Are expensive speakers required to get good sound?
When looking for speakers, it is important to remember that the speakers are one part of the audio SYSTEM. System is stressed because it encompasses more than most people realize. When people think about their audio system, they often think about the speakers, the amp, and the sources, but they often forget about the most important component, the room itself. If you are looking at creating good sound in a specific area of your home, it is a good idea to have the area evaluated before deciding on speakers. Often there are limiting factors in the room itself that will determine how much you should spend on speakers. Sometimes it is better to spend less on the speakers and spend more on installation to help to overcome acoustical issues. Less expensive speakers in the correct positions will perform better than more expensive speakers placed where your contractor decided to put a couple of wires.
If you are working with a large room, than multiple pairs of less expensive speakers in multiple locations may be a better fit than one pair of expensive speakers at one end. If you are working on a room with multiple listening positions, then a center channel speaker can improve stereo imaging for more seats and create a more stable sound field. Sometimes one pair of full-range speakers is the correct solution, and in other situations, using smaller satellite speakers with a sub-woofer will provide better sound for a given room.
Before sound gets to the speakers, it has to run through some sort of an amplifier. Matching the power rating and efficiency of the speakers to the amplifier is very important for good sound and to avoid damaging components. Pairing high-power speakers with a low-power amplifier will lead to distortion, clipping and eventually the speakers will be damaged. Using low power speakers with a larger amplifier is actually not as bad as the big speakers with the small amplifier. It is a common thought that power damages speakers. In reality, it is distortion that destroys speakers. It is often much easier to get an amplifier to distort than it is to get a speaker to distort from over-power.
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