Audiophile Mistakes: Mini Series for Better Sound
Mistake #5: Choosing the Right Speakers: Why Bigger Isn’t Always Better
USING FULL-RANGE FLOOR-STANDING SPEAKERS
If you buy floor-standing speakers for big sound and great bass, think again. The reality is that a big floor-standing speaker with “great” bass may not actually produce great bass in your room. Why? Because the bass coming from the speaker and its position in the room relative to your listening position may not be energizing the listening position, leading to wasted sound. This is why some manufacturers of larger floor-standing speakers use subwoofers during demos—to ensure the bass can actually be heard at the listening position.
If this is true in your room (and it likely is), it’s not wise to spend on large floor-standing speakers that tout great bass if you can’t actually hear it. You’ll either need to use a subwoofer, placed carefully in the room, or you could save a lot of money by buying a great pair of monitor speakers and pairing them with a subwoofer. This combination often provides better bass and imaging at a lower cost.
After all, why pay for bass you’re not fully hearing and may still need to augment with a subwoofer due to your room acoustics, speaker placement, and listening position? Paying for large woofers, multiple woofers, or powered woofers in your main speakers could be a significant waste of money depending on your room setup.
Do your homework and understand how bass reproduces in your specific space. If you have a bass null (a decrease in bass) at your listening position, no speaker, regardless of its bass capabilities, will solve that issue. On the flip side, if you have a bass mode (an increase in bass) at your listening position, you may not need a speaker with excessive bass output either. So, carefully consider how much bass you actually need from the speakers themselves when choosing. If you’re fortunate enough to have perfect room acoustics and love bass, then feel free to indulge to your heart’s content.
DISMISSING MONITORS
High-quality stand-mount monitors might actually be a better investment than floor-standing speakers. As mentioned under “Using Full-Range Floor-Standing Speakers” and “Dual Subwoofer Bookends,” achieving great bass is usually not accomplished by using floor-standing speakers alone. Bass from the speaker’s position often fails to energize the listening position effectively.
This is why using a high-quality monitor speaker paired with a subwoofer can be an excellent solution. By investing in the best monitors you can afford, positioning them for optimal imaging and soundstage, and pairing them with a well-placed subwoofer, you can create a sound that feels much larger and more expensive than what you actually paid. In fact, a $1000-$1500 investment in quality monitor speakers and a medium-sized subwoofer can easily outperform a $3000 pair of full-range floor-standing speakers when properly placed and tuned.
This approach can scale effectively the more you invest, often delivering better results for your money than opting for large floor-standing speakers alone.
If you are located in the United States and Canada, you can purchase directly from our factory on CaryDirect.
If you are located outside the United States and Canada, please get in touch with your local Dealer/Distributor to purchase.