Buy Speakers !!TOP!!
We've got all kinds of speakers in the mix: floorstanding, bookshelf, desktop, active and even all-in-one stereo speaker systems all vie for supremacy. Read on for our round-up of the best hi-fi speakers on the market right now.
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First things first, decide on a budget. Your components should be evenly matched, both tonally and in terms of price, so consider this before breaking the bank on a new pair of speakers that the rest of your kit can't do justice.
You also need to make sure your speakers fit your room. Most speakers require a degree of space to sound their best, so be sure not to buy speakers that are too big for your listening area. This is also a good time to consider whether you want bookshelf or floorstanding speakers. Bigger speakers mean higher volumes but, again, you need the space.
There's also the choice between passive and active speakers. Most speakers are passive - they have no amplification inside, so require a separate amplifier to work. Active speakers with amplification (and sometimes DAC and streaming smarts) are increasingly popular and can connect straight to your source, no amp required, though they do require a connection to mains power. Check out our pick of the best active speakers if you're curious.
While the basic sonic character is instantly familiar, the Meta speakers have gained a level of clarity and finesse the originals only hinted at, sounding clean while still offering muscle and dynamics.
If it's standmounted speakers you want, Elac's affordable B5.2s perform superbly for the money. They have the dynamic expression, detail and tonal sophistication to handle anything you can throw at them. Plus they sound wicked good whether they're hooked up to a standard or high-end system.
Versatile, simple to use and nicely put together, crucially, they also sound the part. The M20 speakers sound full, loud, spacious and energetic. For relatively affordable speakers that pack in quite so much, we're impressed how refined and detailed they manage to sound.
These speakers' smaller siblings (B5.2, above) are a current What Hi-Fi? Award winner. As you can imagine, we were pumped to hear what their bigger brothers could do. And we're glad to say we weren't disappointed.
Sound is organised, cohesive and musical. They deliver a good soundstage that, for the price, is expansive and stays stable even when recordings become layered and demanding. We like the reassuring way the Diamonds handle larger-scale dynamics too, delivering more authority and scale than one might expect for speakers of a modest size and price.
The result is breathtaking. They sound a lot bigger than their 83cm height would suggest, and they showcase lots of dynamic subtlety and rhythmic precision. They're musical, fun, and small enough to fit most rooms with ease. If your space is on the larger side you might want to consider bigger speakers, but for most living areas the Dalis will do the job.
The result is arguably the most insightful and detailed sounding pair of speakers at this level. They deliver a sound that's balanced, wide open and packed to bursting with detail. Outright clarity is class-leading and vocals sound focused and refined.
We think these new Mission 770 are right up there with the very best at this price. Mission takes design inspiration from the original 770 speakers launched in the 1970s, but has improved and modernised every other element: from the cabinet design to the drivers and even new dedicated stands.
It's impressive stuff, too. The Air Motion Transformer tweeter is normally reserved for more expensive speakers, while the dome midrange and twin Kevlar bass drivers set these floorstanders apart from the crowd.
The largest of the three standmounters in the 3000i range, the Q Acoustics 3030is produce a sound that's familiar to anyone who's dabbled with Q Acoustics speakers before. Though you might not be expecting this level of muscle on show.
Power aside, they boast an impressive level of cohesion, with an even tonal balance and easy-going nature. Much like other speakers in Q Acoustics' 3000 range. And impressively, the dynamics stay composed even when working hard at high volumes.
The What Hi-Fi? team has more than 100 years experience of reviewing, testing and writing about consumer electronics. We have state-of-the-art testing facilities in London, Reading and Bath, where our team of expert reviewers do all our in-house testing. This gives us complete control over the testing process, ensuring consistency. We always ensure we spend plenty of time with the speakers, trying them with different electronics, in different positions and with different music.
In this article: tips on choosing the right stereo speakers for your home. What size should you get? How much should you spend? How should you position them? We'll cover all of these questions and more to help you choose the best speakers for your system.
