5 Things Audiophiles Look For in High-End Speakers

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There can be a discernible divide in the audiophile world between those enthralled by the art of high-end speakers and those who immerse themselves in its science. Whether you're setting up a home theater or looking for the perfect pair of bookshelf speakers to complement your amplifier, the choice of speakers plays a pivotal role in acoustics and overall sound quality.

Consider the size of your room and whether you need a subwoofer to boost those lower frequencies. For vinyl enthusiasts, pairing speakers with a high-quality turntable ensures that every note and nuance is crisply reproduced, especially when each speaker’s tweeter is finely tuned to deliver impeccable clarity and detail. Some people want to know all about the process that goes into a speaker. What materials were chosen? How were the drivers placed within the enclosure? Others focus on listening to various models to see which sounds best. Ultimately the goal is the same: powerful, clean sound.

In this blog, we explore the details that go into a high-performance speaker. If you’d rather hear it than believe it, contact us to schedule a test drive of our top loudspeakers!

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The Right Craftsmanship and Materials

One of the biggest variations between speakers has to do with the materials being used to reduce the amount of flexing allowed by cones within the drivers. The more flexing, the more distortion, so manufacturers look to use lightweight but rigid materials. The same kind of mentality goes into designing speaker tweeters. Some manufacturers use glass or clay, while high-end brands have even gone as far as using Kevlar, diamond, or beryllium in their speakers.

The Perfect Design of Stereo Speaker Enclosures

Another factor that can directly affect sound quality is the amount of reverberation within a speaker cabinet, which can result in external noise that colors the sound. Two things go into designing your enclosure: giving it the right shape and having the right layout within it. The enclosure needs to be tight enough to brace the driver without being too tight for sound waves to pass through. Drivers need to be expertly placed to allow for clear, unobstructed communication.

Balanced High-End Speaker Components

High-performance speakers are designed to produce great sound at all frequencies. This is done through a combination of crossover circuits and multiple drivers. Your crossover circuit is the traffic cop within the speaker: it determines which components will take care of the signal. It tells the tweeters to take care of the treble (high-frequency sound), the woofer to take care of the bass (low-frequency sound), and the mid-range driver to take care of the rest.

Go Big or Go Home

While many manufacturers offer smaller high-quality options for in-wall, in-ceiling, and wireless speakers, the bigger loudspeakers will always provide better sound. This is for a variety of reasons. For one, the larger the surface area, the stronger the sound. To get better range and clarity, you're also going to want larger tweeters and woofers. As we mentioned earlier, most high-end brands, such as KEF Speakers, include an intricate mix of multiple drivers to produce quality sound at all frequencies. 

Make Sure Your Hi-Fi Floorstanding Speakers Sound Good

Ultimately the best way to decide if a speaker is the right fit is to listen to it. It can have all the best materials, design, and components and still not feel right. For this reason, high-end audio manufacturers work with local dealers to let potential buyers listen to speakers before making a purchase. Since speakers will perform differently depending on where they are, some dealers will even let you take them home to see how they sound.

Become the Audiophile You Were Always Meant to Be

Finding the right high-end speaker is about combining the physics of audio reproduction with the subjective nature of music. Depending on your preferences, we can give you a choice of speakers to test drive to find one that would fit perfectly into your high-end audio system. From high-end KEF audio speakers in your listening room to whole-home audio, the experts at Avidia are here to help. To learn more, call us at 847 868 9200 or fill out our contact form.

We look forward to hearing from you!