Most of my friends tell me that they do not care much about the kind of speakers to be bought. What they do is walk into a shop, choose what they want and that's it.
In my opinion, such purchases ought to be guided by factors like size, quality, performance, aesthetics as well as price.
These are what I put into consideration whenever I'm shopping around.
Wayne Parham Messages: 18793 Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)
In my opinion, loudspeakers are where there is the largest quality spread of all components in the audio chain. Not that there aren't great amps and terrible amps, same with source devices. I've seen cheap CD and even BluRay players that distorted sound like a 1960s pocket radio. But once you've dismissed the trash, you'll find most components in audio chain are capable of making good sound as long as the speakers are good. The opposite is not true though - I can't say the same thing about speakers - I've seen/heard a LOT of speakers that were absolute trash at all price points, even some costing more than $10K.
Choose your loudspeakers wisely. They're potentially the weakest link in the chain. Loudspeakers set the limits on the performance of the system more than anything else.
gofar99 Messages: 1955 Registered: May 2010 Location: Southern Arizona
Illuminati (5th Degree)
Hi, I agree with Wayne, speakers are going to have a greater effect on your listening experience than anything else. Superior sound system and crappy speakers equals crappy sound. Mediocre system and good speakers will often sound just fine. You really need to listen to them with the type of music you like...not what the store chooses at levels you like to use. Retail stores like to choose music that hides the flaws and then play it too loud to clearly tell what is going on. My personal opinion is there is more hype on speakers than any other component of the system. If I could have a dime for every 2 inch speaker that the seller said was good for 200 watts or every 3 inch one that could reproduce 20 HZ I would own a Lear jet. I get really annoyed about the current nomenclature for speakers. A sub woofer is not a 5 inch driver powered by a 5 watt amp. I would hardly even call it a woofer. Still you see that label all the time. Speaker buying is really a buyer beware issue. If you can't hear the speakers you think you will like and you don't have a trustworthy person to ask about them then be sure the company that sells them has an unconditional return policy.
To be honest with you, I have never really put much consideration into what kind of speakers I get up until now. I used to just buy things based on if I liked the way they looked.