You'll want your new speakers to be a good sonic match for your space. For example, a large open living room with a tall ceiling is an excellent candidate for floor-standing speakers. Floor-standing speakers offer big, natural sound with solid bass thanks to their large acoustic chambers.
On the other hand, you might prefer to listen at more moderate levels, perhaps even as background music while you do other activities. In my home office I have a pair of compact bookshelf speakers since I listen at relatively low levels there. For that system, large speakers would have been overkill. Give some thought to how you'll listen to your system. This will help you avoid over- or under-buying.
We've all made purchases by sifting through feature filters, plugging in a price ceiling, and sorting by customer reviews. But how do you decide on your best option when you're looking at dozens of speakers in your price range that each get excellent reviews? That's where comparing specs is handy. Here are the most important to consider:
A speaker's sensitivity rating tells you how effective it is at converting power into volume. The higher the rating, the louder your speakers will play with a given amount of power. Sensitivity is often measured by driving a speaker with one watt of power, and measuring the loudness in decibels (dB) one meter away.
You'll see a recommended power range on most of the speakers we carry. This gives you a sense of how strong your amp should be. The lower number indicates the minimum wattage required, and the higher number tells you the maximum wattage the speaker can handle for an extended time.
A speaker's impedance indicates the amount of electrical resistance that it presents to an amplifier. Like power ratings, impedance can be a little tricky, because while playing music a speaker's actual impedance constantly fluctuates. For the sake of easily comparing models, speakers are usually given a single nominal impedance rating.
It's worth mentioning that low-impedance speakers (4 ohms) can cause problems with receivers or amplifiers that are not designed to deliver large amounts of continuous current. Check your amplifier's specs to make sure it's compatible with the speakers you're considering.
One nice thing about stereo speakers is that there are great-sounding choices available for most any budget or space. Industry stalwarts like Polk Audio and Klipsch offer reasonably priced, high-performance bookshelf and floor-standing speakers that get phenomenal reviews from our customers. A few hundred dollars goes a long with these and other value-packed brands.
If you have a flexible budget and want the best of the best, consider an upper-echelon brand. Elite stereo speakers use the finest materials available to create as pure a listening experience as possible. They also sport impeccably built cabinets and furniture-grade finishes.
In The Complete Guide To High-End Audio, industry guru Robert Harley makes a case for putting about the same amount of money into your amplification as you do your speakers. A high-quality "front end" means that your speakers are reproducing a strong, clean signal. He points out that if you have low-quality amplification, really nice speakers are only going to reveal the flaws in the signal, and could end up leaving you disappointed. It's much better to have a high-quality amp and budget-oriented speakers than the other way around.
Give us a shout if you have any questions about matching up speakers and amplifiers together. We're happy to give you a free personalized recommendation that best suits your budget, room, and listening preferences.
Half of getting great sound from your speakers is proper placement and setup. Their location within your room makes a big difference in terms of how they'll sound. Check out my article on stereo speaker placement for tips on positioning.
There are lots of different ways to power your stereo speakers. For a budget-friendly system, consider a stereo receiver, which combines amplification with source control and an AM/FM tuner. For higher-end systems, I recommend an integrated amp or power amp for the best sound.
As I touched on earlier, the sensitivity of your speakers is an important factor when choosing your amplification. Highly sensitive speakers, like Emily's Martin Logan LX16s, produce excellent volume with 40 or 50 watts of power.
Many higher-end (and less sensitive) speakers need a lot of power to sound their best. You'll want 100 or even 200 high-quality watts driving these speakers. Our integrated amplifiers buying guide gives a great overview of matching speakers and amps together.
In an actual listening room, you'd find that some speakers play louder than others when fed the same amount of power. In equal power mode, you'll hear these differences in loudness as they naturally occur between speakers.
Both are important investments, both serve practical and frivolous needs, and both vary greatly in terms of size, aesthetics, quality, performance, and price. Yet, most people we know will spend weeks, if not months, researching, test-driving, haggling and, ultimately, purchasing a new car, whereas those same shoppers are known to simply walk into a big-box electronics store, hear a demonstration, and walk out with a set of speakers. 041b061a72