What to Look For When Buying a Pair of Speakers?

To make it easy, let’s break things down.

(Image credit Spark)

What Makes A Speaker, A Speaker

Speakers are of made of different parts that all work together to produce sound, each one being key to making that sound as clear and accurate as possible.

• Tweeter – Produces the high frequency sounds, can be a dome as shown above, or a ribbon.
• Mid-range driver – Produces the mid-range frequencies, this is optional on some speakers. Some speakers may only have a tweeter and low frequency woofer.
• Woofer – Produces the bass frequencies.
• Subwoofer (low end driver) – Produces the lowest frequencies, in some cases below 20Hz, the limit of human hearing.
• The cabinet – This is what all of the parts are housed in, can be made of many different materials, wood is the most common.
• Crossover – Separates the frequencies between the tweeters and woofers so the sound is correctly produced.

Yes, Size Matters

First, know what you need. Are you looking for something compact, or something larger?

With so many different types of speakers and materials they are made from, it can be hard to choose. Sound quality should be your ultimate guide. Look for speakers made from good materials, avoid those with lots of plastic or cabinets that are very light in weight. However, what you see is nowhere near as important as how the speaker sounds, you should definitely always listen to a speaker before you buy it. Ask yourself, do I like the way it sounds? If not, keep looking, there is always many to choose from. Take every chance you get to stop and just enjoy the music of every speaker you come across, you may be surprised to find what types of speakers you truly enjoy. It’s hard to argue with your own ears after all.