Home Audio

There are many things that make up a good speaker. Many manufacturers are driven to make cheap speakers, as that is what the market demands. Unfortunately the speaker vs. price is on a quadratic curve. It starts out as a pretty good ratio of cost of the speaker and speaker performance. Pretty soon, the cost rapidly rises while the sound quality slowly creeps along improving at a nominal pace. The key is finding a speaker that sounds good without getting to far into the price range. Some things that can help are to ensure that your other components are up to par. Things such as the quality and construction of the speaker enclosure, amplifier, crossover, sound processor, and source.

Something that is often over looked is the enclosure of the speaker. Most people purchase or construct a cheap enclosure and call it a day. From bookshelf to floor standing speakers, they should all be built with at least ¾” MDF (medium density fiberboard) and braced in the middle. Not bracing can cause you to loose bass. Also, you should coat the inside of the enclosure. Household latex paint will do the trick. I personally coat my boxes with fiberglass.

If your box requires fill, you can use anything that is poly. The best thing is to go to a fabric store and get poly-fill used in making pillows. Just make sure when you put it in your box that it does not get around the speaker. If you have a staple gun, just staple it to the back in various places.