Mega Music Talent

Posts Tagged ‘stereo speakers’

I have a good friend who’s a phenomenal musician. He plays several instruments and will even sing backup sometimes in local bands. Me, I can’t carry a tune or play a note, but I’m a great listener. I decided to break down and get some new stereo speakers and talked my friend into coming along for technical support.

It turned out to be a very wise decision on several points. My original plan was to have him tell me what to look for and how to get the best value for the money. And he did that but in a way that I would have never guessed. The technical aspects of the speakers were important, as was the price.

But you also can get caught up in all the jargon and latest fancy styles. The high range, low range, and all that’s in between are what I’ve always looked at when trying to choose the best stereo sound. And that’s a good start but what my friend brought out is that the type of music, the acoustics of the room, and your own hearing abilities play a huge part.

Before we even got out the door he had me grab a couple of CDs that had some of my favorite music. He also took a look at the room where the speakers were going to be located and the equipment I had for playing music. On the way we talked about prices and some of the major brands and their particular features.

We went to several of the major retail outlets and looked at what they had and listened to a few. My friend explained that due to the nature of how speakers work (over simplication is that sound is vibrations) a speaker that reproduced high notes well couldn’t produce low notes.

So a common way to overcome this problem is to have two speakers to break out the “stereo” and play high and middle range. Then you add a third speaker that provides the bass or low-end spectrum called a sub woofer.
The arrangement of the two stereo high to mid range speakers is important but you can place the sub woofer (low bass range) speaker anywhere in the room.

Regardless of what you use to play your music whether it be a computer, stereo receiver, iPod or MP3 Player, good quality stereo speakers can make a big difference. Size is not always a good indication of quality as evidenced by the small Bose speakers. It’s more about the speaker’s ability to accurately reproduce the sound that is recorded.

The construction of the enclosure and quality of materials used in building the units are important. The location and acoustics of the room, and even the type of music all have bearing on the quality of reproduction. And not all of us want to spend unlimited amounts on very small improvements that most people can’t even hear.

A quick and dirty way to help determine the quality of sound from any speakers is to crank up the sound, raise the treble or bass adjustments, and see if the sound deteriorates. Low quality speakers will quickly exhibit some noticeable problems when you do this. But few people listen at full power or max settings and as long as the speakers perform at the levels you listen at they might work for you.

So stereo speakers are really a personal choice based on your budget and requirements. You can get a good quality set of speakers for around $100. After that price point it really depends on any special requirements you may have, like the size of the room, type of music, and style of enclosures.

Author Bio: Thinking about in wall stereo speakers? Learn more here: In Wall Stereo Speakers. Stereo speakers come in all sizes, learn more here: Small Stereo Speakers.

I got my first surround sound system before Home Theater and surround sound were a common commodity. In fact I was looking for a new TV at the time and I liked of the Sony models and it had surround sound ability with the speakers and the whole deal as one package. I wanted to get the high quality screen but once I heard the sound, it was a done deal.

At the time I had no idea of the big differences between stereo and surround sound. Stereo works well for music and even movies recorded with stereo sound. But surround sound recorded movies really come to life with surround sound speaker systems. Most of the latest movies are recorded with surround sound features. A good example is when a person walks across the screen and you are listening with surround sound you hear them approach and then fade away.

With surround sound systems special effects are enhanced since it adds a third dimension while watching movies that have been recorded to facilitate surround sound. The addition of the sub woofers has added some depth to the sound produced too. But the real telling difference is that surround sound has directional sound. Sound that comes from different locations and speakers to increase this special effect.

Home theater speaker systems will need a TV, or a DVD player and a receiver or amplifier, with six channels of amplification that can handle the surround sound decoding process. If your current TV or DVD player doesn’t have these abilities, the surround sound can’t happen. So make sure that your current equipment is able to work with a Home Theater surround sound speaker system.

Many stereo systems have the “third speaker” (sub woofer) that is especially designed to hit that low bass range too. Even three way speakers (speakers that have all ranges represented in three different areas) will increase the quality of stereo sound.

But stereo speakers are still the highest sellers since most music is recorded in two channels. And many of the surround sound front and left component speakers don’t have the quality that a good pair of stereo speakers have and won’t reproduce the sound as well as stereo speakers. Home Theater systems aren’t designed to play stereo, and when you play normal stereo music you can tell.

Most people don’t listen to music with their televisions or even DVD players. They have an MP3 player or traditional stereo unit that will play CDs. So most people have two separate systems, a Home Theater surround sound system hooked into their TVs and DVD players and a different stereo setup to play music. Each system does well with it’s intended purpose but won’t cross over well. There are some newer very high-end surround systems with stereo quality front speakers but you will pay dearly for the feature.

You also see many Home Theater surround sound systems setup entirely wrong. If you don’t separate the speakers to their rightful position (2 in front, 2 in back, and 1 center of the listener and sub woofer can be anywhere) the system won’t deliver the true effect. That defeats the whole desired effect and although you still might get the separation it doesn’t create the sound effect as good.

A good pair of stereo speakers will still deliver high quality sound for most movies. Having a good range of high, mid, and low notes and throw in a sub woofer to increase the low range is good. But you won’t get the directional sounds and the surround sound effect you would with a Home Theater setup.

If you’ve bought your TV in the past two years, chances are good it does have the surround sound ability built into the unit. But if your TV doesn’t have surround sound, you can get a receiver or even a DVD player that does if necessary. Some surround sound systems are packaged that way, with a DVD player that decodes the necessary surround sound features.

Author Bio: Thinking about outdoor stereo speakers? Learn more here: Outdoor Stereo Speakers. Replacing your stereo speakers? Get some helpful information here: Replacement Stereo Speakers.