Speaker is one of the essential accessories you need nowadays to enhance and explore your listening experience. It may be while listening to a melodious song, home partying, watching a movie, or gaming. A nice pair of speakers can take your entertainment experience to the next level and that’s why you need the Best Speaker Buying Guide to help you experience this musical magic after Bursting all the myths.
But finding the perfect speaker that can cater to your needs is not just anyone’s cup of tea, especially because of the massive number of products available in the market. The speakers’ price also varies greatly, starting from a few hundred Rupees and approaching tens of thousands of rupees.
This speaker buying guide will help you through your entire speaker buying process. We will explain the technical specifications you need to know and their effect on speakers. We will also burst some speakers buying myths to make your speaker’s buying experience as easy as possible.
Let us dive right into finding your dream speaker through our Best Speaker Buying Guide–
Purpose
The very first step in buying the perfect speaker is to know the purpose of the speakers. Such as are you buying them for your personal use or the party use? You may ask yourself some questions like whether you will use those speakers to listen to soft melodious songs or high bass party songs?
If you prefer to listen to soothing, soft, melodic songs and you end up purchasing loudspeakers having a high output, you will enjoy music in high volumes. But once you lower the volume, you will not be able to enjoy quality music.
Thus, knowing the purpose you intend to use the speaker will let you buy the speaker that fits your purpose, and you will not end up spending more money on the features you do not need.
Wattage
Generally, people believe that output is linked only to the specified Wattage of the speaker. This is one of the most common myths about the speaker. According to Ankur Oberoi, the co-founder of Obage speakers, Wattage is not the only criterion that defines the speaker’s output. You may understand this more clearly through a simple example.
Suppose you have a 100 Watts amplifier linked to a 50% efficient woofer; you will receive a certain kind of output but suppose the same 100 Watts amplifier is connected to a 10% efficient woofer. The sound output will drastically change. Hence, the sound output is not entirely dependent on the amplifier’s Wattage but also on the speaker cabinet design.
This is something the speaker selling companies tend to hide. They let the sellers know about the RMS or PMBO level of the speaker. Still, while buying the speakers, you need to be clever in asking about the speaker’s distortion level, too, and opt for purchasing the speakers having the minimum distortion level.
Area Coverage
Area coverage is one of the significant factors that are necessary to consider while buying a speaker. When you look at a speaker, you must inquire about the seller about the area it can cover.
For example, a speaker providing excellent output for a 100 square feet room might not be so efficient for a room size of larger areas. Thus, always ask about the optimum area coverage for which the speaker is designed. You might usually find that most brands specify the ideal room size for their speakers. If not, you must ask the brand before buying it.
Woofer Size
This is probably the most common myth that links Woofer size with the quality of the speaker. It is a general notion that the larger the woofer’s size, the deeper will be the bass frequency, and the better will be the sound output.
But it is not the case. With the advancement of technology, the quality of speakers has improved along with a reduction in its size. Thus you should never choose a speaker just by looking at its woofer size.
Frequency
Speaker Frequency response is the most important feature that you should look at while buying a speaker.
Speaker Frequency is generally advertised by brands such as the speaker covers 20 MHz frequency to 20000 MHz frequency. It would be best to understand that this is the amplifier’s frequency that can work in that frequency range, but not the overall speaker frequency.
The answer that you need to look for here is that if the woofer can produce such frequency. Thus, you should always look for the frequency of the woofer that can be produced by the system and not the amplifier frequency that is vaguely specified.
If given an option where one woofer can respond till 50 Mhz lower frequency while the other one can penetrate up to 80MHz, you should opt for the speaker with a more penetrating capacity that can reach up to 50 MHz frequency.
Sound Signature
Sound Signature is again a vital feature that you need to understand while buying a speaker. Sound Signature can be defined as the combination of Bass, Vocals, and Dribble, which affects the speaker’s overall output quality.
There are many types of sound signatures. Let us discuss them in detail to get a fair idea.
V-Shaped Sound Signature:
V-Shaped sound signature is the one in which the bass and dribble are at a higher range compared to the mid or vocals. This sound signature is ideal for rock and modern music lovers, where the music is louder compared to the vocals.
Flat Sound Signature:
As the name suggests, the Flat Sound Signature has Bass, Vocal, and Dribble at the same level, hence producing an effect of natural sound. This feature is not the primary one focussed by the buyers but crucial and is also a vital aspect of bursting all the myths about the speaker purchasing factors.
If you are looking for speakers to connect with TV, then the speakers having a flat sound signature will be an ideal choice for you. The speakers with a flat sound signature deliver the exact sound that was recorded.
Warm Sound Signature:
This is one of the most difficult to achieve sound signatures for speaker manufacturers. The bass and vocals are at the same level in the warm sound signature, while the dribble is a little lower.
For melodious music lovers, this is the best choice. The speakers build on a warm signature, deliver clear vocal and instrumental sounds, and avoid any high pitch sound.
Bass Heavy Sound Signature:
This type of sound Signature has a high level of bass settings, whereas the dribble and vocal are lower. This is ideal for consumers looking for high bass music speakers.
Bright Sound Signature:
Generally preferred for listening to older songs, this type of music signature has lower vocal and bass level but higher dribble.
Thus, on getting a brief idea about the Sound Signature, you must have understood how important a role this plays while you choose your speakers. A sound signature is a personal choice, and you should always go for buying the speakers built with your kind of sound Signature.
Usually, the sound Signature is defined in the speakers’ product details section; if not, you should inquire about the seller before making a purchase.
BONUS:
- Burn-in Period:
The speaker’s burn-in period is the time it takes to loosen all the mechanical parts and give you the quality of sound it is designed for. The burning period of speakers usually varies from 3-8 hours. You should make a judgment about the quality of speakers only after it has played for its burn-in period.
- Speaker Placement and Room Acoustics:
Speaker placement and room acoustics play a crucial role in sound quality. Speakers placed on the floor give a very different sound compared to the different heights. You may try placing speakers at floor level or at shelves of different heights to get the desired sound quality output.
Room Acoustics is another major factor defining the sound quality. To get an enjoyable listening experience, the room should always have the proper sound-absorbing materials such as carpets, curtains, etc. that avoids echo production within the room.
Summing it up:
Buying a perfect speaker is not a very difficult task if you know the specifications of the best speaker that you should look into. In brief, the most important pointers that you should know before buying a speaker is the speaker’s purpose, the size of the room in which you intend to put speakers, and your preferred sound signature.
Many companies brand their product for which it is specially designed and use it during marketing such as “high bass speakers,” “party speakers,” “made for melodious music,” etc.
A Best Speaker Buying Guide will always suggest you should purchase a speaker that is branded for your intended use purpose. Some of the technicalities you must look into while buying the speaker are its Frequency response, Distortion level, Wattage (but do not depend entirely on it), etc. Keeping these simple points in mind and clearing your mind by Bursting all the myths mentioned above, you are ready to bring a perfect speaker for you.
Watch the video of SPEAKER BUYING GUIDE in Hindi.
