Speakers

My Picks

• Paradigm Studio Reference - My personal favorite (The Perfect Vision, Issue 57, Page 70 and Absolute Sound (Issue 164). Received the 2006 Editor’s Choice Award (The Perfect Vision, Issue 72, Page 72). When shopping around, make sure the speakers are v4 (i.e. Version 4.0) as this is the latest upgrade in the line.
• B&W 700 Series - Excellent dynamic range as well as being soft and fluid while at the same time still able to pack a punch. The design of these speakers is top-notch (The Perfect Vision, Issue 54, Page 79). Received the 2006 Editor’s Choice Award (The Perfect Vision, Issue 72, Page 73).
• Definitive Technology Mythos ST - Rated as one of the best speakers of 2007 by The Perfect Vision (Issue 82).
• Monitor Audio Bronze Reference Speakers - Interesting set of speakers. Have not listened to these in person but I am fond of the design.

Notes

Most home theater setups use a D’ Appolito configuration for the center channel. The D’ Appolito configuration is a loudspeaker set on it’s side and has a midbass-tweeter-midbase configuration. The center channel is the most critical speaker in a home theater setup as it produces 80% of all signal info. The center channel is also responsible for producing clear, intelligible voices.

All high definition loud speakers should be able to reproduce the 20Hz to 20kHz range (optimal). This includes the center and surround speakers. If not able to reach 20Hz, then 30 to 60Hz would be the bare minimum.

Surround speakers should be placed at a ratio of 1.5:1 of distance between the front speakers. Meaning that if the left and right front speakers are 10 feet apart from each other, the surround speakers should be at least 15 feet apart from the front speakers. If nothing else, all speakers should be at least equidistant from each other.

Subwoofers appear usually crossover at 50, 60, or 80Hz. Ideally 30 to 40Hz would be better providing that your loudspeakers are up to snuff.