Choosing a speaker system for your home entertainment center requires you to do a bit of homework. While the type of speaker system you choose and the specific features are important, developing your listening skills can be helpful in making a choice. Prior to making a purchase, practice listening to your favorite music on various stereo systems. The treble sounds, such as the sounds of cymbals and bells, resonate at higher frequencies. A good system will make them sound smooth, while an inadequate one will present a harsh, almost nasal sound. The low-frequency bass notes should inspire you to tap your feet. By contrast, a poor quality speaker system will reproduce the bass notes with an annoying buzzing sound. Piano notes and human voices usually represent the mid-range frequencies. A good system makes them sound natural and pleasing, while a poor system given them a "tinny" sound. Once you feel that you have sufficiently developed your listening skills, you'll want to decide what sort of speaker system to purchase. If you want to create a surround sound experience, choosing speakers that work well with each other is crucial. To ensure quality sound, it is important to "voice match" your speaker system. Your speakers need to produce the same tonal quality, otherwise the sound will be dissonant. Purchasing speakers of the same brand (such as in a complete surround sound speaker system) can solve this problem. The type of speaker system you choose is dependent upon the space you have available, as well as your preferences in sound quality. Your front right and left speakers can either be floor-standing tower speakers, bookshelf speakers, or satellite speakers. Bass lovers enjoy tower speakers, but they take up a considerable amount of space. Bookshelf speakers do not resonate at lower frequencies as well as tower speakers; however, they are much more space-efficient, and are still capable of producing quality sound. Your center channel speaker will ideally sit on or below your television set. This is the speaker that delivers the sound of over 50 percent of a movie soundtrack, and almost all of the dialogue. To create an even more realistic sound experience, you might consider surround speakers, which can amplify the sound of rain drops, snow fall, or other ambient sounds. Remember, for optimal sound quality, both your center channel speaker and your surround speaker must be voice-matched to your right and left speakers. |
