HOW TO SHOP FOR SPEAKERS WITHOUT HEARING THEM
SHOPPING FOR SPEAKERS WHEN IN-PERSON DEMOS AREN’T AN OPTION
Shopping for speakers can be challenging, especially when there are fewer nearby dealers available for in store demos, not to mention the trend towards direct to consumer sales. How can you make an educated decision when shopping for something you might not be able to listen to first? Well, here are some ways that YOU can shop for loudspeakers AND…even make purchasing decisions when in-person demos aren’t an option.
PLEASE NOTE: The speakers used are merely examples and are by no way meant to be seen as the best speaker to buy. By following these steps, I hope it helps you to narrow down your choices when it comes to finding the right speaker for you!
How to shop for speakers without hearing them by Andrew Robinson.
WHAT IS YOUR BUDGET FOR NEW SPEAKERS?
When researching loudspeakers and making a list of which to consider and buy for myself, I typically follow these five steps. First step, budget. I ALWAYS go into any purchase, whether it be hifi or not, with budget in mind. I do this for two reasons; first, nothing in life is worth going into debt over and you should never spend beyond your realistic means for anything –including or especially hifi; and second, knowing your budget will often help you whittle down your shopping list straight out of the gate! Now this may seem obvious and I’m sure at least two of you have already muttered “DUH” but we all know how tempting it can be to disregard things like budget especially when we consume channels like this one on the regular. So, as hard as it may be to look past the excellent KLH Model 5s, if your budget for a pair of speakers is $1000, they’re simply not an option and we can move on.
KLH Model 5
SHOPPING FOR SPEAKERS WITH A $1000 BUDGET (USD)
So with a max budget of $1000, I’m going to pick a variety of loudspeakers based solely on what everyone is saying on the Internet about them and THEN look for other ways we can narrow down our choices. Starting with the Klipsch 600M, a two-way monitor retailing on Amazon for $577 a pair. Next, let’s go with the Monolith Encore T6 tower speakers, which are a larger three way tower that retail for $882 on Amazon. I’m going to add Polk Audio Reserve R200s to my list at $749 a pair for the two-way bookshelves, followed by the Elac Debut Reference at $699 a pair –again for a two-way bookshelf speaker. Last but not least, I’m going to throw in the Magnat Transpuls 1500, just so we have a little more variety and another tower speaker in the mix. The Transpuls retail for just under a grand at $998 a pair. Okay, so we have our starting list and budget - but I can’t possibly hear all five so let’s narrow the field a bit.
HOW MUCH SPACE DO YOU HAVE FOR YOUR SPEAKERS?
The next thing I take into consideration when purchasing loudspeakers is my space, as in what do I literally have the space for? While some of you may not ultimately mind having big speakers in your living space, I do. For this example let’s assume our space is a 12 by 14 living room and in it we also plan on having a three seater sofa, an extra chair as well as a rug and coffee table. Knowing that every speaker reacts to a room differently, we need to identify which of our five speakers may need more room than the others based on two factors; physical footprint and space from existing boundaries.
All speakers will interact with your room and your room’s boundaries, however, speakers that are rear ported MAY interact more heavily with your room than those with a front-facing port, or simply no port at all. In other words, rear ported speakers may require MORE careful positioning resulting in placement that is more out into the room than a front ported or sealed speaker. This can turn a small speaker into a “large one” simply by the amount of real estate it needs to sound its best due to its rear-facing port.
So, going back to our list, I can see that in our smaller space, the Transpuls may be just a bit too large to fit comfortably in the room, let alone look appropriate, scale-wise with the rest of my furnishings, so…it’s out. The Monoliths are rear ported, but their physical footprint is still narrow at just over 7 inches, so we’re going to leave them on the list for now. The rest of the speakers, even the rear ported Klipsch and Polk options, are going to stay on the list because, I believe I can pull these bookshelf speakers out from the wall and still have them look okay in my space, so we go on!
WHAT IS THE SENSITIVITY OF A SPEAKER?
The next thing I look at when evaluating a speaker without hearing it first is its reported sensitivity. In a nutshell the sensitivity of a speaker is little more than a figure letting you know how receptive a speaker is to power based on SPL or sound pressure level. For example, the Klipsch 600M speaker has a reported sensitivity of 96dB at 1 meter. This roughly translates to the 600M being able to produce upwards of 96 decibels of volume from 1 meter away when fed 2.83 Volts (don’t worry about the volts). In comparison the Polk Audio R200 will produce 86dB of volume in the same test, making it LESS sensitive than the Klipsch. Of the four remaining speakers, here’s how they rank with respect to sensitivity; Klipsch 600M at 96dB, Monolith T6 Towers at 87.8dB, Polk Audio R200 at 86dB and last but not least the Elac Debut Reference at 86dB as well.
Now, I prefer a speaker to be more sensitive than not. Why? Well, the more sensitive a speaker is, the easier it is to power, the more receptive it will be to said power, and the less power it is likely to need in order to sound it’s best. BUT, sensitivity only tells HALF of the story.
WHAT IS THE SPEAKER’S IMPEDANCE?
The other half of the sensitivity equation is impedance, which is commonly listed in ohms. We don’t need to concern ourselves with ohms or ohms law for this exercise, all you need to know is this; Ohms is a measure of resistance, and the lower the figure the MORE resistance the speaker may give your amplifier, integrated amp or receiver. So, a four ohm speaker will be more taxing on an amplifier than a speaker with a 6, 8 or higher Ohm rating. This matters because not every amplifier or receiver is capable of properly driving a 4 Ohm speaker. In other words, not all amplifiers work well with a speaker with a lower impedance so always check the speaker's rating against what your amplifier or receiver recommends.
