Looks, Design and Sound
Jun 09 '01
The Bottom Line The testing is an important part to buying an expensive speaker.
Put simply, choosing a floor standing speaker (a.k.a. floorstander) is separated into these three areas:
-Looks
-Design
-Sound
Looks
Firstly this is one area which depends on your room, and décor. But you must remember certain prices carry certain features on the speaker. For instance; a £200/$300 speaker will have a vinyl rap, not veneer. If you pay over £500/$700 you will probably get a real wood veneer. Vinyl and veneer are two types of covering for the bare box of the speakers. While there are a rare amount of plastic/metal/etc boxes, wood is most often used. A veneer is like a thin slice of wood, so it is actually real wood, and not fake grain found with vinyl. Unfortunately there are few speakers which use real wood (none manufactured wood) as it would cost a lot, so veneer is used. Buying a beautiful speaker is one of the factors you may wish to include in a checklist. But still, it is no guarantee of perfect sound. The more expensive speakers are often available in a number of various colours or effects, too.
Design
This is more a part of sound than looks. This is referring toward the actual design of the speaker; like the way the speaker drivers (the parts which create sound) are positioned. And this also refers to the ports on the speaker. First to the ports; these are almost on every speaker these days. If the port is on the front, then this makes easier positioning. But if it on the rear, you may need to sacrifice up to 40cm from a wall for the speakers, otherwise the air from the port will reflect and cause what’s known as “room gain”, where a bass frequency overpowers the rest of the sound.
Today most floor standing speakers stretch from 75cm to 150cm. The most common size is 20cm wide 80-90cm high, and about 20-30cm deep. These floorstanders may look big and bulky in pictures but in real life they are pretty small. You can’t really control the height, unless you buy some small stands.
The advantage to stand mounting speakers is that floorstanders can give more depth in bass. The extra box size helps expand all those deep bass notes.
If you are a bass nut, don’t be put off by small drivers. Its often seen a 16cm bass driver can produce the same low level bass as a 20cm. Even 12.5cm bass drivers can produce a fair amount of bass. The sound produced is related to the materials used. Kevlar, and glass composite are quite new these years. They operate well in all conditions, unlike metal that can expand and contract with temperature.
The design can be a number of many. There are two ways; simply a tweeter and mid/bass, two and a half ways; where a second mid bass driver helps out at lower frequencies, and three ways; where a driver is routed to treble, mid-band, and bass.
B&W have shown themselves as technological experts; they have developed ways to combat the reflections in tweeters and reduce turbulence in ports. And many of their higher priced speakers’ parts have been passed down to lower cost models with a little cost cutting in certain areas. Its these sort of little advances that improve sound in speakers.
Sound
This again depends on two factors;
1). Your current hi fi set-up
2). Your budget
If you are buying a new hi fi, and upgrading from a midi system, the differences in sound quality are very noticeable. Buying speakers are the most difficult part, as there are so many today its hard to listen to all the ones you like. If on the other hand your designing a home cinema and want some front speakers, floorstanders are ideal.
You should not expect high of speakers if they cost very little. Though if your upgrading from midi to separate the differences will be astounding. The old maxim, “you get what you pay for” fits in well here. What you pay for in cash you get vast improvements in sound. Still at each price point there are many competing speakers, and you best off finding the best out of all.
Listening is very important in choosing any speaker. You should also base your shortlist of the speakers on reviews in magazines or on epinions. Even the highest priced speaker can sound worse than others at the same price or the same as lower cost speakers.
A good way to buy is to look for less than great products:
I have often seen at stores a £300 speaker (rated e.g. 4/5stars in a mag) for £200. While another speakers costing (typically sold at) £300 (rated 5/5stars) for that same £300 or a little less. Why the other costs less is because the store know the readers of the mag will prefer to buy the 5 star speaker, so they reduce the other 4 star speaker to make it more appealing. SO you will be paying less for a more expensive speaker if you bought the 4 star speaker. And lets face it, that £300 (4 star) speaker will be better than any £200 (5 star) speaker anyway. This is a great way to buy speakers. You see the point. A 4 star speaker in a mag simply states that there are better at that price, but it means that it is better than lower cost products.
How to listen
Almost every speakers units are brand new when opening the box, these units need running in – where they loosen up – for 24hrs or longer. Unless the store has done this you won’t be getting the best from the speaker; a un-run-in speaker will sound hard and confused.
When listening to speakers I would recommend your own music, and if possible your own hi fi system. While listening to a few speakers there are a few things to keep in mind.
1). While listening are there any bright spots where the sound is to high or ear painful – often at higher volumes.
2). How many instruments can you hear? A good set of speakers may give you the full picture, showing you the full band, and not just a fuzz of music. This is known as detail.
3). Is there attack in bass? Is the bass fast and punchy, not soft or sloppy.
As final tips, play you most favoured speaker last. If it is better than the rest, by playing it last you’ll notice the difference. If there are three speakers, find the best two to compare further.
The testing is an important part to buying an expensive speaker. You might even be able to put a deposit down for a days rental to test it in your home.
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