The individual listener determines which are the best home theater speakers. This is really another way of saying what home theater enthusiasts have always known: You should buy the finest speakers you can afford that sound good to your ears. What one audio fan considers to be the "best" speakers is an entirely subjective judgment that may not be shared by another music lover. So evaluate a few systems, decide on a price ceiling and follow these strategies to select the speakers for you.
Indulge in Free Listening
Any audio store worth your time will have a listening room where you can put all the available speakers through their paces. A decent room with good acoustics is vital if you are going to evaluate home-theater speakers. Reserve some time to test different speaker systems. Don't be in a rush and don't let the sales staff try to steer you. Experienced speaker shoppers will bring 3-4 of their favorite CDs or perhaps a loaded iPod to the store so they can hear their preferred music. Likewise, you'll want to carry along a couple of movies on DVD. One film should be quiet and dialogue-driven so you can evaluate the front and center channels, where most of the dialogue will be heard. Bring an action DVD as well, so you can test the surround-sound quality and how well the speakers respond to on-screen explosions, car chases and screeching spaceships.
Strategies for Evaluating Speakers
Just for fun, spend some time listening to the most expensive speakers in the showroom. Don't worry about the price tag, the beautiful designs or any other factor. Pay close attention to the way the speakers reproduce highs. Listen to the bass response, which should be deep, rib-rattling and satisfying. Evaluate the midrange, which does most of the heavy lifting in a surround-sound speaker. The midrange speakers in a three-way loudspeaker (tweeter, mid-range, woofer) should sound balanced and natural, with clear vocals and warm instruments during musical interludes in movies.
Now listen to the cheapest out-of-the box plastic speakers you can find. And evaluate the same factors--highs, lows, midrange. The goal of this exercise is to give you two clear audio extremes, since most people will purchase a speaker package priced somewhere between these two points. If you start with the most expensive speakers on the market, then gradually evaluate speakers in descending price points, you may find that the differences are too subtle from one system to the next.
When choosing the best speakers, keep in mind your intended location for the speakers in your home theater, such as if you you need speaker stands for the rear channels or wall mounting. This can make a difference in the sound design of your home theater. So if you are listening in the showroom to rear speakers a few feet behind you, but you plan to mount those speakers 10 feet behind and 7 feet above you, the sound quality is going to be different.
Design aesthetics
The best home theater speakers are those you can enjoy looking at day after day. Luckily, great-sounding home theater speakers can also be good-looking. Gone are the days when you had to fill a room with footlocker-sized speakers if you wanted shimmering sound. Amazingly good audio can be had in speakers that fit in the palm of your hand. In apartments, condominiums and other constrained living spaces, compact bookshelf sound systems could win the best home-theater speaker award.
If eye-popping designs are an important consideration for choosing the best , you can get speakers in almost any shape you can imagine, from pyramids to spheres. Audio gear that complements your room decor and delivers terrific sound may be the best home-theater speakers of all.
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