Choosing Speakers For Home Sound Systems

Nothing beats the realistic sounds one can get from watching TV or listening to music with a superior-quality sound system installed at home. Indeed, home sound systems have become a staple part of many living rooms in the United States. A home sound system typically consists of a television, DVD or Blu-ray player, speakers, a receiver, and a subwoofer. If you wish to have your own sound system at home, you can find a lot of appliance stores and online companies that offer a wide array of sound systems for home use.

Among the important audio components you must pay attention to when shopping for a home sound system are the speakers. At least five speakers are needed for a good sound quality: one center speaker, two front speakers (left and right), and two surround speakers. Your choice of speakers can make or break the overall performance of your home audio system. So take some time to look around for various speakers and search for important information about them.

Read on the following suggestions for buying the different speakers for your home sound system.

1. Center Speaker

The center speaker is positioned—you guessed it right—at the center of a room. The most essential sounds come from the center speakers, so make sure that you get only the best one.

Ideally, your center speaker must be of the same brand as your front speakers. This ensures that the timbres of the center speakers and front speakers match perfectly. Also, the size of your center speaker and front speakers must be similar for a balanced sound. That means if you have a set of large front speakers, buy the biggest center speaker available.

A wise option is a three-channel center speaker, which can share the bulk of the subwoofer’s bass work.

2. Front Speakers

Vital to both movies and music, the front speakers (also called left and right speakers) occupy the biggest space in your home sound system. So buy only the biggest front speakers that can fit into your room and your budget. The left and right speakers must also have the same power and timbre as that of your center speaker. Invest in a better-quality set of front speakers if you’re using your home sound system for listening to music more often than watching movies on TV.

3. Surround Speakers

Just like the other speakers, your surround speakers must be compatible with the other speakers and components in your sound system. However, exact timbre match is not a requirement for surround speakers since their purpose is to produce 3D sound effects.

The two types of surround speakers are monopole and dipole speakers. Commonly used in HTIBs (home theaters-in-a-box) monopole speakers produce sound straight in one direction. On the other hand, dipole speakers produce sounds in two directions, making the sounds diffused in a room. Monopole surround speakers are best for listening to music, while dipole surround speakers are best for watching movies.

4. Subwoofer

This audio component enhances the fullness and depth of surround sound and sound quality. In particular, it produces the rumbling sounds you hear when watching action movies and the deep bass thump when listening to music.

Powerful subwoofers are the bigger ones. However, the problem with this kind of subs is that the very deep bass results in poor sound quality of home sound systems. If you want crystal-clear sounds without the deep bass, you must go for smaller subs. A better option would be to buy several small subwoofers so that the sound quality is improved without the annoying sound resonance.