If you already have an amp or receiver, simply checking to see if it CAN power a 4 Ohm speaker will oftentimes help you in your speaker shopping quest. If you don’t already own an amp or receiver, buying one that is capable of properly driving a 4 Ohm speaker may add to the overall cost of your system, which brings us back to budget –this time you now must consider your overall system budget and whether or not you can afford an amp with 4 Ohm capability.
For example; if you own a Sony STR-DN1080 receiver, a quick look around back near the binding posts, you’ll see that Sony recommends you use the receiver with speakers that have an impedance of 6 Ohms or higher. This doesn’t make the 1080 bad, it just is what it is. If you own the Sony or a receiver like it, then the Monolith and Polk (both 4 ohm speakers) would be eliminated from this list, leaving us with two choices to consider, the Klipsch 600M and the Elac Debut Reference. The Klipsch being an 8 Ohm speaker whereas the Elac is reported to be a 6 Ohm speaker. So, we’ve gone from five options to just two, and we STILL haven’t listened to a single speaker!
But, let’s say we already have an integrated amp or receiver that can power speakers with an impedance of 4 Ohms. If this is the case, we can potentially eliminate the Polk, because, according to Polk, the R200 can drop below 4 Ohms, which may be too taxing on some amplifiers –or at least our amplifier in this imaginary scenario. In truth, should your amplifier have 4 Ohm capability I wouldn’t be fearful of the Polk because its lowest impedance is just a hair under 4 Ohms, which isn’t likely to “blow up” an amplifier capable of driving 4 Ohm speakers. But for the sake of this example, let’s move forward with our two remaining speakers; the Klipsch 600M and the Elac Debut Reference.
WHAT IS THE FREQUENCY RESPONSE?
The last thing I look at when evaluating a loudspeaker WITHOUT hearing it, is its frequency response. No, I do not look at graphs, I simply look at the manufacturer's reported frequency response. Why? Because this will often tell me whether or not the speakers on my list will require further investment in a subwoofer, which adds to the cost of ownership and thus factors into my overall budget.
The reason I do not look at frequency response graphs is simple; one, I’ve yet to see a manufacturer’s frequency response graph be anything less than ideal or close to ideal; and second, I don’t always trust third party measurements because, well, they are often NOT carried out in, shall we say, scientific ways. This is not a knock nor a comment on other YouTubers or individuals who may do their own measurements, I just don’t waste time with the graphs at this stage because it’s not necessary. The goal of this exercise is to get down to one (or two) speaker options that we can then listen to and decide for ourselves whether or not we like it, which doesn’t involve charts and graphs, but your own tastes and ears - so back to our two remaining contenders.
The Klipsch 600M has a reported frequency response of 45Hz to 25kHz, plus or minus 3dB. This means that the speaker will play down to the 50Hz region with relative ease, but is likely to roll-off or sound less authoritative below the mid 40Hz region. Now, this does not mean the Klipsch has a hard cut-off as you get into the 40’s, but rather its effectiveness may begin to diminish slightly in the lower octaves, making it a potential candidate for a subwoofer in some rooms. Also, I don’t really worry about the high-end part of the frequency response as most speakers will hit frequencies near or beyond 20kHz which is pretty much the threshold of human hearing.
Now, the Elac has a reported frequency response of 44Hz to 33kHz, which in terms of bass response is pretty much the same as the Klipsch, though Elac does not give a plus or minus 3dB figure, which COULD mean that the Elac may prove to be just a bit more robust in the bass in direct comparison, though both would appear candidates for a sub in some spaces.
MAKING A FINAL DECISION
At this point, seeing as I now have two options with which to choose from, I go back over my list again to see if there is any one area where one speaker clearly outperforms another and note it. For example; the Klipsch 600M retails for $577 a pair versus $699 for the Elac. Always on the hunt to save money, either because we can or because we need the funds to apply elsewhere in our system, the 600M would win out over the Elac in this category.
Both speakers are ported, but because the Elac is front ported I may not need to place it as far out in my room as say the Klipsch, thus resulting in the Elac potentially taking up less physical space, point for Elac. But the Klipsch is far more sensitive with a rating of 96dB compared to the Elac’s 86dB, meaning the Klipsch is simply going to play louder with less power, saving me money in amplifier costs. Point Klipsch. The Klipsch is also going to be compatible with a wider range of amplifiers, integrated amps and/or receivers thanks to its nominal 8 Ohm impedance compared to the Elac’s 6 Ohm rating, so point to Klipsch there as well.
Finally since both speakers have relatively the same reported frequency response, it’s a wash, resulting in a final score of three to one, with the Klipsch checking more of the boxes (at least in this exercise) over the Elac and becoming the front runner for a speaker I should now definitely listen to and decide for myself whether or not to purchase, with the Elac Debut Reference being a close second.
And that’s really it. That’s how I’ve narrowed my speaker shopping list over the years in order to make choosing the “right” loudspeaker a little more manageable. If you’ve made it this far, know that this process is meant as a guide. There are no hard and fast rules, this is just how I break things down and look at them for myself and my needs. I’m not saying the Klipsch 600M is the BEST speaker and you should all rush out and buy it, it’s just an example. I hope this was informative, but more importantly helpful as you go about finding the right speaker for you!
