What are some things you should be looking for when buying home theater speakers?

Answer 1

You want to make sure that the speakers are rated for the amp or receiver you will use to drive them.

You want to listen to them and make sure they sound good. They should play all frequencies (high, mid, low) neutrally.

Answer 2

You want 5, nearly identical tone-matched speakers. A set of less-accurate, monitor style speakers can be inexpensive but give a great HT experience.


Look for small, monitor-style speakers that fit into your room. Small speakers wont give you the low-frequency, so make sure to budget for a good, self-powered subwoofer. It makes a HUGE difference. When people buy a HTIB (Home Theater in a Box), then want to upgrade something, I usually recommend the sub first.

Note: You want all 5 speakers to be the same make & model, but the subwoofer does not have to match. In most of the better systems, the subwoofer comes from a company that specalizes in subs.

If you dont mind internet sales, 2 well-respected sub companies are SVS Sound and HSU Research.

I recommend you take a favorite DVD and CD and go audition. When in doubt between 2 speakers use MUSIC to decide which one sounds better. Music is harder for speakers to reproduce so it can usually show flaws that a movie soundtrack will

Answer 3

Hi.First of all the correct set up and positioning of the speakers in a surround system is absolutely critical.It is especially important for dialog to remain at the screen while the sound effects are isolated from the screen.The only way this can be done is with logic steering (Dolby Pro Logic,Dolby Digital, DTS, etc.) along with proper amplification and the appropriate speakers.

The speakers are the "window" to the system and will reflect the quality of equipment in front of them.The speakers must be capable of reproducing what is sent to them without adding their own colorations or distortions.They must be capable of great clarity and dynamic range.

In its simplest form, surround sound most often consists of five speakers plus a subwoofer. The five speakers cosist of three front speakers (center,left and right) and two rear (surround) speakers.Symmetry must be maintained across the front three channels. About 50% of the sound in a movie will be sent to the center speaker,so this is the most critical speaker for a video system.The addition of a good subwoofer ,or better still, a pair of subs.,will add a foundation of bass and solidity to the program.Movies have substantially more bass than most music,so there is a tremendous need for subs. regardless of how big your front speakers are.Good subs. will cleanly play low bass without boominess or muddying up the mid-range.The high amounts of distortion in poor quality subs.add a muddy boom that distorts the sound coming from the rest of the speakers.The very best subs.blend with big speakers so that when you switch from movies to music,it does not sound disjointed.

Subs.need to have a very solid and well built cabinet and good quality amplification to run it. All good subs will have a built in or companion amp.to power it .Remember,in a subwoofer you are buying an amp.,a crossover,a woofer and cabinet,so don't expect a lot if it is much under $700. Again,quality is more important than size or specifications.

If you are going to use your speakers for music only sometimes then it is better to buy ones that sound good for Hi FI. musiic reproduction. As different as good speakers can sound there are two things that all good speakers have in common. One is a seamless sound from the very low bass to the very highest highs.(you don't hear the individual drivers).The other is the ability to reproduce voices well. In order to provide a complete and faithful musical experience,and to avoid imposing its own sonic character,a speaker should preserve several independant musical characteristics.They are correct tonal balance,precise imaging,clarity,wide dynamic range and good bass response,

The final decision is made by you.Specifications are only a guide. It is the sound that you like that matters.


Don't forget you will need good quality cables to hook it all together.Unfortunately, some people buy cheap cables or use the ones that come with their equipment. These are mostly cheap and nasty cables, so investing in quality cables will pay dividends in the long run.