Where should I put speakers in my house?

Sound in your home should go anywhere that you spend time in regularly. A nice background audio system is probably the most used system in any home. A common misconception is that the speakers can only play music. Today's background audio systems provide access not just to music, but to news, weather, and many other forms of entertainment. People commonly use their audio systems to listen to the news in the morning while getting ready for the day. Some people use audio from the internet to listen to their favorite political show during the day. Some people listen to comedy shows or variety shows as they go about their daily routine. With so much audio entertainment available it is common for an audio system to be in use for a large portion of every day.

People often think about putting audio in entertaining areas and bedrooms. Common places that people put audio are in living rooms, kitchens, great rooms, etc. Places where people USE their music the most are often the offices and bathrooms. Having the ability to turn on the radio or news on the bathroom in the morning is a feature that people use a lot. Having the ablity to have the same program playing in multiple locations throughout the house allows you to move from one area to another without missing a beat.

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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