. And it’s
something a listener learns to value as he or she lives with a pair of speakers.
-- It can also be acquired by listening to
a lot of quality audio speakers (not surround sound / home theater
speakers) in the right environment. These environments can usually be found in
“REAL” audio shops (very rare anymore) staffed by well versed, “old timers” that know
how to guide a person in the knowledge of what to listen for.
That is generally not a situation that is going to be
found at“Great-Buy”, “Circus City”, “Wally World” or any of the other big
box, “whore houses” (no slight meant on that respectable & oldest
of professions) staffed by some guy whose
primary business objective the previous week was to
“biggie size” your order. Most listener's ears
(minds) need to be “trained” to correctly listen to speakers, audio systems and
media differences, ie; CD’s vs. good quality LP’s. Case in point; If you go
to college for a music degree, do you think the professor is simply going to put
on some records, let the students listen and then leave the class every day
without any commentary on what they are or should be
listening for in the selection and how they should be
listening to it? --
Some speakers fall short of ideal accuracy simply because they are
designed to sell for a low price.
---- I 'dissed' the
"big-box" retailers previously, but the fault lies with the buying general
public. We tell the retailers, who in turn tell the manufacturers that we want
stuff "cheap", so they respond by making "cheap" stuff. There has to be "give"
somewhere and it almost always shows up as lesser quality goods or services.
Sorry, I digress and that's another "soap-box" dissertation entirely. ---
Others are designed purposely to color sound. Certain enclosures, for
example, are designed purposely to accentuate bass. Their “boominess” tends at
first to hide any fuzziness present. Beyond the fact that they color the sound,
many people find that continued listening to speakers of this type produces an
uncomfortable sensation that, for lack of better name, we’ll call listening
fatigue. For many people speakers like this just don’t wear well. These are the
kinds of speakers which are so often termed “rock” speakers, because of the
“boomy” sound they produce.
At AR we have always believed that if a rock group wants to
accentuate the base end of the spectrum they’ll do it in the studio in the
mixing. The job of our speakers is not to distort the sound which has been so
carefully crafted on a record or tape. Rather, it is to reproduce it exactly.
The old battle of the rock vs. the classical speaker doesn’t make
much sense to us, and we think that the makers of other quality speakers would
probably agree."
Don’t necessarily “hang” on that last line. There are some speakers that are
very worthy of consideration, that do perform better
with only specific formats of music.
We’ll add more as time allows.
Be sure and check some of our
other 100+ pages
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Taken in front of part of our demo system featuring many
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