While working from home, working environment is essential to keep the right mood. Otherwise it’s easy go wrong way, after all sitting with nobody around to chat may be hard. To me having the right music was always a good way to fix the situation somewhat. But having good music in the office usually means running some mp3 over some tiny desktop speakers… quality is bad – no joy. Sound quality is especially important in working space where it’s critical that sound won’t disturb and distract.
It’s important to understand speaker’s role in sound quality. Serious audiophiles may spend well into 5 figures for speakers, but as you probably guess you can have the right sound for much less. It’s just a matter of making the right choice. Speakers last for years, so whatever you spend is essentially an investment.
Speakers for Your Music
What kind of music you actually listen? It’s important to realize that different kinds of music tend to have different sound quality tolerance requirements, and hence ask for different speakers. Electronic and computer generated music is well listenable on lower quality speakers simply because it has less complex harmonics then any natural music, so ever presented reverberations don’t create unpleasant distortions. Music played on natural musical instruments: jazz, classical, voice, etc is distorted much easier, so to sound right one has to make careful choice of speakers and other equipment.
More Expensive is Always Better… Or Not?
One thin is to keep in mind – price does NOT determine sound quality. There are many factors that define price for audio equipment: size, finish, brand, coolness factor, features, computability, etc – the sound quality is lost behind this long list. Just remember, you can get an excellent quality speakers for very little, it’s easy to buy uber-expensive pair that doesn’t produce listenable sound. The truth is somewhere in the middle, makers of better speakers may charge more for a reason: they have spent more time developing a better design and use higher quality components.
Among popular mid priced brands you might recognize such famous speaker makers names as Paradigm, Monitor Audio, Klipsch, B&W, Infinity, Boston Acoustics, JBL, Polk Audio, PSB, and others.
On the other hand, to get the decent sound, meaning music, not computer games, one will have to forget about those plastic cheapo surround sets where 5 speakers and sub-woofer might go under $200. They are not for music, and generally would be waste of money if purchased with that purpose. Good speakers are rarely made of plastic, normally it’s wood based materials – solid, heavy, and stable. Some manufacturers developed hi-tech materials for speaker’s cabinets that are essentially plastic, but they have little common with cheap materials used for computer speakers.
Speakers Size
When considering speakers, size is the utmost factor. Too large floor-standing speakers will easily overwhelm any little space, while small bookshelf speakers might get lost in the large living room.
Bookshelf Speakers
Bookshelf Speakers, or Monitors, are the small speakers. Despite the name, they often a bit too large to be actually placed on a bookshelf, in which case a light stands usually used. Bookshelf Monitors are usually equipped with a single mid-range woofer, or a tweeter and a mid-range woofer. Bass is the tricky part on these speakers, but better one use some sophisticated engineering to compensate for woofer size. Monitor speakers are normally the easiest choice for home office due to their small size.
Tip: When choosing Bookshelf Speakers thinking to place them on a shelf, check if they have rear port – a large whole on the back. Rear port speakers capable of producing decent bass require some clearance from the wall, or bass will be bloated and boomy due to improper reflections. So make sure you have the right space between speakers and the wall where you intended to place them.
Many assume that bookshelf speakers always require sub-woofer. It’s plain wrong. Many quality monitors produce more then enough bass for casual listening – and as we’re focused on home office, I don’t believe overly rich bass is a good idea for productivity. For home theater setups, however, subwoofer would be very much appropriate addition.
Active Speakers or Powered Monitors
Some of bookshelf speakers are designed after active studio monitors, the ones used in editing professional audio. Active Monitors are often self-powered, and do not require any kind of amplifier. Simply plug your iPhone is, or run a cable from computer audio out. It’s extremely convenient space and budget wise, but comes at price of having less options to choose from, and inability to change your amplifier if anything goes wrong.
My favorite powered speakers are AudioEngine A5. Some day I’ll write more detailed feedback on them, but in two words they combine great, nearly full range sound, exceptional build quality, and a great price.
Floor-Standing Speakers
These large speakers do not require stands, hence the name “floor-standers”. Normally floor standing speakers have one or two tweeters, and two to five larger woofers, mid-range and bass. These speakers are usually designed for large spaces, and unless your home office is very large, floorstanders are rarely appropriate choice.
Trust yourself, not the reviews
Sound perception is highly personal. All speakers have a house sound – some common characteristics shared between different models of the same speakers maker. Speakers will also sound differently in different rooms, and something that seemed perfect in your friend’s house may not sound as good when placed in your room. There’s no way around other then try and see. Once you found *your* set of speakers you’ll be gratified with joy of music.
