Speakers

Try to avoid using small speakers in large rooms, and vice versa. I would say anything over 5M x 5M requires floor standers. Anything less, bookshelf or standmounters (although saying that, my room is 4M x 3M, with Kef Q75- massive floorstanders, and surprisingly the bass does is not offensive)

Do not place standmounter speakers on the floor, or in near the ceiling or corners, as this will result in a terrible sound. Place them on stands, perhaps toed-in slightly towards you. Place speakers reasonably far apart, but not too far either.

There are the following different types of speakers...

• Standmounter speakers- These are usually 12-24cm high, 20-30 cm wide. They should be situated on top of a pair of speaker stands for best results.
• Bookshelf speakers- These are smaller than Standmounter speakers, and can be placed in smaller areas like bookshelves, although speaker stands are recommended.
• Floorstanders- These are extended standmounters, usually with a couple more bass drivers for added depth. A floorstander version of the smaller standmounter will usually be more expensive, due to extra wood & drivers. For example, Kef Q15 (Standmounter) £200. Kef Q35 (Floorstander) £350. A picture of Kef's new Q Range
• Wall mounting Speakers- Usually with a couple of screwholes for fixing directly to the wall, and/or supplied with fixings. Normally for rear speakers, or sometimes for discreet same-speaker arrays, i.e., Bose.
• Flat speakers. Produce sound from hundreds of diaphragms. Poor sound compared to a standard speaker
• Satellite/Subwoofer- I have heard several sat/sub configurations, and the small satellites can't produce any midrange detail, so they sound too flat- the subwoofer tries to produce midrange, but there is usually a sound 'gap' which you can tell is missing. Personally I don't like using my subwoofer for music use, as the bass is too pronounced. Perhaps in a very large room it wound sound OK. Kef's nice 2000 range Satellite speakers.

There are the following driver types...

• Tweeter. Produce the high-frequency sounds. There are two versions:- Soft Dome- You can recognize soft-dome tweeters as they are usually made from a coated fabric like silk. Normally soft-domes have a less-harsh sound than the metal dome version.
• Tweeter, Metal- You can recognize metal-dome tweeters as they are usually made from metal like titanium, aluminum, gold. They can reach higher frequencies than soft-dome tweeters.
• Ferro-fluid cooled tweeter. Can be used in both soft & metal types. Allows higher output.
• Horn-loaded tweeter. A horn is placed in front of a soft/metal tweeter, and the horn amplifies the high frequencies even further, and spreads the sound even more. Usually used with PA equipment, some THX gear. Needs to be properly engineered, otherwise this type can sound too harsh.
• Mid/Bass- produces midrange and bass sounds. Different materials can be used:- Paper, coated paper, stiff Nylon, Metal, polypropylene etc.
• Subwoofer- Usually a 8 inch+ driver. Produce sound between 15hz -180hz.
• Ceramic drivers- no info, just know there are some around. Linn use them
• Electrostatic- they have a large ribbon-type fabric which produces high frequencies. They cannot produce mid/bass frequencies. These types of speakers usually have at least one standard speaker driver for mid/bass. Martin Logan make them, as do Quad. I think they need to be de-dusted frequently because dust blocks the fabric, which effects the sound. I've heard that electrostatic speakers aren't long-lasting Email me if I forgotten anything, or send me more detailed info.